
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 6, 1995                   TAG: 9506060147
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                 LENGTH: Medium

WELFARE REFORM TOUGHENED

Welfare recipients who try hard but can't find a job would get a single three-month hardship extension to the state's new two-years-and-you're-off welfare limit, according to emergency regulations adopted Monday.

The standard, which now puts a time limit on an open-ended draft proposal by Gov. George Allen, was nestled amid 36 pages of regulations adopted with almost no discussion at a morning meeting of the state Social Services Board.

The regulations will govern at least the first year of the revolutionary welfare-reform plan, which is slated to take effect July 1 if the federal government gives its OK.

The hardship extension limit was challenged after the meeting by a leading Democratic proponent of reform and by an attorney for the Virginia Poverty Law Center. Both raised what had been perhaps the central question of reform critics during legislative debate: If a parent truly can't find work, is it wise or fair to cut off payments that filter down to children?

"The regulations confirm our worst fears that children whose parents are unable to find employment will not be protected," said Steven Meyers of the Poverty Law Center.

"I think that has the potential to be a little too Draconian, if in fact a real hardship exists," said Del. David Brickley, D-Woodbridge, who headed a legislative task force on welfare reform.

John Littel, deputy secretary of health and human services and a key player in developing the regulations, countered that the state is developing a welfare-reform plan, "not an unemployment plan."

Several stages of review still separate welfare recipients from losing their welfare benefits, he said. First, the Social Services Board next week must adopt "policy" guidelines, which supplement the regulations and might give local social services departments more leeway in granting hardship exemptions.

Second, the emergency regulations adopted Monday must undergo a yearlong review - including public hearings - before they are permanently adopted.

Still, Littel said he believes a limited extension for someone who can't find a job or loses a job through no fault of his own should suffice. "We're saying we think three months is long enough," he said.

by CNB