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6 leave the program and become self-reliant. It is the policy of the State of South Carolina that personal responsibility and parental responsibility must exist if citizens are to attain independence. The welfare system is based upon a reciprocal agreement between TANF recipients and taxpayers because it is to the benefit of the citizens of the State to transition recipients from welfare to work. The State will temporarily support needy parents if they will undertake appropriate steps to attain employment and self-reliance. TANF assists families to become economically independent, provides tools to achieve and maintain self- reliance, and deters abuse of the system through fair and meaningful sanctions.

1.4 Program Objectives (1) To support family life by paying a monthly benefit, providing support services, education, job training and job placement and promoting continued employment with increasing income until the family's total financial resources rise above the eligibility level for public benefits. (2) To achieve long term improvement in family functioning through collaboration and mutual planning with families. (3) To ensure a well-coordinated service delivery system to assess multiple barriers to employment and provide treatment, training, education and job placement services. (4) To advance economic independence and support stable families by providing preventive services such as after school activities, home visitation programs, and counseling and treatment services. (5) To prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies by providing teen pregnancy prevention programs and family planning activities. (6) To encourage the formation and maintenance of two parent families through educational initiatives and marriage friendly agency policies. (7) To support children and two parent families by offering child support services and encouraging father involvement. (8) To support and stabilize families of children with caretaker relatives by providing counseling, child care and support services to the caretaker relatives in child only cases. (9) To encourage individual responsibility by providing the tools to achieve and maintain self-reliance and deter abuse of the TANF system through the imposition of fair and meaningful sanctions. (10) To promote self-esteem, self-dignity, and self-worth of the TANF recipients through maximizing employment opportunities within the State and through