Those 1996 reforms changed the federal financing for the old, New Deal era, Aid to Families with DependentChildren program (AFDC) from a matching federal funding formula, which paid a state more the more it spent on the program.
The old New Deal era Aid to Families with DependentChildren (AFDC) is now Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which pays cash mostly to single mothers with children.