Commissioner Robert Sherman wishes to make the Westbury community aware that the Department of Social Services, Office of Community Outreach of Nassau County will host a seminar for community based agencies and human services professionals, focusing on the impact of the 60 month Temporary Assistance to Needy families time limitation, which will begin for certain TANF recipients on Dec. 1.

The seminar will take place on Nov. 8 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. second floor classroom at the Department of Social Services building, 101 County Seat Drive, Mineola.

The Federal Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996, referred to as Welfare Reform, established block grants to fund public assistance programs and set a lifetime limit of five (5) years for people to receive Federal public assistance. States were allowed considerable discretion in determining how block grant funds could be spent. In New York State and Nassau County, emphasis was placed on getting clients to work through the assessment of individual needs, training, job placement and the availability of transitional services once a client no longer qualified for public assistance.

Nassau County has been successful in its efforts to move clients from dependency to self-sufficiency. At the start of Welfare reform in 1996, the county's public assistance caseload was approximately 6,300. Today, it stands at 2,876 cases.

Beginning in December, a portion of the TANF caseload will exhaust their five (5) years of Federal eligibility and will start their transition to the state and locally funded Safety Net Assistance program.

The TANF seminar on Nov. 8 will highlight the following issues:

* What a client can expect when they approach their 60 month Federal time limit.

* What benefits will be available to clients under the Safety Net Assistance Program.

* How benefits may be accessed by the client.

* Client responsibilities in order to qualify for Safety Net Assistance.

"The goal of this seminar is broaden the knowledge of community based agencies and human services professionals as it relates to the 60 month TANF time limit," Sherman said. The Office of Community Outreach continues in its endeavor to educate and inform the public on programs and services offered by the Department of Social Services. Program staff from the department are available, upon request, to travel throughout Nassau, to conduct presentations on various programs offered by the department.

Please contact the Department of Social Services at 571-5426 no later than Nov. 7 to confirm your attendance at the seminar.