Copyright 2001 The Denver Post Corporation The Denver
Post
November 4, 2001 Sunday 2D EDITION
SECTION: PERSPECTIVE; Pg. F-01
LENGTH: 996 words
HEADLINE: IS
WELFARE IN JEOPARDY? Reform still a work in progress
BYLINE: By Marva Livingston Hammons,
BODY: Implementing Colorado Works, this state's
version of welfare reform, presented an ongoing challenge, a
work in progress, before Sept. 11.
We are in
year five of a radically different approach to cash public
assistance, replacing a 60-year-old program, a lightning rod for
critics, and nearly its own culture. Aid to Families with Dependent
Children was a rigidly written and enforced entitlement program. It
came with few requirements to get on and still fewer incentives to
get off welfare.
Policymakers talked about
reforming the nation's cash welfare system for decades before
doing so in 1996. Sixty-one years after Congress created AFDC at the
height of the Great Depression, they replaced it with Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families at the height of a white-hot
economy.
The times in which both programs were created
are instructive in understanding part of the challenge in
implementing TANF: AFDC in 1935, when everyone wanted a job; TANF in
1996, when jobs went wanting.
Colorado's
implementation of TANF, or Colorado Works, became effective July 1,
1997. It is supervised by the Colorado Department of Human Services
and implemented by county departments of human/social services.
Colorado Works/TANF has two key components: basic
cash assistance and diversion programs. There is a 60-month
lifetime limit on basic cash assistance. The benefit varies according
to family size and income, but as an example, the benefit is $ 356
per month for an adult and two dependent children who have no
income.
Individuals receiving basic cash assistance
must be in a work-related activity (employed or engaged in education
or training) within 24 months of being deemed job-ready.
The 60-month limit could become an issue if we find
ourselves in a protracted economic downturn. A family that is
eligible for basic cash assistance may volunteer for a State
Diversion Grant as long as the family does not have a need for
ongoing assistance but rather a specific need. These grants can be
used for anything from a set of tools to car repair, even first and
last month's rent to keep a family from becoming homeless. This may
be provided as cash, vouchers or in-kind services.
The kind of flexible and creative assistance possible
under Colorado Works was not possible with AFDC. Families that are
not eligible for basic cash assistance still may receive a
county diversion grants, which tend to be for families who are less
needy but still low-income. Diversion assistance is not subject to
the 60-month lifetime limit.
All Colorado
citizens receiving any type of assistance under Colorado Works must
sign an Individual Responsibility Contract, stipulating what specific
actions they will take to move toward self-sufficiency. County
caseworkers monitor compliance with the contract. Participants who do
not comply face sanctions.
Upon the implementation of
Colorado Works in 1997, caseloads dropped significantly. Today, they
are down more than 50 percent. All who could get work did - and
pretty quickly. Those who remain on assistance face multiple
barriers to employment: mental illness, significant
disabilities, substance abuse, domestic violence issues.
States can extend the 60-month lifetime limit for 20
percent of their caseloads. The unknown factor now is the depth
and duration of the downturn. And without the experience
of administering welfare reform in a bad economy, we don't
know if the 20 percent will be sufficient.
The state's Department of Human Services does know that
a good deal of the job growth experienced over the last five
years has been in the service sector. While it seems to be
rebounding, it was one of the hardest hit by the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11. It seems fair to say that a number of former Colorado
Works clients will be ineligible for unemployment insurance. We
don't yet know the number who will need to return to public
assistance.
Fiscally, the change from AFDC to Colorado
Works looks like this: Under AFDC, states were reimbursed by the
federal government at 50 percent of their expenditures on public
assistance. Of that, the state contributed 30 percent and the
counties the remaining 20 percent.
Colorado
Works is now funded through a capped block grant. The Colorado
Department of Human Services received $ 139 million this year. Over
the four years that Colorado Works has been in place, the state has
obligated 88 percent to 90 percent of the block grant, or roughly $
580 million. All remaining funds have been distributed to the
counties.
Under TANF/Colorado Works, states have the
flexibility to determine who gets served and at what level because
once the block grant is spent, there is no more federal money
forthcoming. States - and, by extension, counties in Colorado - may
need to adjust the program or increase their level of funding.
TANF is scheduled for congressional reauthorization in
2002. Issues that need to be discussed include wage sufficiency
and progression. For example, the average wage earned by
Coloradans transitioning off public assistance is now $ 8.12. It
takes roughly twice that, about $ 15 an hour, for a family of four to
live without needing any form of public assistance. Related to
this will be the necessary discussion of the critical issues
of affordable housing, as well as affordable, quality child care.
The Colorado Department of Human Services will
closely monitor caseload numbers in the weeks and months ahead
and continue the challenge of implementing welfare reform in
Colorado, which is still a work in progress.
Marva Livingston Hammons can be reached
at cdhs.communications@state.co.us.
Marva Livingston Hammons is executive director of the
Colorado Department of Human Services.
Document 84 of 155. 