THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507010496
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET EDDS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Virginia's high-profile welfare reform plan will not take effect as scheduled today because the Clinton administration has not signed off on it.
Secretary of Health and Human Resources Kay Coles James said Friday evening that she is ``extremely disappointed in the inability of the federal bureaucracy to complete this process in time,'' and that delays cause ``anxiety and confusion.''
But James said that she believes all major issues have been resolved and that formal approval is still possible before social services departments reopen Wednesday morning after the Independence Day weekend.
A Washington spokesman for the federal Department of Health and Human Services refused to confirm or deny James' assertion that agreement is near. ``We don't have a final decision yet. We're working to come to an agreement as soon as possible,'' said Michael Kharfen.
The reform, which Gov. George F. Allen touted Friday as ``the toughest, most comprehensive, and pro-family'' initiative in the nation, would require about two-thirds of Virginia's 74,000 recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children to begin working in staggered increments over the next four years. It would limit benefits to two years once an individual enters the work plan.
The work rules were to take effect today in the first group of five counties, all in central Virginia.
Other portions of the plan - including various work incentives and a stipulation that welfare mothers not receive extra money for children while on welfare - were to be implemented statewide today.
The only portion of the plan that can take effect without federal approval is one increasing support for poor, two-parent families, James said.
Under national welfare policy, the federal government must approve state changes in AFDC rules.
Some government officials have speculated that the Clinton administration might be trying to snub Allen because of his frequent criticisms.
KEYWORDS: WELFARE SOCIAL SERVICES by CNB