FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, Jan. 9, 1995
Contact: Michael Kharfen (202) 401-9215
South Carolina Waiver Signed
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today approved the South Carolina Self-Sufficiency
and Personal Responsibility Program, a welfare demonstration for South
Carolina.
"This demonstration will test an
approach to reforming welfare that seeks to firmly but fairly move people
quickly to work," said Secretary Shalala. "This administration
continues its commitment to grant states the flexibility to experiment
with new approaches in their individual welfare programs."
Under the program, each Aid to Families
with Dependent Children recipient will be required to work with a caseworker
to develop and sign an Individual Self-Sufficiency Plan (ISSP). Each
plan will include a series of steps to prepare the recipient for work
<>and a timetable for completion.
Upon completion of the ISSP provisions,
the individual will be considered job-ready, and will have 30 days while
still covered by AFDC to find a job in the area of training completed
under the ISSP. If a job in that field is not found, the recipient will
have an additional 30 days in which to find any job in the private sector.
If the recipient has not found a job at the end of this period, the
person will be required to accept a public sector job provided by the
state. There will be progressive sanctions for non-compliance, which
may ultimately result in removal of the entire family from assistance.
"South Carolina's project has unique
features. It emphasizes the responsibility of the recipient to stick
to a structured and specific plan for work, while offering incentives
to make work pay," said Mary Jo Bane, HHS assistant secretary for
children and families. "We will watch the results closely."
To help families make the transition
to self-sufficiency, a "phase-down" period will allow recipients
who take jobs to receive additional but reduced AFDC benefits for up
to 12 months. Benefits will amount to 20 percent of the original grant
during the first three months, 15 percent during the second, 10 percent
during the third, and 5 percent during the final three months. Families
will remain eligible for Medicaid and child care throughout the "phase-down"
period, after which they will be eligible for regular transitional Medicaid
and child care benefits.
The project also raises the AFDC resource
limit to $3,000 and exempts the cash value of life insurance policies,
the value of one vehicle, and the amount of interest and dividend payments.
Children of participants in the program
will be required to maintain satisfactory school attendance and receive
appropriate immunizations.
The demonstration will operate in four
counties: Berkeley, Dorchester, Charleston and Barnwell for a period
of five years. There will be a rigorous evaluation.
###
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials
are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
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