THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 15, 1995 TAG: 9509150514
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Pasquotank County is one of 10 counties in the state chosen to participate in a pilot program designed to change the welfare system, Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. announced Thursday.
The county will join Cleveland, Mason, Mecklenburg, Pender, Person, Stanly, Stokes, Wake and Wilson counties in the new program intended to get work for welfare recipients.
Hunt announced the pilot counties at a press conference in Raleigh where he said the state should not wait for either Congress or the state legislature to approve welfare reform packages.
The governor signed requests for 19 waivers from the federal government that will allow the state to implement - without legislative approval - the Work First welfare program he unveiled in March.
``Welfare was originally meant to be a way to help families get back on their feet - not a way of life,'' Hunt said. ``But it has become a system that traps people into a cycle of dependency - a system that penalizes people for saving money, for holding a job that pays decent wages, that penalizes families for staying together.''
The press conference came one day after the U.S. Senate rejected a plan to deny extra benefits to welfare mothers who have more babies while receiving government help - a feature that is part of Hunt's Work First program - and instead leave the option available for individual states to adopt.
If Congress replaces the current welfare program with block grants and gives states the flexibility to spend the grants as they like, the federal waivers won't be needed.
But Hunt said the state should press ahead with its own plan to make welfare recipients in North Carolina work at least 30 hours a week or perform community service work in exchange for their benefits.
Welfare reform plans are also pending in the legislature: A Republican-backed welfare reform plan was approved by the House, the measure stalled in the Senate where, generally, reform backers said they preferred more emphasis on job training and less emphasis on punitive measures. Work First combines aspects of both the House and Senate welfare reform packages.
Generally, it emphasizes moving welfare recipients to work as soon as possible and ends some government benefits - primarily Aid to Families with Dependent Children - after two years. It also includes sanctions for adult welfare recipients who refuse to participate.
Welfare recipients will be required to sign a ``personal responsibility contract'' that details their plan for getting off welfare and becoming self-sufficient.
The program will initially target mothers with school-age children, two-parent families and other welfare recipients who have parttime or very low-wage jobs. These recipients will be required to go to work or enroll in training sessions at least 30 hours each week within 12 weeks of receiving their first AFDC check.
Initially, up to 35,000 of about 122,000 adults on welfare statewide will be required to participate in the program.
Other families will be phased in as resources are available, Hunt said.
Work First also includes sanctions for individuals who do not participate in the program that range in severity from removal from AFDC for three months for a first violation to removal from AFDC and Medicaid benefits for three years for a fourth violation.
As a practical matter, the transition to Work First has been under way in many counties since July 1.
In Pasquotank County, 30 new welfare recipients and about 170 existing welfare families have moved from the JOBS program, which emphasizes training, onto Work First rolls in recent months, according to Marilyn Owens, Work First supervisor with the Pasquotank County Department of Social Services.
And, so far, local welfare workers say they have been pleased with the transition to Work First.
``For the first time, there are some teeth to the program,'' Owens said.
When questioned about where welfare recipients will find jobs, Hunt said that with a record 356,767 job openings across the state in 1994-95 and 3,000 jobs opening up each month, welfare recipients should have no trouble finding jobs.
In rural areas like Gates County, that may mean a commute to nearby Elizabeth City or Virginia, but social services workers, community volunteers and welfare recipients can work to provide transportation systems for Work First participants, the governor said.
He encouraged state and county agencies to work with local employers to identify jobs and urged local chambers of commerce and business and professional organizations to develop programs.
Owens, meanwhile, said finding jobs for the initial Work First participants in Pasquotank County has been one of the major challenges of the new program.
``That's not an easy part of Work First,'' she said. ``It can be very difficult to find anybody a job who has the training but not work experience, especially a job that has benefits.''
The state should receive most program waivers in 60 days and should begin implementing the program statewide Jan. 1.
Pasquotank County welfare recipients who have moved to Work First have expressed a range of emotions, Owens said.
``Many are eager to go to work but some are resistant to it,'' she said. ``But basically people who are in the program feel it's been of value to them.'' by CNB