BLUNT TELLS OF WELFARE REFORM PLANS AT PRESS CONFERENCE HERE

If he is elected governor, Missouri Secretary of State Roy Blunt said Thursday he would implement reforms in the state welfare system that strengthen families and moves people away from a reliance on public assistance.

"We have created programs in the past that have presented all the wrong results," said Blunt at an airport news conference here to release his position paper on welfare reform.

"We've created a system that is unfriendly to families, discourages people from getting jobs, and puts barriers in front of those who need real help from the government," said Blunt.

"Welfare was intended to be temporary assistance, and I firmly believe we need to restructure it to help people get an education, find a job, and escape the cruel cycle of dependency on the state."

Blunt, one of four Republicans running for governor this year, said his program would require most welfare recipients to attend school or take jobs.

If jobs in the private sector were not readily available, Blunt suggested they could be put to work in public jobs to improve the environment and expand programs like the Youth Conservation Corps.

The overriding goal of all welfare programs, Blunt said, should be to "strengthen families and be as short term as possible."

The package calls for greater partnerships between government and the private sector in providing jobs and training.

Blunt termed his proposals "far reaching and specific." He said they could be implemented by some changes in state law, but more so by waivers from provisions in federal government programs.

Blunt said President Bush has expressed a desire to allow states to be innovative in administering welfare programs and to make it easier to get around federal red tape.

He suggested the 1990s will be a period of change and reform and that states will be the laboratories for those changes. "I think we are entering a period of significant government restructuring and the people want change," said Blunt.

Blunt said some of his proposals are being tried in other states and some are recommendations from the Governor's Task Force on Literacy that he chaired.

One big problem the literacy task force found was that many high school dropouts were teenage mothers. Under Blunt's plan, for a teen mother to receive public assistance she must live at home with a parent unless there is an abusive situation, and must attend school.

Blunt said he favors programs that encourage school-based child care for teen mothers.

Blunt admitted there are a lot of problems that will have to be overcome with welfare reform. For example, he said the transition from welfare to work is sometimes difficult because jobs often pay less than what a person can receive in public assistance. He said his program would provide funds to make the transition easier.

Asked how much money he felt his program would ultimately save the state in welfare costs, Blunt said he had no idea, but guessed it could be substantial. On the other hand, he said, "I don't see these as things that will cost the state money."

One part of his program calls for reorganizing welfare benefits to provide more effective public assistance. For example, once a single parent accepted welfare assistance for the first time, the number of children the government pays for would not increase.

The plan would also tie all welfare benefits to education, requiring welfare recipients without a high school education to return to school or enroll in a GED program, and require people to seek jobs or participate in education programs to receive a full check.

Blunt's plan calls for a greater reliance on private-sector employers providing job training and Workfare jobs, and provides financial assistance to individuals who are able to get off welfare within six months of receiving their first check.

A "Jump Start" program would be implemented to expand existing programs and to set up five pilot projects around the state to provide work for welfare recipients.

The plan also calls for imposing the toughest penalties possible for nonpayment of child support and enactment of legislation to provide tax incentives to encourage private developers to invest in low income housing, particularly single family housing.

Under his administration, Blunt declared the mission statement of the Department of Social Services will be to insure all welfare programs "are designed to strengthen the family, not weaken it.

"The family is stronger than any social program we can create," said Blunt.