Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Dozens testify for and against returning ASPIRE TANF services to state control; sponsor cites 'catastrophic' contract failures
Summary
Representative Tiff Archer urged the Health and Human Services Committee to return ASPIRE TANF services to state control, calling current contract performance "catastrophic," while DHHS warned that an immediate transfer could be disruptive and said new contract metrics are producing some improved early results.
Representative Tiff Archer testified in favor of LD 943, a bill that would require ASPIRE, the state—s TANF employment and training program, to be administered by state employees rather than by the current private contractor. Archer and a stream of current and former ASPIRE participants, advocates and union representatives told the committee that they have seen poor outcomes and operational failures since the program was outsourced in 2016.
Archer called the current contract "a catastrophic failure" in some respects and urged the committee to consider returning administration to DHHS staffing. He cited very low work participation rates reported to the federal government in some months and questioned the accuracy and transparency of some performance data submitted by the current contractor. "These fit numbers are not just disappointing, they represent catastrophic failure," Archer said in his remarks.
More than a dozen people testified in…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
