AREA PROJECT IS MODEL FOR STATE REFORM

Increasing the amount of money going into the state's welfare system won't solve its problems, says a Cape Girardeau man who is the chairman of Missouri's Welfare Reform Coordinating Committee.

"It's not a checkbook issue; it's a delivery of services issue," said Cordell Dombrowski, who last year was named head of the committee by the director of the Missouri Department of Social Services.

Dombrowski is an advocate of programs that not only encourage people to get off of welfare, but assist them financially in doing so.

"We're looking at paying these people welfare subsidies for years and years, or helping them get a job," he said. "There are people who are on some type of welfare program who are willing to work, but may not be hirable."

One of the programs that helps people become employable is called "Futures." It was started in July 1990 in Southeast Missouri and St. Louis, Dombrowski said, and will be used statewide by late 1992.

"Futures" allows people who are currently receiving welfare benefits like food stamps and Medicaid to continue to receive them while attending vocational school or attaining their GEDs. It also provides financial assistance for day-care expenses for up to one year.

Dombrowski, who is president of Hawthorne Group Ltd., said, so far, the number of people participating in the program has exceeded the state's expectations.

"The numbers I have seen, so far, have been good," he said. His committee has been following the program since its inception.

"Futures" provides for two of the most crucial expenses people trying to get off welfare encounter, day care and medical coverage, said Dennis Reagan, director of the Cape Girardeau County Social Services office.

It is modeled after similar programs in other states.

Reagan said before "Futures," a single parents who went to work full time or sought job training may have lost medical and other benefits, and still may not have earned enough to support themselves and their families.

"The hope is that within that year's period, they may be able to raise their standard of living or secure medical coverage from their employer or pay for it themselves," he said.

"Maybe it's going to take a year or so for this family to get on its feet," said Reagan, "but isn't that better than paying welfare benefits to those people for five, 10 or 15 years, or indefinitely?"

Dombrowski said "Futures" is part of "revolutionary things that are happening across the state" within the welfare system.

"The typical scenario is someone getting their GED or some type of vocational training to match up with job needs in the area," he said. "The state is looking at it as an investment, and it's leading to change we hope will last."

Talking with Social Services officials as well as welfare recipients from across Missouri has been an eye-opening experience, Dombrowski said.

And while there are people who have no desire to stop depending on the government for their financial livelihoods, others seek a better life, he said.

"These are sometimes very proud people who don't like the situation they are in," he said. "They just happen to be victims of circumstance."