Department of Workforce Development

Thursday, March 26, 1998 Governor Tommy G. Thompson Secretary Linda Stewart

Contact David Blaska 608/267-4400 e-mail: blaskd@mail.state.wi.us fax: 608/266-1784

W-2 enters new, stable phase

Enrollment in Wisconsin Works was up 27 percent by the end of February compared to a month earlier, Linda Stewart, Secretary of the Department of Workforce Development, announced today.

A total of 15,436 families were enrolled in W-2 on February 28, up from 12,127 on January 31. W-2 enrollment in Milwaukee County was up 32 percent. Milwaukee accounted for 74 percent of all W-2 cases.

On March 2, Gov. Tommy G. Thompson printed the last AFDC checks ever to be issued. That means that AFDC, which maintained families in poverty, has been fully replaced by Wisconsin Works, a program that helps families escape poverty. Wisconsin is the first state in the nation to fully engage its welfare-to-work program.

In cooperation with the State of Wisconsin, local W-2 agencies educated families about this historic change so they could make informed decisions. Outreach efforts included a six-week paid television and radio advertising campaign, newspaper advertisements, job fairs, telephone calls, door knocking, and appeals from the pulpit.

Final Conversions

Of the last 2,700 AFDC cases remaining on February 14, 1,000 were converted to W-2 by March 18, the last date in which to qualify for a paycheck without interruption.

Of those that did not convert to W-2:

• 61 percent chose not to participate in the new program.
• Another 33 percent did not qualify for Wisconsin Works because they already earned too much money, they had no minor children, or were already receiving SSI benefits, among other reasons. Some were even deceased.
• The remaining 6 percent are still being processed but will probably be found eligible for W-2, according to Jean Rogers, administrator of DWD’s Economic Support Division.

Rogers said most of the nonparticipants refused to discuss how they could benefit from the new program even after the local W-2 agency had made multiple attempts to contact them.

"No program can help someone who does not want to be helped but we believe, in great majority of those cases, those who did not convert did not need the help," Secretary Stewart commented.

Stewart, however, stressed, "It is never too late to sign up for Wisconsin Works."

Caseload stabilizes

After large declines in previous months, families receiving some form of cash assistance (either AFDC or paid W-2) decreased by 82 cases or 0.5 percent. That compares to earlier declines of 22.8 percent in January from December and 20.0 percent in December from November.

"As predicted, the W-2 caseload has entered a new, mature phase," Stewart said. "The thing to watch for now is how people move up through W-2’s four levels to self-sufficiency."

In brief:

• The 14,391 families dependent on cash assistance this February is well down from the 43,393 on the rolls in February 1997, a 66 percent reduction.
• Food Stamps in February were down 1,159 cases, or 1.5 percent, from January.
• The Medical Assistance caseload rose by 648 cases from January, a 0.4 percent increase.

W-2 placements as of February 28, 1998
	Total State	%	Milwaukee	%
Unsubsidized	4,789	31.0%	3,453	29.3%
Trial Job	70	0.5%	15	0.1%
Community Service	8,812	57.1%	7,326	62.2%
W2-Transitions	1,765	11.4%	983	8.3%
Total W-2	15,436	100.0%	11,777	100.0%
This chart represents a snapshot in time taken February 28. The chart on Pages 3 and 4 are cumulative totals of under which program payments were made. A person receiving an AFDC check on February 1 could be in W-2 by the end of the month.