the bistro off broadway

Zanesville Times Recorder
Welfare rolls shrinking because of work rules
by Benjamin Lanka
Sep 28, 2012 

Despite campaign claims that work rules for welfare have been gutted, thousands of Ohioans have left the program's rolls largely because of those rules. 

An analysis by The Dayton Daily News found the No. 1 reason people went off welfare is because officials are taking a harder stance on requiring people to perform work activities as required under law. That includes work, community service or job training for at least 30 hours per week. 

In Muskingum County, the drop in welfare participation bested that of the state. 

In the 12 months ending in July, the number of Ohio households receiving welfare dropped by nearly 21 percent. There were 73,451 Ohio households in the program in July, costing $27.3 million for that month, the most recent data available. The cost in August 2011 was $34.5 million in Ohio for the federal program. 

"The work requirement in Ohio is laid out both in federal law and in state law, and those have not changed," Ohio Department of Job and Family Services spokesman Ben Johnson told the newspaper. 

The program, known now as Ohio Works First, has come under attack during the past few months. Republican Mitt Romney's campaign produced commercials accusing President Barack Obama of gutting the welfare work requirements created in the 1990s. 

The U.S. House voted before its recess to rescind guidelines introduced by the Health and Human Services Department giving states more flexibility in how they administer welfare-to-work requirements. Republicans say the guidelines are an attempt to undermine work requirements, but the bill has little chance in the Senate. 

Obama has labeled such characterizations false and said the changes came in response to governors wanting more flexibility in the program. He said the flexibility was allowed for states that increase the amount of people on welfare who are working. 

Roxane Somerlot, director of Marion County Job and Family Services, said the work requirements have not gone away from her office, and in fact are a common reason why people don't sign up for the assistance program. She said her department informs people they must work at least 30 hours for what amounts to less than $3 per hour in subsidy. 

"It's obvious if you're able to work and ready to work, even a minimum wage employment would be a better option for your family," she said. "We get actually that very comment almost every day." 

Read the rest of this article at the Zanesville Times Recorder


 
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