Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 25, 1997
Contact: Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136
Under Locke's plan, 60,200 people - more than two-thirds of all those applying for assistance - would be required to actively look for work or participate in job training in a comprehensive statewide effort to help break the cycle of welfare dependency.
"As its title suggests, this program puts work first," Locke said. "It provides both the positive incentives and the firm hand needed to move people off welfare and into jobs."
Based on successful models used in other states, WorkFirst provides the child care, health care and job training necessary to help people find and sustain employment, while also adopting the five-year lifetime limit on benefits prescribed under the new federal welfare law. Those who do not cooperate with mandatory work requirements would be penalized through graduated grant reductions under Locke's proposal.
While employment is the primary focus of Locke's plan, the program also recognizes the needs of the state's most vulnerable residents by providing state funds to help those who are disabled, caring for a disabled relative, or unable to care for themselves. It also addresses the real needs of legal immigrants - many of them elderly, blind or disabled - who are denied eligibility for federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and food stamps under the new federal reform law.
Locke said the budget proposal he plans to release next week will include funding to serve all those denied eligibility for the federal SSI benefits under the state's General Assistance-Unemployable program. Food stamps will also be available to legal immigrants who meet the same criteria as other residents of the state.
"The approach I am proposing is both fair and financially sound," Locke said. "It treats people equally, and offers us the best chance in decades to attack poverty, protect our most vulnerable neighbors, and move the poor into the economic mainstream."
Locke said he will discuss his plan to finance WorkFirst in the context of the overall budget proposal he plans to unveil next week. He did note that his budget will include nearly $100 million in additional funding for child care, sufficient funding to expand enrollment in the state's Basic Health Plan by 20,000 people, and $7.9 million to offer work-based learning programs for 4,500 low-income students at state community and technical colleges.
Other key elements of the WorkFirst program announced today include:
- A requirement that teen parents participate in education programs and live with their parents or in an approved living situation to qualify for assistance.
- A requirement that able-bodied people who are unable to find employment perform community service to receive an assistance grant.
- A new "diversion fund" to help families cope with short-term financial crises brought on by one-time needs, such as car repair or short-term child care needs.
- Tough sanctions on those who do not make court-ordered child-support payments, including suspension of drivers' licenses, professional licenses, and recreational licenses for those in arrears.
- Additional funding for drug and alcohol treatment for those who need help in preparing to go to work.
- A regional approach to implementing the program that recognizes differences in both the clients and the economy of various areas of the state.
- A wage subsidy to employers who hire people on assistance with limited or no job experience.
Locke called for new partnerships among businesses, community organizations, educators and families to help break the cycle of welfare dependency. He highlighted a successful program in Edmonds where Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska and Edmonds Community College are moving welfare workers into jobs in the medical field.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 25, 1997
Contact: Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136
Locke's welfare plan mandates work, calls for new partnerships
OLYMPIA - Gov. Gary Locke today unveiled a plan to replace Washington's welfare system with a WorkFirst program which requires people who are capable of working to do so as a condition of receiving state assistance.Under Locke's plan, 60,200 people - more than two-thirds of all those applying for assistance - would be required to actively look for work or participate in job training in a comprehensive statewide effort to help break the cycle of welfare dependency.
"As its title suggests, this program puts work first," Locke said. "It provides both the positive incentives and the firm hand needed to move people off welfare and into jobs."
Based on successful models used in other states, WorkFirst provides the child care, health care and job training necessary to help people find and sustain employment, while also adopting the five-year lifetime limit on benefits prescribed under the new federal welfare law. Those who do not cooperate with mandatory work requirements would be penalized through graduated grant reductions under Locke's proposal.
While employment is the primary focus of Locke's plan, the program also recognizes the needs of the state's most vulnerable residents by providing state funds to help those who are disabled, caring for a disabled relative, or unable to care for themselves. It also addresses the real needs of legal immigrants - many of them elderly, blind or disabled - who are denied eligibility for federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and food stamps under the new federal reform law.
Locke said the budget proposal he plans to release next week will include funding to serve all those denied eligibility for the federal SSI benefits under the state's General Assistance-Unemployable program. Food stamps will also be available to legal immigrants who meet the same criteria as other residents of the state.
"The approach I am proposing is both fair and financially sound," Locke said. "It treats people equally, and offers us the best chance in decades to attack poverty, protect our most vulnerable neighbors, and move the poor into the economic mainstream."
Locke said he will discuss his plan to finance WorkFirst in the context of the overall budget proposal he plans to unveil next week. He did note that his budget will include nearly $100 million in additional funding for child care, sufficient funding to expand enrollment in the state's Basic Health Plan by 20,000 people, and $7.9 million to offer work-based learning programs for 4,500 low-income students at state community and technical colleges.
Other key elements of the WorkFirst program announced today include:
- A requirement that teen parents participate in education programs and live with their parents or in an approved living situation to qualify for assistance.
- A requirement that able-bodied people who are unable to find employment perform community service to receive an assistance grant.
- A new "diversion fund" to help families cope with short-term financial crises brought on by one-time needs, such as car repair or short-term child care needs.
- Tough sanctions on those who do not make court-ordered child-support payments, including suspension of drivers' licenses, professional licenses, and recreational licenses for those in arrears.
- Additional funding for drug and alcohol treatment for those who need help in preparing to go to work.
- A regional approach to implementing the program that recognizes differences in both the clients and the economy of various areas of the state.
- A wage subsidy to employers who hire people on assistance with limited or no job experience.
Locke called for new partnerships among businesses, community organizations, educators and families to help break the cycle of welfare dependency. He highlighted a successful program in Edmonds where Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska and Edmonds Community College are moving welfare workers into jobs in the medical field.
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