Va. Stretches to Help Workers Make Transition From Welfare

Indeed, the federal penalties can be steep. Kevin McGuire, who administers Maryland's welfare program, said that if the state fails to meet federal targets for getting recipients into jobs, it could be docked about $30 million, about 10 percent of its federal welfare grant.

McGuire said the federal rule changes more strictly define what jobs can be considered acceptable work. States have appealed to federal authorities since the law was passed, saying that the rules were particularly hard on disabled recipients, but when the final phase of rules was released this year, authorities had largely kept the changes intact.

The rules have "put us in a tough position, but programs like the ones we're starting are a win-win for everybody," he said. "They get to work, and we get to keep them off of welfare and included in our work participation rates."

Last month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ranked Virginia best in the nation for moving welfare clients into permanent jobs during fiscal 2005 and 2006. Virginia also had the second highest job retention rate for former aid recipients in the country each of those years.

Federal officials said they have not analyzed Virginia's programs to determine what has made the state so successful, but in the past the state has been credited for quickly complying with federal rules. These efforts enabled the state to move 46 to 48 percent of its clients into full-time jobs during fiscal 2005 and 2006, when the national average was about 34 percent. Meanwhile, the retention rate for former recipients in the workforce in 2006 was 72 percent, compared with the national average of 64 percent

But Virginia officials said that despite their success in moving people off welfare, they are concerned about what happens afterward. The expanded nursing assistant program is one way they are trying to ensure clients' success. Since the expansion last year, almost 450 former recipients have graduated from the project. About 100 more are enrolled.

"These are jobs that can lead to something more, potentially a career in the health profession," said Marilyn Tavenner, secretary of Health and Human Resources.

For King, efforts to broaden job training and opportunities couldn't come soon enough. She knows she will have to go back to school to increase her earning potential to support her sons Denver, 7, and David, 4. "Welfare was never going to be a way of life for me," she said. "And anything I can do and the state can do to help me stay off is better for me and everybody else."