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Work First Q&A <br /> Basic info <br /> Q. How many people will be affected by Work First?- <br /> A. Everyone on welfare —roughly 320,000 adults and children, or 120,000 families. There are no <br /> exceptions. <br /> * Every AFDC recipient will have to agree to the personal responsibility contract. Once we get the <br /> waiver, that becomes a binding contract. Now, it's an agreement. <br /> * Because of the high cost of child care, we have to phase in the work requirement. We're starting in <br /> Phase 1 with about 35,000 parents-- parents with school-age children,two-parent families and parents <br /> who already are working at least 30 hours a week <br /> That's nearly one-third of all adults now on the welfare rolls and almost 30 percent more people than we <br /> served in the JOBS program last year. <br /> Q. What will Work First mean to the average welfare recipient? Family? <br /> A. It's a change of attitude -- welfare is temporary;every able-bodied adult has an obligation to earn their <br /> keep and support their family.Welfare recipients' first obligation is to look for work If they can't find a <br /> job, we'll help them get the training or work experience they need to find one. But that help won't last <br /> forever. <br /> Every family will have a personal responsibility contract_That will require them to make sure their <br /> children get immunized on tune, attend school, and get proper health care. They'll actively have to help <br /> child support enforcement efforts. <br /> ***Estimates show we could reduce the welfare rolls by 20 percent just by collecting all child <br /> support payments owed to children on welfare! <br /> Children won't suffer under Work First. Even after the two-year time limit on AFDC is up, families can <br /> continue to get Medicaid and food stamps if they qualify. (Kids who are affected by family cap would <br /> lose about$30 in cash benefits,but not Medicaid or food stamps) <br /> Q. When will the transition to Work First be complete? <br /> A. Not overnight. Applying for federal waivers today; hope for an OK within 2 to 4 months.The rest <br /> should be OK'ed by the end of `95. (Need to have a 30-day public comment period as part of this) <br /> Jobs , <br /> Q. Where are the jobs? <br /> A.Thy jobs are there. North Carolina has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, and last year <br /> employers listed a record 356.767 job openings with local employment security offices—an increase of <br /> almost 15 percent over the prior year. And our economy is continuing to add roughly 3,000 new jobs <br /> each month. <br /> Q. How will you get hard-to-place people quickly into jobs? <br /> A. By changing the whole premise of welfare. Looking for work is the number-one priority of Work First. <br /> By spending more time helping people get jobs and less time on paperwork,we can move people into <br /> jobs faster. <br /> Initially, we'll target parents with school-age children who already have job skills. For those who need <br /> training,we'll emphasize intensive, short-term, hands-on training. <br /> Page 1 <br />