A report released last month by the National Health Policy Forum concerning the Kansas experience with welfare reform and access to health care found the state preforming well in reducing welfare dependency, promoting work, and collaborating with private industry.

The report, prepared following a visit to Kansas by National Health Policy Forum staff and several federal-level legislative and agency staff in late 1997, said Kansas has also done well in addressing the concerns about welfare reform of low-income citizens and advocates for the poor. Among members of the group visiting Kansas were researchers with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and top assistants to several senators and representatives.

Kansas was the first of several site visits scheduled by the group. They indicated Kansas was chosen to be the first site to visit because the state had begun welfare reform measures prior to enactment of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act.

"Considered a basically conservative state, Kansas has long been committed to a work ethic for all its citizens," the report said about choosing to evaluate the effects of welfare reform in the state. "Thus the transition to a 'work first' philosophy of welfare management had not necessitated a major rethinking or reorientation of state policy."

The report also said "The state is a microcosm of the nation as a whole in its mix of urban, suburban, and rural areas."

Federal officials who conducted the tour included top staff with the National Health Policy Forum, the assistant director on income security issues with the U.S. General Accounting Office, several researchers with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and legislative aides to U.S. Senator John Chaffee and former Rep. Vincent Snowbarger. The National Health Policy Forum plans additional visits to several other states.

Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services Secretary Rochelle Chronister, who met with the group, said she appreciated the recognition given Kansas for the work being done on welfare reform.

"We have made a major shift in Kansas, and SRS offices are now seen by staff and clients alike as a place people can use to find work or work training," she said. "Partnerships are being formed with communities and businesses and Kansans acknowledge that helping people find and keep work is a shared responsibility."

The report listed the following 'impressions', about the effect of welfare reform in Kansas:

*Federal welfare reform had essentially reinforced the message that Kansas was trying to impose on its own welfare-to-work initiatives and had given the state additional tools to foster that transition.

*State officials had identified certain elements of federal welfare reform that seemed problem-ridden and that state officials wanted to see altered. This included the fact that Kansas had already substantially reduced its welfare rolls by one-third between fiscal years 1994 and 1997. The remaining welfare recipient population had a greater concentration of long-term unemployed and parents with disabilities who are more difficult to serve, the report said. Therefore, the fact that 20 percent of the caseload can be exempt from work requirements under federal welfare reform would work far differently in Kansas than in other states where rolls have not dropped as dramatically.

*Welfare recipients themselves were enthusiastic about the opportunity to find gainful employment and escape welfare dependency, the report indicated. The group met with welfare recipients involved in work programs in both Kansas City and in Johnson County.

*The employers community seemed to have been unusually supportive and cooperative in hiring indigent parents with minimal skills and experience as a means of keeping them off welfare. Employers from across the state, including representatives from Cessna Aircraft, Spring and Marriot met with the group.

*Relatively few low-wage jobs offer employee health benefits, the report found. HealthWave, the new health insurance program for children without health insurance, is expected to help families. But the report said many people expressed concern about health coverage for adults with low incomes.

*Concern was reported about low-income workers with chronic conditions. The report said in instances when they are able to work, transitional Medicaid health care assistance of one year in duration does not last long enough to meet ongoing medical needs.

*Besides health care concerns, two elements were identified as key in the successful movement of low-income Kansans from welfare to work: the availability of acceptable quality child care and a well-developed public transportation system. In Kansas, particular concern was raised about the availability of child care after normal business hours and on weekends. Concerning transportation, the report said solutions to the problem are likely to be piecemeal and of limited scope.

*The report said in Kansas, the most effected parties - including state officials, private employers, and advocates for the poor - worked together toward common goals as well as maintain a mutual trust. However, an area of disagreement between the state and advocates concerned the application of sanctions to families who do not comply with work requirements.

State officials saw sanctions as a critical tool in compelling people to comply with job search requirements. Advocates voiced concern that sanctions were being applied too broadly, the report said.

*Concern was raised in the report about the state's ability to track clients once they have left welfare rolls. Both long-term success in job placements and access to ongoing health care were poorly documented, the report said.

The group met with Lt. Governor Gary Sherrer, Senator Sandy Praeger, Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services Secretary Rochelle Chronister, SRS Deputy Secretary Janet Schalansky, SRS Adult and Medical Services Commissioner Ann Koci, and SRS

Commissioner of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Connie Hubbell, who at the time of the visit was commissioner of Income Support and Employment Preparation Services.

The group met with staff and welfare recipients in Kansas City and Olathe, along with the 12 Area Directors for SRS and the 12 area office directors of Economic and Employment Services.

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001