ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 15, 1997 TAG: 9701150073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
Va. families on welfare drop 22 percent
The number of Virginia families on welfare has fallen by 22 percent since March 1995, outpacing a national trend in which many poor people are finding jobs.
The reductions were steeper in counties that began welfare overhaul efforts in July 1995, said Scott Oostdyk, deputy secretary of the Virginia Department of Health and Human Services.
Oostdyk said the smaller welfare caseload will save Virginia taxpayers about $77 million over the next two years.
The changes in Virginia mirror a national trend in which most states have pared welfare rolls since early 1995. It is unclear precisely what is driving the drop in welfare cases. Most economists and elected officials agree that a robust economy has played a vital role.
But the most recent drop in welfare cases eclipses the declines in caseloads recorded in previous periods of economic recovery, said Gary Burtless, senior fellow for the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.
Some economists and advocates for the poor worry that the recent statistics do not entirely reflect success, but rather a reluctance by many poor families to comply with a system that seems more harsh.
- Associated Press
Advocate for O'Dell thanks Italy, Pope
ROME - An advocate for a Virginia death row inmate who got a reprieve gave thanks Tuesday to Italians and Pope John Paul II for opposing the execution.
The U.S. Supreme Court last month stayed Joseph Roger O'Dell's electrocution for raping, sodomizing and murdering a woman in 1986.
John Paul, Italy's government and legislature, and many private citizens had asked authorities not to carry out the sentence.
Lori Urs, an aide to O'Dell's lawyer, said the case was judged on its merits, ``but that the word of his holiness, the outrage of a government, of an entire country'' also had influence.
- Associated Press
In beating case, teen found incompetent
BOYDTON - A teen-ager accused of severely beating his 3-year-old half-sister has been found incompetent to stand trial and ordered into a mental health treatment program.
At a hearing Monday, Mecklenburg County Circuit Judge William Wellons ruled that Matthew Stevens, 16, will be treated for at least six months to see whether he can be counseled to aid in his defense.
Stevens is charged with aggravated malicious wounding in the July beating of the girl in South Hill. Police said the toddler was attacked by three youths because she refused to cry. Her head was slammed against a wall, forcing doctors to remove a portion of her brain.
- Associated Press
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