- Backlogs for aid may grow, By Mary Vorsino, May 6, 2010, Honolulu Advertiser: “The state has abandoned a controversial cost-cutting and modernization plan for benefits eligibility offices, a plan that included laying off 228 workers. But officials warned that without the changes, big backlogs for food stamps, cash aid and other applications will continue to grow. The state could also face federal penalties for failing to process applications in a timely way, Department of Human Services director Lillian Koller said yesterday…”
- Override vote ends plan to close welfare offices, By Mark Niesse (AP), May 6, 2010, Honolulu Star Bulletin: “The state Department of Human Services has called off a plan to close all the state’s welfare eligibility offices and lay off 228 public employees. A law passed by the Legislature last week stopped the state from moving forward with the proposal to close the state’s 31 welfare locations and replace them with two new processing centers in Honolulu and Hilo, said Human Services Director Lillian Koller. Republican Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed the law, but the Democrat-controlled Legislature’s override prevented welfare office closures on the neighbor islands and required public hearings before they could be consolidated on Oahu…”
Tag: Caseloads
Application Process and Delivery of Benefits – Michigan
Welfare caseloads rise, cause frustration, By Catherine Jun, April 5, 2010, Detroit News: “State welfare workers are juggling an astronomical number of requests for help, causing delays in emergency benefits to families and in some cases kicking them erroneously off welfare, according to state employees and welfare recipients. And in crowded welfare offices around the state, the frustration of families waiting for food, medical or cash assistance is reportedly boiling over, with threats and assaults against caseworkers. ‘They’re just frustrated with us. We can’t get their work processed fast enough,’ said Nancy Opatich, who works at the Michigan Department of Human Services office in Warren and who testified before a Michigan House subcommittee in the fall. Since 2001, the welfare assistance caseload in Michigan has dramatically swelled to 2.4 million cases, triple that of 2002, raising per-worker caseloads to 740 from 320…”
TANF Enrollment – Hawaii, West Virginia
- Hawaii’s welfare numbers rising for first time in decade, By Mary Vorsino, December 27, 2009, Honolulu Advertiser: “For the first time in a decade, the number of Hawai’i families receiving state- or federally funded cash benefits is up from the year before as the economic crisis hits the state’s poorest in what advocates say illustrates the scope of need in the community. Advocates also worry more increases are still to come. This year, the average welfare caseload in the Islands increased by about 4 percent compared with 2008 – or by about 300 families. ‘This is the safety net,’ said Debbie Shimizu, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers-Hawai’i, adding, ‘This group is probably going to get bigger…'”
- Welfare program for jobless on rise, By Sara Gavin, December 28, 2009, Charleston Daily Mail: “After declining steadily for the past decade, temporary welfare payments from the state to families who have exhausted all other benefits are on the rise again. WV WORKS, administered by the Department of Health and Human Resources, was restructured in 1997 to provide temporary assistance to families who have exhausted other benefit avenues. The program initially carried a caseload of nearly 38,000. It is part of the larger cash assistance program known as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. WV Works cases had been declining steadily over the past decade, bottoming out at about 9,000 statewide. But over the past 18 months officials have seen a steady uptick of about 1,800 additional cases, bringing the new total to almost 11,000 in West Virginia…”