The Seattle Times is reporting that the state’s cash assistance caseload fell in October to about 43,000 families, a drop from its most recent peak of 71,331 families in January 2011. Some attribute the decline to changes Governor Gregoire implemented in 2011, including lowering maximum monthly benefits by 15% and allowing for extensions to the program’s time limit only for domestic violence victims and individuals applying for federal Social Security benefits.
The decline may also be due to the fact that at the same time the cash welfare rules changed, the state legislature voted unanimously to (1) establish a welfare fraud and accountability office; (2) prohibit residents from using benefit at bars, clubs, casinos, and tattoo parlors; and (3) permanently disqualify adults found to be repeatedly out of compliance with the welfare program’s work requirements.
At its peak, the program was serving over 100,000 families—this was in the years just prior to the major federal welfare reform legislation passed during the Clinton administration. The most recent peak of 71,000 plus families occurred during the latest recession.
Advocates for the poor suggest that despite the decreasing cash assistance numbers, there are still many Washingtonians who are struggling, evidenced by increasing Medicaid and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program caseloads and student homelessness.
