it is the policy and responsibility of the Federal Government to reduce the rate at which and the degree to which families depend on income from welfare programs and the duration of welfare receipt, consistent with other essential national goals;

it is the policy of the United States to strengthen families, to ensure that children grow up in families that are economically self-sufficient and that the life prospects of children are improved, and to underscore the responsibility of parents to support their children;

the Federal Government should help welfare recipients as well as individuals at risk of welfare receipt to improve their education and job skills, to obtain child care and other necessary support services, and to take such other steps as may be necessary to assist them to become financially independent; and

it is the purpose of this section to provide the public with generally accepted measures of welfare receipt so that it can track such receipt over time and determine whether progress is being made in reducing the rate at which and, to the extent feasible, the degree to which, families depend on income from welfare programs and the duration of welfare receipt.