| Welfare Recipients |
Maximizing Participation ProjectIn August 1996, President Clinton signed legislation that dramatically changed the welfare system. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was replaced with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Current welfare reform legislation limits the length of time a person can receive cash assistance to 5 years. Act 35, Pennsylvania's response to the federal program that was enacted in March 1997, further restricts this time limit by mandating that people who had been receiving cash assistance for 2 years were required to work 20 hours per week. Failure to comply with these requirements can lead to full family sanctions. Thus, for the first time in many years, unemployed families face the possibility of living with no income. The current limits apply to the general population of welfare recipients and can be expected to have a more profound effect on Philadelphia's homeless population. Launched in the fall of 2001, the Maximizing Participation Project (MPP) is an intensive home-based therapeutic and vocational program. MPP serves fourth year TANF recipients who are presently not working, individuals exempt from TANF because of medical disabilities and clients who have multiple or undiagnosed barriers that prevent them from being employed. The program is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare for three years. As a subcontractor to Jewish Employment and Vocational Services (JEVS), one of two social service organizations in Philadelphia coordinating the MPP program, PHMC will serve approximately 150 MPP clients each year. The program will assist families who remain unemployed to identify and remove barriers to employment, including language barriers, which have caused many families to fall through the cracks. The program is working to create an integrated case management system while helping clients participate in some type of vocational activity. MPP Case Coordinators, many of whom are bilingual, conduct a variety of assessments on each client, including psychosocial, medical and vocational, which provide the information used to create an individualized service plan.MPP Case Coordinators meet with clients on a regular basis to oversee the progress of their individualized service plans, as well as support them in the process of becoming engaged in a vocational activity. PHMC is working with the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition to coordinate all employment-related activities within the program. This vocational component of the program is called MPP-E, or the Maximizing Participation Project Extension. For more information, please contact: Frank Killian |
