State welfare applicants up twofold in October
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Just as Hawai'i is beginning to remove many families from its welfare rolls, the number of people applying for welfare assistance doubled in October, a reflection of the Sept. 11 attacks that pushed the state's economy into crisis.
The state Department of Human Services received an estimated 3,000 welfare applications in October, twice the average monthly total of 1,500, said Kris Foster, financial assistance administrator for the department.
"We're very concerned, that's why we're really monitoring this," she said. "The impact will be on our newly employed and also on our current (welfare) people that are not yet employed because now they're competing with all these people with work experience."
Hundreds of families in Hawai'i received their last welfare assistance checks last month. Hundreds more each month are being removed from the rolls because of a 1996 federal law that set a five-year limit to remain on welfare.
The timing of the welfare reform law takes place less than three months after the terrorist attacks, which battered Hawai'i's tourism industry and prompted widespread layoffs and cuts in work hours. Tens of thousands of people have filed applications for unemployment benefits since Sept. 11, and food banks have been slammed with more requests for help.
DHS officials do not yet have a final count for the welfare applications filed in October and note that they cannot say whether the increase illustrates a trend. They also do not yet know how many applicants are eligible for welfare assistance, but Foster said that typically 50 percent of welfare applicants do not qualify.
"We think a lot of people just as a precaution filed an application," she said. "They may never show up for an appointment, or they may not qualify, but just because there is a processing time (of about 30 days), to have it in place just in case."
Sarah Kaniaupio's family is among those who applied for welfare assistance. The family of four managed to stay off welfare for more than two years, but they recently applied to get back on because she lost her job at a car-rental company after Sept. 11.
With experience only in the visitor industry, the 26-year-old McKinley High School graduate and Kalihi resident has had a difficult time finding another job. Her husband, who had worked in construction, is taking temporary labor jobs while looking for steady work. They have two daughters ages 7 and 5.
Kaniaupio's family has about two to three years left on its five-year limit for welfare assistance. But she emphasizes that welfare is only a temporary safety net to get them at least through the year.
"If you actually compare a life being on welfare compared to a life working, I'd rather just work," Kaniaupio said. "Even my husband is like that. There's too much headache being on welfare."
Carl Sherry, manager of the Kalihi-Palama office of the Honolulu Community Action Program, has said more people have signed up for job training programs since Sept. 11. He said he worries about the office's former clients, many of whom had been referred to hotels that had mostly entry-level jobs.
"They're the first ones to get laid off, I guess," Sherry said, adding that it was the first job for some of them. "It's really sad. I think some of our clients from the workshops are having a more difficult time. I guess more people are competing for the entry-level type jobs."
To qualify for monthly cash assistance a family must include children under 19 and the family's total gross income must be below 185 percent of the 1993 federal poverty level. That means a family of three must make less than $2,109 a month.
A family's assets must also be under $5,000, although one car and the home the family resides in do not count.
Garry Kemp, assistant administrator of the DHS's Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division, said there should be no problem in handling more welfare recipients. The number of people on welfare has declined from 22,785 families in December 1996 to 17,989 families now on the rolls. Welfare payments are drawn from federal dollars.
"I think the population has gone down far enough that if more people want to come on it's not an issue," Kemp said. "Even with the doubling of the applications, the population in October went down."
You can reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
