FYI: As the Senate re-engaged the TANF reauthorization debate last week, advocates for people with disabilities urged lawmakers to consider a problem that hasn’t seen as much ink as the ongoing child care funding debate: disabled recipients are having a tough time transitioning to work, and the program is unfairly sanctioning them for it. According to a December GAO study, disabled recipients are half as likely to find work as everyone else, while those caring for disabled children are less than half as likely. Advocates say any new structure must bar state programs from sanctioning these individuals until they’ve done substantive assessments as to what the barriers to work may be–and taken steps to remove them. Advocates also want Congress to allow states more flexibility in counting rehab and other activities that could help prepare disabled recipients for jobs towards the work requirement. [3/19/03]