Public welfare was created to provide temporary assistance for most recipients and to be a last resort, not a way of life.
Since 2001, the welfare budget has grown by 75 percent - more than double the 30 percent growth in poverty over the same period. Our system is broken, and the cost-saving reforms made by this administration are key to ensuring its survival and preserving access to services for the truly needy.
Pennsylvania's General Assistance program, which is solely state-funded, provides cash assistance and medical assistance to those individuals, mostly adults, who do not qualify for federal programs. It has over the years become a sort of catch-all in a widening welfare budget.
Our proposal is simple: If we eliminate the cash portion of General Assistance, we can maintain the medical assistance benefit for these recipients. This is not a decision taken lightly; it is taken out of necessity to preserve services.
Those who currently receive cash assistance will continue to be eligible for medical assistance if they meet requirements. The department will also work with those impacted to re-determine if they may be eligible for Medicaid, and if not, work vigorously with the Department of Labor and Industry to identify workable job opportunities.
Our safety net remains intact. The governor's proposed budget:
Continues medical assistance programs for qualifying adults.
Transforms how county assistance agencies receive state funding, implementing block grants that provide more flexibility to ensure services are tailored best for the community.
Increases funding to the CHIP program providing health insurance for almost 200,000 children.
Provides supplemental funding for our food banks through the Department of Agriculture.
Continues to dedicate lottery proceeds to services for our older Pennsylvanians, including prescription assistance, long-term living services, and in-home meal programs.
Does not alter eligibility requirements of Medicaid, which continues to assist those most needy among us.
Reforms made to our public-welfare budget also take a hard look at ending waste, fraud and abuse to ensure the funding available is used for our most needy Pennsylvanians.
As we reform our welfare system, we will continue to search for true solutions for helping people become self-sufficient and independent, while also working toward returning to the Department of Public Welfare's central mission: to assist the neediest Pennsylvanians.
Gary Alexander is secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. E-mail him at dpw_content_webmaster@pa.gov.
