By MIKE SHIELDS
KHI News Service
A report released today by a Johnson County group takes aim at the Kansas Department for Children and Families saying the agency should do more with federal block grant dollars to help combat the state’s growing poverty rate instead of adopting policies that make the assistance harder for needy families to get.
“Every time I look around, this administration is doing something to make it harder for people who are struggling economically to survive and I think this report captures some of that,” said Tawny Stottlemire, executive director of the Kansas Association of Community Action Programs.
The report, which was published by United Community Services of Johnson County, is titled: “Kansas Could Do More for Poor Families with Children.” It is the group’s analysis and critique of how the state has been spending the federal aid it receives through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program or TANF.
Each year for the past several, Kansas has received a set amount of federal TANF dollars as a block grant with relatively few restrictions for how the money is spent. The annual total has been $101.9 million.
The report, based in part on budget figures collected from the Kansas Legislature’s research arm, found that the number of people served by the program has dropped dramatically in the past three years from a high monthly average of 38,963 in fiscal 2011 to 21,887 in fiscal 2013.
Policy changes
The drop coincides with policy changes by the administration of Gov. Sam Brownback that tightened eligibility for the program and established various penalties for failure to comply with the new guidelines.
As the number of people served has dropped, state use of the block grant to fund other social services or initiatives that historically would have been paid for from the state general fund has grown. For example, Brownback officials have earmarked $9 million in TANF dollars for Kansas Reading Roadmap, a program aimed at boosting fourth grade reading scores. When Brownback ran for governor in 2010 one of his campaign pledges was to improve fourth grade reading levels.
Officials have said Reading Roadmap meets federal guidelines for using TANF dollars because the money will go to after-school programs to improve literacy, which in turn will lead to lower incidence of teen pregnancy. Reducing teen pregnancy is one of the federally sanctioned uses for TANF dollars.
Officials at United Community Services of Johnson County and other anti-poverty groups said the TANF grant would be better spent on “core” needs of families temporarily on hard times. They say the essentials are: child care subsidies so parents can work, money so they can pay bills, and help with job training or placement.
According to the report, spending in each of those categories of aid is going down even as poverty in the state is on the rise.
But Brownback officials have said they fear the welfare programs foster dependence on government and have been ineffective reducing poverty.
They also have said the drop in the number of people enrolled in the program was the result of people choosing not to comply with the agency’s stiffer work or job search requirements.
‘Self-sufficiency’
“DCF has strengthened policies in recent years to encourage self-sufficiency,” said DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore in recent letter sent to the state’s news organizations.
“Employment is the most effective way out of poverty. The number of individuals enrolled in the TANF cash assistance program is a reflection of individuals choosing not to work in order to meet the requirements. Children have not been kicked off the cash and food assistance programs. The decline in numbers is related to adults and the decisions they have made.”
That view that the aid programs foster dependence is starkly at odds with the community groups that work with the poor, Stottlemire said.
“Our position is that the safety net programs do exactly what they’re supposed to do,” she said, “which is help people in hard times.
“Another thing that really annoys me about this administration is that it continues to push the concept that the only thing people need to do is get a job. But when we don’t have jobs that are paying wages sufficient to help people meet their basic needs, then getting a job isn’t the only answer; 45 percent of the people we see come through our doors are working people, someone in the household is employed.”
Karen Wulfkuhle, executive director of United Community Services of Johnson County, said the data her group got from the state showed that the average number of months people received TANF aid was 14 months, “so for many people who turn to TANF it is indeed for a temporary period when they’re experiencing difficulties.”
Stottlemire said national studies and accounts she hears from local agency case managers also indicate that most people using the TANF programs are, in fact, in temporary need of assistance rather than the chronically poor. And after the 2008 recession, there was a new dimension to the problem.
“Many of the people coming through the doors after the recession were people who had never been in poverty before,” she said. “Our folks had to gear up to deal not only with the practical side of getting assistance to people but the psychological side.”
Hoping to spark discussion
Wulfkuhle said United Community Services typically develops planning recommendations and reports specific to Johnson County but has occasionally taken on statewide policies when they seem to result in significant local consequences.
She said the group published the report hoping it would spark discussion about the state’s current policies and priorities.
“I think it suggests we need to look at the kind of strategies that are in place and the support for families to find and keep employment,” she said. “People who turn to the state often have significant barriers to employment. My question would be: Are we really doing enough to help them find employment and sustain employment. Rather than suggest that people don’t want to work..see how can we use TANF programs to help them address those challenges and barriers to employment.”
DCF officials said the agency has been partnering with the Department of Commerce on employment services in ways that are more effective and cheaper than previously used and plans to expand job services sometime in the future, but did not say when.
“Previously, DCF worked with a number of contractors for employment services, investing more money, but not seeing the results,” said agency spokesperson Theresa Freed in an email. “We’ve found working with Commerce is a much more effective targeted use of TANF funds. We have launched several employment-related programs on a limited basis and we anticipate the expansion of those programs. The TANF reserve funds will allow for the expansion. Examples of these programs include JAG, Connections to Success and others.”
Freed said while agency officials “disagree with some of the claims and conclusions,” in the UCS report, “we believe some of the suggestions have merit and we would welcome additional input from United Community Services of Johnson County on how we can work together in the future.”
Kansas began fiscal 2014 on July 1 with $48.7 million in its TANF reserve fund.