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Date: Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Michael Kharfen (202) 401-9215
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today approved an amendment to the "Assistance Payments Demonstration Project (APDP)," a statewide welfare demonstration for California. The amendment includes reductions in cash assistance benefits for California welfare recipients, combined with new work incentives and specific exemptions from benefit reductions.
APDP's design includes new work incentives, such as increased earnings disregards and the removal of the limitation on two parent families working more than 100 hours.
This waiver, originally approved by HHS in October 1992, was challenged in court in the case Beno v. Shalala. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voided the original waiver and returned it for reconsideration to HHS.
Under the original demonstration, California sought to subject all recipients to the benefit reductions. However, consistent with a demonstration designed to encourage work, HHS approved the amendment with exemptions to the benefit cuts for certain people who would not reasonably be expected to work, such as persons with disabilities and teen parents attending school. The exclusion of persons with disabilities under the demonstration is similar to the current AFDC and JOBS program. The waiver also gives the state the flexibility to make other determinations of incapacity to work.
The exemption of 16- to 18-year-old high school mothers reinforces the importance of completing a young person's education. Data on employment and earnings indicate that graduating from high school is critical to the long-term economic well-being of teenagers.
The state's demonstration was further amended by withdrawing waiver authority granted in the original 1992 approval that would have allowed California to provide lower AFDC benefits to new residents of the state. The demonstration will operate for 3 years and includes a rigorous evaluation.