Report Title:

Welfare Vouchers; Housing; Child Care; Clothing; School Supplies

 

Description:

Creates welfare safety net program called "Keeping Hope Alive" in DHS to issue vouchers for children in families that will be coming off welfare after the maximum 5 years for housing, child care, clothing, and school supplies. Makes appropriation. Requires case management for such families. (SD1)

 

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

1237

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to public assistance.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 abolished the sixty-one year old Aid to Families with Dependent Children entitlement program and replaced it with a transitional aid program called the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program that requires recipients who are able to work to secure employment at the earliest opportunity. The new law allows assistance to be given for a maximum of five years and thus many families with children will stop receiving assistance shortly. However, many families with children will continue to need assistance with housing, child care, clothing, and school supplies.

The purpose of this Act is to create a welfare safety net program called "Keeping Hope Alive" that will utilize a system of vouchers to assist children from families that will stop receiving public assistance with housing, child care, clothing, and school supplies.

SECTION 2. Chapter 346, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§346-    Welfare net safety program; department of human services; voucher system; case management; rules (a) The department of human services shall create a welfare safety net program entitled "Keeping Hope Alive" to assist children in families that will be disqualified from receiving further public assistance as a consequence of reaching the five-year time limit set by the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996. The department shall create a voucher system wherein children in these families may exchange vouchers issued by the department to obtain a set dollar amount of assistance with housing, child care, clothing, and school supplies.

(b) The department shall also provide these families with case management to assist these families to obtain employment after their loss of public assistance benefits.

(c) The department of human services shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter 91 to implement the voucher system, including the process of identifying children who may be eligible, setting eligibility standards, determining the amount of voucher assistance, the operation of the voucher system, the provision of case management, and any other relevant matters that the department believes are necessary to implement this section."

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2001-2002, for the welfare safety net program established in section 346-   , Hawaii Revised Statutes.

SECTION 4. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of human services for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval, except that sections 3 and 4 shall take effect on July 1, 2001.