ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602190082
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-17 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: ADRIANNE BEE SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
Changes in the Virginia welfare system may be the catalyst for moving people off welfare or discouraging them from enrolling in the first place, according to Dan Farris, director of Montgomery County's Department of Social Services.
The most far-reaching element of the state's reform is a work requirement that obligates recipients to begin working for their benefits within 90 days of receiving aid and will cut off Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits after two years.
The date for implementing this part of the welfare plan in the New River Valley has not yet been set.
Last July, the state began its reform by requiring that mothers cooperate in establishing the paternity of their children or face suspension of their welfare grant.
In Montgomery County, almost 90 percent of welfare families are headed by single women. "It takes the responsibility of two people to bring children into the world. It takes two people's responsibility to raise them," Farris said.
Farris said there has been a tendency "to forget the other person involved and his responsibility ... and it's not going to fly anymore."
The state also has a new rule that says mothers will not receive any additional benefits for children born while the mother is on welfare.
Farris praised a new "diversion rule" that allows a person to receive 120 days' worth of assistance at once to solve a one-time emergency, without entering the red tape and bureaucracy of the welfare system. "Now we can help get their car fixed and send them on their way."
Other changes include:
* Withholding benefits from recipients who haven't had their children immunized.
* Requiring unmarried mothers under 18 to stay in school and live with a parent or adult relative to get benefits;
* Requiring unmarried fathers under 18 to stay in school or be held liable for child support.
Under the state's new work requirements, "exceptions to keep people on assistance will only be made under dire circumstances - if you incur a debilitating illness or if you get laid off through no fault of your own, say if your plant shut down," according to Farris.
Although the work requirement is not yet mandated in the New River Valley, the state is encouraging localities to begin phasing it in and place emphasis on moving welfare recipients toward self-sufficiency.
"It's coming," says Wendy Audette of the reforms. "You need to get into college while you still have time." Audette, who is receiving welfare benefits while attending community college, says women should not panic. All they need to do is "jump off the diving board and jump in, everything else will follow."
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