The clock is ticking. The rules are set.

It is time now to find methods to work within those rules, or face a difficult future.

Public assistance, under welfare reform, has become a temporary place for people in need. Although for most people, public assistance has always been temporary, for others it can no longer be a way of life. Two federally mandated requirements -- a lifetime limit of 60 months on cash assistance and a requirement to be working within two years of going on cash assistance -- forces that.

Across Kansas, recipients of public assistance have heard the clock and are responding. Cash assistance caseloads are dropping rapidly. Between August of 1993 and January of this year, the number of people on cash assistance in Kansas dropped from 89,399 to 57,489.

Although the vibrant Kansas economy is part of the reason for the drop, the new reality that public assistance in Kansas is temporary also is a factor. The adoption of KansasWorks, a Department of Social and Rehabilitation (SRS) initiative which focuses on moving public assistance recipients quickly into employment is also a major factor.

Applicants now see the change the minute they arrive at SRS offices across Kansas seeking assistance. No longer is determining their eligibility for assistance the top priority; finding work is.

"Believe me, they emphasize work," said Tamara Lane, 25, Topeka. She came to the Topeka SRS office seeking assistance after she was laid off a construction cleanup job over the winter. She supports a two-year-old son.

Lane was part of a group of about 20 people involved in Applicant Job Search, a program that now starts for every public assistance applicant the minute they apply for assistance. Under the program, applicants for cash assistance immediately begin searching for employment as a condition of eligibility. That first visit to the SRS office, in fact, gets them the assignment to make 10 employment applications within a week in order to qualify for assistance.

Lane said the SRS economic assistance workers try to help them figure out the type of work they would like to have, and then inform them of job openings they know about in those areas. She said they also offer assistance with child care, and, if needed, a transportation allowance and a clothing allowance. In the Topeka office, a resource center also is available to help with job skills and resumes.

The SRS caseworker is the person applicants first see when they come in looking for help. Now, instead of concentrating solely on gathering income and resources information to find out whether applicants are eligible, the workers also talk to them about their life situation and explore job prospects.

"Welfare reform provides an opportunity to expand the interview process to include an employment focus," said Connie Hubbell, commissioner of Income Maintenance and Employment Preparation Services. "Now we let the applicant know up front there is an expectation of employment."

Margaret Rosdahl, a supervisor in the Atchison SRS office, called it a "kinder" approach. She defines kinder as getting the applicant involved in improving their life situation.

"It's better for the client than saying you can get cash for 20 years," she said. "They start feeling better about themselves."

During the first three months of Applicant Job Search in the Atchison office, almost 40 percent of those applying for public assistance found work.

"A lot more of our time is spent discussing employment and resources and jobs," said Patsy Valliant, a caseworker in Atchison. "Requiring applicants to do this is really making a difference."

Across the country, states that have implemented Applicant Job Search also report it to be successful. In Oregon, up to 50 percent of applicants find employment as a result of the program.

Valient described the change in her job.

"Before, we'd find out what their income and resources are and send them on their way," she said. "Now we find out about their family and what special needs the family might have. You learn a lot ... a lot of times you find out the reason why they lost their job. It all is a factor in what kind of job and support they might need."

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001