ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 16, 1996 TAG: 9611180032
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
The number of Virginians collecting welfare has fallen 18 percent in just more than a year, outpacing other states enough that government officials call it evidence that recent welfare changes are working.
Participants in a new program to find jobs for people on welfare earned $2.7 million at work the first year, according to a study released Friday. And a program offering one-time grants kept 376 families off long-term public assistance.
Welfare rolls are dropping around the country as the national economy remains steady. But legislators and members of Gov. George Allen's administration called a news conference Friday to say they are confident Virginia's welfare spending is going down for good.
Allen is encouraged enough that he is calling for the accelerated implementation of new welfare laws that aren't supposed to be fully effective until 1998.
"The good news today for Virginia is that welfare reform works," said state Sen. Mark Earley, a Chesapeake Republican who helped shepherd the welfare package through the General Assembly.
"They've created a culture of enthusiasm and of entrepreneurship to get back to work. It's a great thing to see."
Virginia's welfare package is a little more than a year old, and it started only in small rural jurisdictions. Large metropolitan areas such as Richmond and Hampton Roads are not yet covered by the changes, but social services officials still are willing to credit the changes with reduced welfare caseloads.
Health and Human Resources Secretary Robert Metcalf said the changes have saved Virginia $24 million by moving people on welfare into jobs.
The core of Virginia's plan is the denial of benefits to welfare recipients after two years, and the requirement that able-bodied recipients work. The first recipients won't lose their benefits until mid-1997.
Other changes include requiring recipients' children to go to school, denying benefits for additional children born while the mother is on welfare, and requiring mothers to name the fathers of their children.
Hampton Roads is scheduled to enter the program in April 1998 but could be added sooner.
In the past year, a higher percentage of welfare applications have come from two-parent families, and the birth rate among recipients has dropped. The change wasn't limited to places where welfare reform has taken hold, but officials said Friday that the impending statewide implementation could be having an advanced effect.
"This is not a sprint, it's a marathon. And we have just passed the first mile marker," said Social Services Commissioner Clarence Carter. "I feel pretty sorry for many of the states that have not begun what we've begun here."
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB