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1992.04.10 :  Wisconsin Welfare Reform

Contact:  Larry Dye (202) 401-9215
April 10, 1992

        HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., today said the
federal government's approval of a welfare reform demonstration
in Wisconsin "is proof of the President's commitment to changing
the face of welfare from a system that encourages dependency to
one that encourages self-sufficiency."
        The Wisconsin project, called the "Parental and Family
Responsibility Demonstration," was approved this morning at a
White House meeting involving President Bush, HHS Secretary
Sullivan and Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. 
        "We are pleased to approve Wisconsin's innovative welfare
reform waiver," Secretary Sullivan said.  "The President's
intention is clear.  We will work closely with states that desire
to reform the welfare system.  We will also work quickly with the
states to expedite waivers that promote self-sufficiency for
America's families and improve the life prospects of children.  I
want states to know that we look forward to their continuing to
be laboratories of change for the welfare system. We value on
their ingenuity and creativity."
     The Parental and Family Responsibility Demonstration  will
include recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC) where the parent is a teenager. The recipients will
receive incentives to enter the job market or a training program. 
In addition, the AFDC benefit structure will be changed to
encourage marriage and discourage the parents from having
additional children while receiving welfare.

        "The best way to help children is to help their families
overcome barriers to self-sufficiency -- barriers such as a lack
of education, job skills or child care.  At the same time we can
provide incentives for welfare families to stay together and keep
more of their income they earn. The waivers we are granting
Wisconsin today accomplish these objectives," Sullivan said.

        Elements of the program include:  comprehensive education
and employment-related services for participants; increases in
the amount of monthly earnings which are disregarded in
calculating AFDC payments, and limits on the additional benefits
normally paid to families due to the birth of a child.

        "States are beginning to approach us to undertake reforms
of their welfare programs," said Jo Anne B. Barnhart, assistant
secretary for children and families.  "We encourage states to
come forward with their ideas.  We will do our part in seeing
that the waiver process is expedited so that state tests can be
encouraged."

        Wisconsin submitted the waiver application on March 13,
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1992. The project is expected to begin July 1, 1993, and will run
for five years.  Approximately 2,100 individuals are expected to
participate in the demonstration, which will take place in three
counties, including one that includes Milwaukee.

        The demonstration will include an experimental design, in
which some AFDC families will be in a group that is subject to
the project's rules.  Other families will be included in the
"control group" and will continue to participate in the
traditional program.
          


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