Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410100059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The plan calls for local social service agencies to make small payments to people in difficult situations rather than place them on welfare rolls, where many remain for seven years.
More than 190,340 people receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits in Virginia, according to the Virginia Social Services Department. The program costs the state about $230 million annually.
In return for temporary aid, the recipients would agree not to apply for AFDC, said Social Services Commissioner Carol Brunty.
Under the diversion program, social services clients could receive a payment worth up to three months of aid from AFDC, or about $750 in an average case, Brunty said.
She said she knows of no other state that has tried such an initiative.
Brunty cited the problems of a working poor person whose car breaks down as an example of a temporary payment.
``We could offer to pay for the car repair, rather than have to put them on'' AFDC, she said. ``It's a win-win.
``They get their car repaired and go back to work,'' she said, ``and they get added income'' from their jobs, which they would not be allowed if they were in the AFDC program.
The drawback to the temporary-payment idea is that such flexibility would require social services workers to spend more time on each case, rather than merely apply a set of rules to a person's situation to determine eligibility for help.
Half of the AFDC program is paid for by the federal government and half by the state. As a result, Virginia is asking the U.S. government for a waiver of its AFDC rules so the state can start the diversion program, Brunty said.
Gov. George Allen has assigned the commission to draw up a comprehensive reform program before winter. The 40-member panel was appointed in May.
If the diversion program pans out, Virginia might extend it to the federal food stamp program, Brunty said.
by CNB