BY B.G. GREGG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
According to the people who make the rules, Hamilton County's welfare reform plan receives an A grade so far.
"Of the large counties, your county is probably superior to all the others," said State Rep. Robert Netzley, R-Laura, chairman of Ohio's Welfare Oversight Council, which visited Hamilton County on Tuesday to see how the human services department's welfare plan was working.
The committee spent most of the day in meetings with members of the human services department, the human services planning committee (made up of local citizens) and those who contract with the county to provide services.
Mr. Netzley said he was especially impressed with the human services department's job training programs and outreach with local businesses that enable it to quickly pair former recipients with jobs.
Noting that the county has reduced its welfare roll from 69,000 to 27,000 in the past four years, he said, "You're definitely doing the right things."
Tuesday night, the committee held a town meeting at Memorial Hall attended by about 75 people. Many wanted to either tout a program they think works in helping people leave welfare, or ask the committee to go easy on penalizing welfare recipients who are not completely with the program.
Current rules require a welfare recipient to lose one monthly check for violating rules, three checks for a second offense and six checks on the third offense.
Many in Tuesday's audience told the oversight committee that people have been sanctioned unfairly for not having their paperwork in order, not being able to find child care, and not having transportation to a job or the human services department.
Some suggested that a sanction of $50 for a first offense -- a bill proposed in June by several state legislators -- was a better option. Col Owens, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Cincinnati and a member of the county's human services planning committee, said caseworkers had been handling up to 275 cases each before a reorganization last month that gave the caseworkers handling the easiest cases about 400 each, and those handling the more difficult cases about 100 each.
He expects fewer sanctions because caseworkers will be able to spend more time helping the clients who really need it. "With 275 cases apiece, they could not work those cases with any sensitivity," he said.
State Rep. Gary Cates, R-West Chester, asked county human services leaders to ensure an appeals process was in place for those who felt unfairly sanctioned. "It is not our intention to give people sanctions if it is not their fault," he said.
The meeting was also a chance for the oversight committee -- made up mostly of legislators -- to hear what it should be doing to ensure welfare reform works.
Deanna Henry, who helps train and find jobs for clients of Cincinnati Works, a privately funded organization that has trained and found jobs for approximately 400 people in the last few years, said legislators should continue helping former recipients even after they find jobs, which often pay low wages.
"They need to get better jobs, and they need to move up the food chain," she said.
