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Date: Monday, Aug. 19, 1996 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Michael Kharfen, (202) 401-9215
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced approval of "Actively Creating Tomorrow for Families," a statewide welfare demonstration project for Kansas. Kansas is the 42nd state and the 75th welfare demonstration approved under the Clinton Administration.
"As President Clinton prepares to sign historic welfare reform legislation that fulfills his principles of requiring work and promoting parental responsibility, he also continues his commitment to state flexibility," said Secretary Shalala. "This waiver lays a strong foundation for Kansas' new welfare program."
To encourage work and promote self-sufficiency, Kansas will institute stronger sanctions for those who fail to comply with work requirements or voluntarily quit a job. An adult who fails to attend a job interview when referred, refuses a bona fide offer of suitable employment, or quits a job without good cause will lose Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits for three months.
JOBS participation requirements will be increased to move more AFDC recipients toward self-sufficiency. Non-exempt parents may be required to participate in up to 20 hours of JOBS activities per week. There will be escalating sanctions for failure to comply, up to and including elimination of benefits. There will be exemptions for persons with multiple or severe barriers to self-sufficiency, but an expectant mother will no longer be exempt solely because of her pregnancy.
Increasing fiscal sanctions will be imposed when a caretaker does not cooperate with child support enforcement procedures without good cause. Failure to cooperate for a period of two months will result in loss of eligibility for the entire family.
To encourage the formation of two-parent families, mothers or fathers will be able to work more than 100 hours a month and retain eligibility. To encourage education, the state will disregard earnings of dependent children who are students.
To further encourage independence, earned income disregards will be increased and school loans and scholarships will be disregarded. The state will exclude the value of one vehicle from consideration as a resource, and will exclude any other vehicles used more than 50 percent of the time to produce income.
"With this demonstration, Kansas moves closer to ending welfare as we know it," said Mary Jo Bane, assistant secretary for children and families. "Kansas families will now have a new opportunity to achieve self-sufficiency."
The demonstration project will operate for five years and include a rigorous evaluation.
Under the welfare reform bill passed by Congress, states that have waivers approved prior to the law's enactment generally may continue their waivers even when they conflict with the legislation.