THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 9, 1995 TAG: 9510090036
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
As a new state effort to move welfare recipients into jobs gathers steam, local social services agencies are reaching out to employers.
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. announced last month that he was seeking federal waivers for his Work First program, which requires recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children to get a paid or unpaid job within 12 weeks of receiving their first welfare check.
At the same time, Pasquotank County hosted information sessions for employers and public agencies to spread the word on how the welfare system works.
The department also plans to send letters to the dozens of local employers who did not attend the sessions, inviting them to offer more opportunities to AFDC clients.
It's more important than ever for employers to know about public assistance, social services officials say, because welfare recipients' benefits now depend on their ability to get a job.
``They're going to be left without the safety net they had in the past,'' said Marilyn Owens, Work First supervisor for Pasquotank Social Services.
But many people hold misconceptions about the details of welfare programs, social services officials said. AFDC recipients think they will lose Medicaid benefits for their children if they take a job - which often isn't true. And employers don't know how to counsel low-income employees on the advantages of holding a job.
Pasquotank was one of 10 North Carolina counties to inaugurate Work First with an extra informational push to address these issues. Assisting was the Southern Institute on Children and Families, which has studied misunderstandings about welfare and prepared pamphlets on how people can work their way off the public assistance system.
``A lot of people on public assistance didn't understand how the programs operated,'' Pasquotank Social Services Director Gwyn Coleman said Thursday. ``Definitely, many employers didn't understand.''
Pasquotank was the only county working with the institute that invited neighboring counties to participate in the outreach effort, Coleman said. Currituck, Gates, Camden and Perquimans counties also were involved in the sessions.
Sarah Shuptrine, president and founder of the Columbia, S.C.,-based children and families institute, said the Pasquotank session ``went very well.''
``There were a lot of folks there that told us that this information was going to help them help families,'' Shuptrine said.
Work First began with the fiscal year July 1, replacing the JOBS program, which state officials said put more emphasis on training than on work.
Under the Work First program, welfare recipients must take a personal responsibility pledge that includes caring for their children, finding work and moving off welfare. AFDC benefits stop after two years - although Medicaid and food stamps may continue.
The program provides child and health care and eliminates the ``marriage penalty'' that reduced benefits for two-parent families.
Participants must work 30 hours a week. If they cannot find paying jobs, they are required to go to work for public service agencies.
The state is phasing in the work requirement and is awaiting permission from Washington to implement some of the initiatives. But the program is underway.
In Pasquotank County, about 200 adults of the 715 on AFDC are in the program, Owens said. Many people have found jobs and dropped off the welfare rolls.
Since July, nearly 25 Pasquotank participants have entered full-time employment, social services numbers show. About 20 have taken on part-time jobs.
But whether Work First is more effective than the JOBS program remains to be seen.
The training provided by JOBS helped people learn the skills to find better, more permanent employment, Coleman said.The question is whether Work First will move people to long-term work that keeps them off welfare.
Said Coleman, ``That'll be the test of if Work First is a good program.''
KEYWORDS: WELFARE AFDC NORTH CAROLINA by CNB