Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 21, 1995 TAG: 9503210107
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium
About 9,000 of the state's 74,000 recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children probably will be included this year in the first phase of the welfare-to-work program, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kay Coles James said.
Specifics about who they are, what jobs will be offered and how the plan will be phased in statewide over the next four years still are being worked out, she said.
"At this point in time, everything is an estimate," James said, noting that timetables discussed during the recent General Assembly session were merely proposals. "There are no firm plans."
Surrounded by a bipartisan group of lawmakers who helped craft the bill, Allen praised it as "one of the most tough, principled, comprehensive and pro-family welfare reform measures in our entire nation."
Seconds before the signing in a packed City Council chamber, a member of the NAACP rose and denounced the measure, declaring: "We're walking out in protest. We wish you would come with us." About a dozen people followed him, joining a small group outside.
Protestors complained that thousands of AFDC recipients may find themselves destitute and without jobs when most benefits are cut off after two years.
"Not one part of the bill is good enough to justify all the punitive aspects of the bill," said Linda Byrd-Harden, executive director of the Virginia NAACP.
Among the bill's provisions:
An estimated 49,000 eligible AFDC recipients will have to start working in either private or public sector jobs within 90 days of entering the program. The plan will take effect July 1 if the federal government approves it, and will be phased in statewide by July 1999.
The state will assist mothers with child care and transportation during a two-year period, after which AFDC benefits will be cut off for two years. If the recipient elects to get a third year of child care and travel aid, AFDC won't be reinstated for three years.
Meanwhile, extra cash payments for children born to mothers on AFDC will be eliminated. The state will beef up efforts to get support from fathers. Welfare mothers will get to keep more assets and certain benefits will be extended to two-parent families.
The plan does not affect food stamps, public housing programs or Medicaid.
Only Massachussetts and Virginia have approved plans so broadly curbing AFDC benefits. Wisconsin has approved a plan abolishing AFDC entirely in a few years.
Last winter, when the Allen plan was unveiled, James and others recommended that localities with the lowest unemployment rate - including Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Roanoke County - enter the program first. Those with the highest would enter last.
But on Monday, James said a task force that she heads wants to hear from local directors of social services, welfare recipients, members of the legislature and others before adopting a plan.
A group has been meeting twice a week to develop a list of jobs for those who must start work this year, she said. If the bill takes effect July 1, the first group of recipients must start working by Oct. 1.
In a public housing project that Allen toured before the signing, there appeared to be widespread anxiety about the reform.
"People are scared about what's going to happen, what's going to happen to their children," said Laura Huffaker, 43, who spent several years on AFDC before taking a $4.25-an-hour job as a Head Start worker. "With the layoffs at the [Newport News] shipyard, the layoffs at NASA, how is it going to be possible to put all these people to work?"
But Huffaker added, "I know there are things that need to be reformed. It's not working the way it is."
Allen downplayed a statement issued Sunday by the nation's Roman Catholic bishops arguing that welfare reform could lead to increased abortions. "I'm not going to get dragged into whatever these preachers or priests are talking about," he said.
Several legislators who backed the plan said they do not believe women will choose abortion for an added $60 or so per month.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB