Welfare Reform Hits Home July 1, After Hearings Six Of 33 Input Sessions Throughout State Will Be Held In North Idaho

Idaho’s controversial welfare reform plan is entering its home stretch with a final series of public meetings.

The changes go into effect July 1. The Health and Welfare Department will hold 33 “Community Conversations,” including six in North Idaho, before sending the plan to the federal government for approval.

“We’ve had many public meetings over the last year and a half,” said Steve McKenna, self-reliance program manager for North Idaho. “There’s a lot of disagreement about how it should work.”

As McKenna’s title suggests, the thrust of the new program is to make people responsible for taking care of themselves rather than depending on taxpayers’ help.

Some people believe the state is going too far. A coalition of activists is meeting this weekend in Boise to discuss ways to “reform welfare reform.”

Idaho has taken a tougher approach to reform than is required by the federal law passed last August, said Jen Ray, executive director of the Idaho Women’s network.

“Many of us have grave concerns that these reforms will hurt Idaho families,” Ray said.

Advocates are particularly concerned about provisions that limit lifetime assistance to two years and cap monthly payments at $276 per month regardless of family size, and require people to relocate if no jobs are available in their hometowns.

But Health and Welfare Director Linda Caballero said it’s too late to change some parts of the plan, which came out of a governor’s task force.

“There are pieces of this draft plan which have been decided through the public process already and cannot be changed, such as the two-year lifetime limit on benefits and the work-first job and training requirements,” she said.

“However, other decisions need to be made before July 1, such as methods to evaluate the program’s success and rules around paternity establishment.”

The April meetings will focus on three parts of the reform plan. They are:

The Temporary Assistance for Families in Idaho Program. That will replace the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children, which gave families more money for each additional child, and which set no time limits on parents’ eligibility.

The Child Care State Plan, which will streamline the existing methods of reimbursing families. “It will be more user-friendly,” said McKenna.

Child support. A lot of legislation has already been passed to encourage parents to pay child support, such as driver’s license suspension for those who don’t pay. But there are still questions about how to best enforce the law, McKenna said.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: MEETINGS The final public meetings on Idaho’s welfare reform plan are scheduled in the following Panhandle towns: Kellogg: 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Washington Water Power building, 120 N. Hill St. Coeur d’Alene: 7-9 p.m. April 14, Harding Center, 411 N. 15th St. Post Falls: 4-6 p.m. April 14, Templin’s, 414 E. First St. Bonners Ferry: Noon, April 17, Chick ‘n Chop, U.S. Highway 95. Sandpoint: 3-5:30 p.m. April 17, Quality Inn, 807 Fifth Ave. St. Maries: Noon, Head Start Building, Main and 13th streets.