DATE: Wednesday, June 25, 1997              TAG: 9706250449

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY EMERY P. DALESIO, ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RALEIGH                           LENGTH:   73 lines

N.C. LAGS IN WELFARE REFORM, DATA SUGGESTS REDUCTION IN CASH ASSISTANCE LESS THAN FOR OTHER SOUTHEAST STATES.

Newly updated federal figures suggest North Carolina's efforts to reduce welfare rolls lag behind all other states in the Southeast but were on par with the national average.

In January 1996, the federal government approved welfare reforms in North Carolina that included mandatory work requirements and a two-year limit on the receipt of benefits.

From that date until March of this year, North Carolina cut the number of children and adults receiving cash assistance from 282,086 to 247,020 - a 12 percent drop, according to figures updated this month by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In comparison, Wyoming and Wisconsin showed drops of 48 percent and 36 percent over the same period, respectively.

The John Locke Foundation, a conservative think-tank, used the data on Tuesday to urge state leaders to be more aggressive in reforming welfare programs.

``Every state has tried to move welfare recipients to work,'' said John Hood, president of the foundation. ``Apparently other states have been doing it longer and doing it better.''

But a spokesman for the state Division of Social Services said North Carolina ranks favorably if the time period for comparison is extended to July 1995 - the date Gov. Jim Hunt implemented his Work First program. Those numbers show a 23 percent drop.

The state has emphasized moving welfare recipients into jobs instead of cutting eligibility for benefits, said a spokesman for the state Division of Social Services said Tuesday.

``We wanted to move families to employment rather than dropping the caseloads dramatically,'' said Mark Benton, who evaluates the progress of the state's Work First program.

In the Southeast, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee showed reductions of between 15 percent and 31 percent since 1996. The national average was a 13 percent drop.

The federal figures count all those who applied or received benefits during an entire month. North Carolina, however, measures its progress by taking a snapshot in time - comparing the number of people who received benefits on the first day of a month.

That's because about 7,000 to 8,000 people apply for public aid every month while slightly more drop off the rolls, said Pheon Beal, who oversees the Work First program. All of those people are counted in the federal figures, she said.

Using the state's method, welfare rolls have dropped 23 percent from before the start of Work First to last month.

On Monday, Hunt used a different measurement - the number of families that have left the rolls since the start of Work First nearly two years ago - in touting a 24 percent drop.

``While they use different sets of numbers I think they tell us the same thing,'' Benton said. ``The majority has occurred since the start of Work First.''

A report last month by the White House Council of Economic Advisers said state reforms have played a significant role in cutting welfare caseloads nationwide. But nearly half the dramatic drops can be attributed to a booming economy pulling more people into available jobs, the report said.

Hood called on state legislative leaders to become more aggressive with reforms, citing the experience of states like Wisconsin.

Recipients in Wisconsin are paid only after completing a required number of community service hours or other activities, and all applicants are required to look for a job before receiving their first check, Beal said.

``This is not to say there is absolutely no value in Work First because that is difficult to evaluate. It is simply to say that North Carolina did not appear to be a successful welfare reformer when you compare us to other states,'' he said. ``I think we should be going further than that. Other states have.'' KEYWORDS: WELFARE REFORM

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