For years, fewer than one in four welfare recipients in Ohio were either working, in job training programs or doing community service. That violates federal rules requiring half of welfare recipients be working or in work programs, so the feds have fined Ohio millions. To stop the fines, Gov. John Kasich used an executive order to create Ohio Works Now – a program that provides a 10 dollar food stamp benefit through Temporary Aid to Needy Families or TANF funds to poor working families, so they can be counted toward that 50% mark. Michael Colbert is the director of the state Department of Job and Family Services.
"This allows us, because it is a TANF benefit, this additional $10 a month, to include this population in our rolls. So they’re already working, we’re able to include them in our TANF work participation numbers. A lot of people call it padding the numbers. It’s not really padding the numbers.”
That 10 dollar a month benefit is being greeted with some skepticism by those who work with needy families. Phil Cole is with the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies.
“I look at the $10 and I think, if it provides people with more income without removing them from public assistance rolls, then that’s ok. But let’s remember, $10 is not much. That’s like getting a 6 cent an hour pay increase if you’re working a 40 hour week.”
But Joel Potts, who heads the group representing the directors of the 88 county departments of job and family services, is a believer.
“It’s not a huge investment, but that little investment is actually going to help us save the entire public assistance and welfare-to-work program in the state.”
But there’s more to helping welfare recipients get to work than this program, says Colbert. The program was created to get away from the federal fines, since they’re so big they threaten the entire system. But Colbert says there’s also a new aggressive effort to make sure recipients know that work participation is a priority – from the time they’re determined to be eligible for benefits.
“What we’re doing now is turning the process and saying, we want to assess you up front, find out what placement or what work activity function you should be doing and make that part of the initial intake priority.”
And Potts says that’s being communicated to recipients with posters and other signage that clearly states that those who get welfare benefits are subject to a work requirement. But Potts also says there’s a serious problem in getting those people into jobs that pay what they need to live.
“This is an issue that I think is going to be much bigger for the state and for our economy for a long time to come. The jobs that are being created in our economy are not paying the kind of wages that help people lift themselves out of poverty. So they’re doing everything that we as society expects, that we as our programs expect – they’re getting out, they’re working, they’re trying to take care of their families, but still continue to be living in poverty.”
For now, Colbert says he’s confident that the state will avoid paying more in penalties, since the Ohio Works Now program will immediately vault Ohio over the 50% work participation rate. But the federal government has said it won’t waive the 33 million dollars Ohio was fined for in fines for 2007.