State on hook for welfare penalty
Saturday, August 13, 2011
State on hook for welfare penalty
By: Catherine Candisky, The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio's excuse of a poor state economy as the reason why it has
so few welfare recipients working or training for a job didn't fly
with federal regulators.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has rejected
the state's request to waive a $32.7 million penalty for failing in
2007 to meet a requirement that at least half of the families
receiving cash assistance be working or in training.
"While the state submitted data related to its poor economy as
compared to that of the U.S., most of the data did not relate to
the fiscal year 2007 work-participation rate," Earl S. Johnson,
director of the federal Office of Family Assistance, wrote to
Michael B. Colbert, director of the Ohio Department of Job and
Family Services.
Ohio officials are still waiting for responses to similar
requests for 2008, 2009 and 2010. The state faces an additional
$103 million in fines for 2008 and 2009, but the 2010 penalty has
not yet been calculated.
Ohio was among six states failing to meet work requirements in
2009, the most recent statistics available, and only one of three
to miss the mark for three consecutive years, according to the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. California and Maine were
the two others.
Colbert said yesterday that he still hopes to sway federal
regulators with results rather than excuses.
"The economy bears a burden to some degree, but the reality is,
we have to make it a priority," he said.
The department has been providing support for a renewed effort
by caseworkers to help welfare recipients find jobs or get into
training programs. Colbert's goal is to meet the federal benchmark
by next spring, and the state already has made significant
progress.
In May, fewer than 1 in 4 welfare recipients met federal work
requirements. Now, the rate is approaching 1 in 3.
Colbert said he's focusing efforts on populous urban counties
and pushing caseworkers to sanction recipients who don't follow the
rules. He also has increased the number of hearing officers by 20
percent so that recipients who object can no longer "game" the
system through a lengthy appeal process.
"If we keep the focus on meeting the work requirements, we can
get there," said Joel Potts, director of the Ohio Job and Family
Services Directors' Association.
"It's not just important to avoid the federal penalty, it's
important to the people on welfare and to (taxpayers) who view
welfare as a temporary assistance program. They want people
retrained and retooled, and that takes an investment."
Reductions in state aid to county welfare offices have forced
local officials to slash staff and services provided to the needy.
However, the recently passed state budget restored about $25
million to help counties meet the work requirement.
Breaking the cycle of poverty with a job was a centerpiece of
the sweeping 1996 federal welfare-to-work law. Ohio, which launched
its reforms the next year, met work requirements from 1999 to
2006.
Colbert noted that the state received credits from federal
regulators to help meet the goals during that time. The state has
not been able to meet the benchmark since those bonus points were
exhausted.