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Fbut ous about the two-year time limit when it will mean affecting kids? <br /> to make it clear that we won't allow children to go h ungry or without health care. <br /> ll be eligible for food stamps and Medicaid. <br /> lly enforce tough sanctions? <br /> A. Yes. That's the only way to make this work. Once everyone knows we mean business, the need to <br /> enforce tough sanctions will diminish. <br /> Q. Does it make sense to cut Medicaid as a sanction? Isn't that just shifting costs when <br /> sanctioned recipients end up at the local hospital with preventable problems and no <br /> way to pay? <br /> A. Yes, it does make sense, but remember,we're only cutting benefits for parents. Communities are going <br /> to have to shoulder some of the responsibility for making this work. If they don't,everyone will pay, <br /> and one of the ways we'll pay is through higher health care costs. <br /> Q. It looks like Work First is going to save staff time at the local level. How much <br /> savings do you anticipate and will you be cutting local DSS workers? <br /> A. We don't know that yet.. Under the current welfare rules,counties pay half the cost of administering <br /> local programs; the federal government pays the other half. We'll continue to work with local officials to <br /> streamline administration and lower costs. <br /> We do know, for example, that automatically qualifying AFDC families for food stamps (which has a <br /> higher eligibility ceiling) will save roughly 450,000 hours of work each year,which initially could free <br /> staff to help parents find jobs. Eventually those savings would be reflected in lower costs. <br /> Q. You say you're completely changing the welfare system. What does that mean for <br /> local DSS offices? What is the role of county DSS offices in Work First? <br /> A. It means their jobs will radically change and have already begun changing. The emphasis will shift from <br /> writing checks and verifying eligibility to helping ;c ple find iohs. We'll still be working to eliminate <br /> waste and fraud, but people will know that that's not nearly enough. <br /> Q. How will Work First affect the administrative bureaucracy of the welfare system? Will <br /> it be increased or cut? By how much? <br /> A. The waivers I'm requesting will lower the cost of administering welfare because they're designed to <br /> lower the caseload. We're doing all that we can at the state level to simplify the administration of these <br /> programs. And we'll work to help local welfare offices do the same. <br /> Q. At the same time we're having to put people into jobs, your job training program is <br /> seriously fragmented and your own welfare training program, JOBS, has been found to <br /> be ineffective. How are you going to find people jobs and get them ready for jobs, if <br /> you haven't revamped your job training programs? <br /> A.We're revamping our job training programs. We're starting"one-stop"career centers to streamline job <br /> training. And we have a new Employment&Training director— a national workforce training expert-- <br /> as of this week We're making changes everywhere. <br /> Cost Information <br /> Q. How much will Work First cost? <br /> A. Over time,Work First will save money. Initially, we expect to cut state costs by $2.2 million the first <br /> year. Five years from now, we estimate savings of$17 million a year. A downturn in the economy or a <br /> change in federal rules (i.e., block grants )could change that, but that's what we've projected. <br /> Page 3 <br />