摘要：Financial sanctions have long been used to enforce work requirements in the welfare system, but under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), they have gained greater importance and are more severe. Fewer families are now exempt from work requirements. Federal regula-tions permit states to penalize recipients for infractions of the rules by the loss of the entire cash grant, and even of Food Stamp or Medicaid benefits. Conciliation and me-diation procedures, once required under federal law to resolve problems before sanctions were imposed, are now optional for states. Benefit reductions are larger than under previous welfare-to-work programs; sanctions are put in place more quickly and may last longer
