AG 1998 01 20 - Laserfiche WebLink

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3) A more thorough use of community resources at agencies like Piedmont Behavioral Health and the Housing Authority, as well as new initiatives with churches and the Chamber of Commerce to provide resources needed to oyercome barriers many current welfare recipients face in seeking and maintaining employment; 4) A "pay for performance" system which will provide more effective sanctions for those who choose not to comply with work requirements; and 5) Addition simplification measures to reduce paperwork. The total County funding required to support this Plan will be somewhat less than the current appropriation. Information and Analysis on County Status At the October 20 meeting of the Board, I recommended that the Board request "electing" as opposed to "standard" status subject to gathering and considering additional information, as provided by recently-enacted State legislation on welfare reform. The Board acted to do this, and I indicated that I would return with additional recommendations. I would like to offer the following information, analysis, and recommendations. The Cabarms Work Over Welfare and Work First Programs have been successful, resulting in a 40% reduction in the number of families receiving welfare payments during the past two years. The Work First Block Grant Plan being presented now will build upon this success. It also contains measures, especially the pay for performance policy and continuation and expansion of the Work Over Welfare Program, which we have come to feel are essential if our community is to continue to have success in increasing the number of families which move from welfare dependence to work and economic self-sufficiency. We have determined that as things now stand with State law and policy, we will not be permitted to implement our proposed pay for perfo,mance policy, and we may not be permitted to continue the Work Over Welfare Program, unless we continue our request for and are finally selected by the State as, an electing county, or we secure State-level legislation authorizing these. (Federal waivers for the cash assistance portion of Work Over Welfare remain in effect, and the State has indicated it will help us in securing continuation of the federal Food Stamp waivers). Again as things stand in State law and policy, electing status involves risks and costs which I feel are unacceptable for counties. Among these are: 1) Cash assistance payments for standard counties are to be made from one large pool of federal funding, while cash assistance payments for electing counties are to be made from their individual block grants. Electing counties haVe no provision for assistance from the State if their cash assistance costs exceed their block grants, while standard counties do not face this risk.