Welfare reform is now 4 years old in Arkansas. In April 1997, the Arkansas General Assembly passed legislation establishing the Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA) program, the state’s version of welfare reform. The TEA program was passed in response to 1996 federal legislation that created the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program and gave the states much more flexibility in designing their own welfare reform program. The Arkansas TEA program officially began in July 1997.