Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 29, 1995 TAG: 9506290086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Three days before Virginia's far-reaching overhaul was scheduled to take effect, the federal government still hadn't given a necessary go-ahead.
``We're still reviewing it, and we have not yet made a decision,'' Michael Kharfen, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday. ``I don't have a time frame. I can't tell you exactly when'' the review will be completed.
The reform, which eventually would require most welfare recipients to work for their benefits and would limit most payments to two years, is scheduled to take effect July 1.
Under welfare policy, however, the federal government must approve changes in the way states administer Aid to Families With Dependent Children, one of the nation's major welfare programs.
According to Kharfen, the department is operating under a mandate from President Clinton that all waiver requests be acted on within 120 days. The department received Virginia's request March 28, about 90 days ago, he said.
``We are aware that Virginia wants to start it on July 1,'' Kharfen said. ``We're working on this every day.''
A spokesman for Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources Kay Coles James said earlier this week that the Allen administration was optimistic that an agreement would be reached before Saturday. ``We're both working in good faith,'' spokesman Martin Brown said.
But Brown said there is ``a fundamental difference'' between federal officials, who regard welfare as an entitlement, and Virginia officials, who do not.
``Clinton has stated time and again that he wants to give states an opportunity for experimentation,'' Brown said. ``We just want to hold him to his word.''
Neither Brown nor Kharfen would outline the areas of dispute. Some critics of Virginia's welfare reform plan have speculated that the Clinton administration will not allow a plan that does not protect women - and their children - who meet all the state's requirements and still fail to find work.
by CNB