Pay for Performance changes will ease transition to W-2
Linda Stewart, Secretary of the Department of Workforce Development, today announced modifications in the Pay For Performance program.
Secretary Stewart also announced that AFDC caseload has declined 33.3 percent in the last 12 months -- to 41,898 in March from 62,888 on the rolls in March 1996. Milwaukee County reduced its caseload by 24.2 percent to 25,555 from 33,718 during that time.
No other state in the nation has reduced welfare dependency by as much as Wisconsin.
Stewart said that food stamps for Pay for Performance (PFP) participants would no longer be reduced for those who fail to participate and that recipients will get credit for each hour of participation -- even if they completed less than 25 percent of the requirement. The change takes effect this month.
Since the inception of PFP in March 1996, welfare recipients who failed to complete at least one-quarter of their assigned activities were subject to the total elimination of their AFDC check and a reduction in their food stamps. PFP requires 30 to 35 hours of job searches, training, and/or work preparation activities.
"This modification is designed to ease the transition to the full Wisconsin Works program," Stewart said. W-2 will also operate on a straight hour-for-hour payment basis.
W-2, which began in March 1997 in Fond du Lac and Pierce Counties, will begin operation in the remainder of the state this September.