Maryland wants to tie welfare aid to "greater personal responsibility," giving full public assistance benefits only to family recipients who send their children to school and get preventive health care.
"We must promote family well-being," state Human Resources Secretary Carolyn Colvin said Tuesday. "But we also must promote greater client responsibility, greater personal responsibility. We must continue to promote self-sufficiency."The plan would penalize those recipients who do not meet certain health and education requirements, she said.
All of the changes will require revision of state regulations and some will need federal approval. Colvin predicted the legislature and the federal government will support the program.
State health and welfare officials think the changes will save money in the long term but say they are not being made to help solve a budget crisis exacerbated by soaring welfare costs. The budget deficit has grown to an estimated $175 million to $200 million.
The biggest impact of the changes will be on the more than 200,000 people getting benefits under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program.
Those grants will be cut 30 percent, from $377 a month to $264 a month, for a family of three, Colvin said. But recipients will be able to get most or all of that money back if they fulfill the new requirements.
One change would require pregnant women to submit proof that they are getting prenatal care. Also, parents would have to prove that children are getting preventive health care and that they are attending school.
"We would expect that some families would lose money," Colvin said.
However, she predicted that most recipients will do what they have to do to get their full monthly grants.
The system has got to change because "doing business as usual has not helped our families and children," Colvin said.
The state also will save about $18.6 million next year by revising the General Public Assistance program, which provides grants to people who are unable to work because of physical or mental disabilities.
The major change will limit payments to people whose disabilities will last at least 12 months. Payments are now made for recipients who are disabled for three months.