Rewriting to Improve and Secure an Exit Out of Poverty Act

Rewriting to Improve and Secure an Exit Out of Poverty Act or RISE Out of Poverty Act

Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require state TANF plans to address whether and how states will give priority to providing assistance in areas with the greatest need.

Extends the TANF program.

Establishes matching grants to the states for subsidized employment. Sets a flat minimum participation rate of 50% with respect to all families residing in a state that include a work-eligible individual.

Revises participation requirements.

Gives TANF recipients the option to have trained personnel assess certain barriers to employment.

Revises the contents of individual responsibility plans.

Authorizes a state to develop a modified employability plan for a TANF recipient with, or caring for a family member with, a disability.

Prohibits a state from imposing a lifetime sanction or full-family sanction on assistance to any individual or family on the basis of a family member's failure to comply with a program requirement.

Prohibits sanctioning individuals for failure to engage in work if the failure results from the inability to secure child care or after-school arrangements for a child under age 13.

Prohibits imposing a limit of less than 60 months on duration of TANF assistance. Makes the duration limit inapplicable during a recession.

Requires that states establish personnel standards through a merit-based system in the administration of TANF programs.

Bans state use of federal TANF funds to replace state or local spending for non-qualified state expenditures.

Requires TANF assistance to meet basic family economic needs.

Makes reducing child poverty a purpose of the TANF program.

Requires that states adopt standards and procedures to address domestic and sexual violence suffered by TANF recipients.

Requires a state to guarantee child care services to TANF recipients employed or participating in a work activity.

Eliminates the ban on providing assistance to families not assigning certain support rights to the state.

Gives states the option to extend TANF eligibility to children through age 21.

Prohibits considering financial aid tied to education of a child in determining eligibility for or the amount of TANF.

Eliminates bars to TANF assistance for persons convicted of drug felonies, unwed teen parents not in school, and teens not in an adult-supervised living arrangement.

Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to repeal the declaration that states shall not be prohibited by the federal government from testing welfare recipients for use of controlled substances nor from sanctioning welfare recipients who test positive for use of controlled substances.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov