THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 6, 1996 TAG: 9602060267
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. has been granted his request for the federal waivers to help fully implement Work First, his welfare reform program.
Hunt requested the waivers in September and sent a letter to President Clinton Jan. 25, urging him to intervene to speed approval of the waivers.
Hunt also sent a delegation of state officials to Washington in January to present North Carolina's case to officials at the Department of Health and Human Services.
The waivers allow the state to place a two-year limit on cash benefits - one of the toughest in the nation - as well as a family cap.
The waivers also allow the state to apply tough sanctions to parents who fail to meet Work First requirements, including reduced benefits for up to 24 months.
Hunt announced Monday that the waivers had been granted.
Work First will be phased in, beginning with about 35,000 parents with school-age children, two-parent families and parents who already are working at least 30 hours per week.
Other families will be phased in as resources are available.
The waivers require welfare applicants to sign personal responsibility contracts.
If the contract is broken, benefits will be cut.
Contracts require participants to detail how they intend to take personal responsibility for getting off welfare.
The contracts also require participants to look for and accept work, make sure their school-age children get shots and attend school.
Teenage parents are required to stay in school. by CNB