Through the Department of Human Services, New Jersey administers the major federal welfare programs, as well as several programs specifically designed to meet the needs of New Jersey minority groups. Among the latter in the 1990s was the Cuban-Haitian Entrant Program. Additional assistance went to refugees from such areas as Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe.
In 2001, the average weekly unemployment benefit was $302.95. Average monthly participation in the food stamp program in FY2002 comprised 319,799 persons (147,077 households). The average monthly benefit was $81.89, and the sum total of benefits paid in FY2002 was $314,258,247.
With the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the US government has changed the form and regulations for many of its social welfare programs. Most significantly, it replaces Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), an open-ended entitlement program, with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a limited system of assistance funded largely through federal block grants. The reform act also impacts the food stamp program, the Supplemental Security Income program, and the child nutrition program. The law took effect on 1 July 1997 and provided $16.38 billion in block grants for fiscal years 1997–2002. The grants are to be divided among the states based on an equation involving the numbers of former AFDC recipients in each state.
Reauthorization of the 1996 social welfare legislation, scheduled for 2002, was delayed, and the original law had been extended three times as of July 2003, with the most recent extension running through September 2003. New Jersey's TANF program is called Work First New Jersey (WFNJ). In June 2000 the state had 125,258 welfare recipients. State expenditures on the TANF program in FY2002 totaled $410,326,128.
In December 2001, Social Security benefits were paid to 1,355,570 New Jersey residents. This number included 930,570 retired workers, 133,720 widows and widowers, 131,350 disabled workers, 60,770 spouses, and 99,160 children. Social Security beneficiaries represented 16% of the total state population and 92.5% of the state's population age 65 and older. Retired workers (excluding persons with special benefits) received an average monthly payment of $965; widows and widowers, $912; disabled workers, $878; and spouses, $474. Payments for children of retired workers averaged $462 per month; children of deceased workers, $627; and children of disabled workers, $274.
Federal Supplemental Security Income payments in December 2001 went to 147,747 New Jersey residents, averaging $388 a month.