A new state program designed to encourage people on welfare to seek and maintain employment will allow recipients to receive a greater percentage of their benefits while they work, officials said.

The "Reward Work" program, which is only for individuals who have been on welfare for less than two years, will be implemented this month.

Under present restrictions, benefits are based on a family's income — the more money earned, the less received in welfare benefits, said Derick Dahilig, Department of Human Services spokesman. For example, a family of three is eligible for up to $570 a month in welfare funding. But if the family has a monthly income of $1,000, the grant is reduced to about $180.

The "Reward Work" program would allow the family to keep 100 percent of what it would be eligible for if the family meets federal work requirements, Dahilig said. The welfare recipient must work at least 30 hours a week to receive the full benefits during the first two years of assistance, he said.

Lillian Koller, Human Service director, said the program isn't just about money.

"Jobs heal," she said. "When people do something meaningful that helps support themselves and their families, they have a greater sense of purpose and worth."

Dahilig acknowledged that there are critics of the program who argue that people shouldn't be receiving welfare if they are employed and that it's wrong to give people more benefits just to work. But he said the goal of the program is to motivate people to remain employed.

"It gives them an incentive to work," he said. "How it was before, if you worked, they're going to factor that into your welfare grant and they're going to reduce your welfare grant. This, in a sense, encourages you to stay working."

The "Reward Work" program also will provide two months of rent for working parents in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

For workers who have exhausted their five years of program eligibility, the state will provide $200 a month in rental assistance for up to five years, provided the families work at least 20 hours a week.

Also, the state will offer two years of cash bonuses up to $8,250 to families who voluntarily leave the welfare program for employment.

The state began developing the "Reward Work" in anticipation of stricter federal welfare-to-work requirements. The regulations are putting pressure on states to move more welfare recipients toward self-sufficiency.

Dahilig said he was not sure how much the new program would cost the state.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.