Unspent $893 million in welfare reserves???

PROGRAM TO AID KIDS GETS SLOW START
Kinship plan provides funds to relatives or family friends who take in needy children
Columbus Dispatch, September 26, 2006 NEWS 04D

Despite setting aside $10 million last year to launch a new welfare program for children, the state handed out only $608,500 in assistance, with the remainder returning to the state's hefty welfare reserves.

The Kinship Permanency Incentive Program provides a maximum of $3,500 to grandparents, relatives or family friends who take in children whose parents cannot take care of them. It is overseen by the Office of Children and Families, a division of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

More money wasn't given out because it took six months to organize the program and begin offering the financial help, state leaders said.

About 725 families were helped in the first year.

"It's not a crisis if it's not spent in the first year," said Tom Roelant, assistant deputy director of the Office of Children and Families. "This is a program that has its best impact at a grass-roots level, so it does take a while to get the traction it needs. What you're looking for is to build acceptance and understanding of the program. And, frankly, the best way to do that is by word of mouth and county outreach."

The money was supposed to be spent between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2006. The unused portion was rolled back into the state's welfare reserves, which stand at $893 million, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ohio's reserves are higher than any other state.

Ohio lawmakers appropriated $10 million again for the kinship program for this fiscal year, and $398,500 has been spent so far. The program is taking off and more money will be handed out, Jobs and Family Services spokesman Dennis Evans said.

Critics, though, said it's unconscionable that the state didn't distribute more in the first year. The U.S. Census Bureau has identified Cleveland and Cincinnati as two of the poorest cities in the country.

"Cleveland has been named the poorest big city in America, and Ohio's sitting on one of the largest reserves of welfare money? Hello?" said Jim McCafferty, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services, which serves greater Cleveland.

The Public Children Services Association of Ohio, which advocated for the program, wasn't alarmed by the amount of financial help given out in the first year. Executive Director Crystal Ward Allen said it will take time to build the program.