RICHMOND, Va. -- Just one percent of Virginia households that cannot afford basic living expenses without government assistance participate in state programs designed to help them become self-sufficient, according to a new report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC).
And, even when they do participate, few earn wages high enough to allow them to support themselves without assistance.
JLARC evaluates state programs on behalf of the General Assembly, and last year they were asked to review how well Virginia’s programs programs that try to help Virginians become self-sufficient are working.
Throughout Virginia, 27 percent of households have trouble making ends meet without government assistance.
To try to help lift those 865,000 households into self-sufficiency, Virginia has two primary programs:
- Virginia Initiative for Education and Work (VIEW), which requires most participants to work or get education or training in order to get their benefits
- SNAP Employment and Training (SNAP E&T), which offers a voluntary program
These programs can pay for or provide clients things like training, childcare, and tuition, but JLARC staff found just one percent of Virginia households that need government assistance to get by even participate in the programs.
Of those that do, just two percent of VIEW clients, and seven percent of SNAP E&T clients improved their wages enough that they became self-sufficient.
JLARC staff found that the VIEW program’s design and policies encourage clients to get low-paying, dead-end, and unstable jobs.
Many of those jobs are either temporary or at call centers, retailers, restaurants, and in the in-home health industry, which often have low pay and part-time or irregular hours.
State Senator Jeremy McPike (D - 29th District) said it seemed like a complete structural failure.
“It seems like we’ve set people up for failure. If you say you’ve got to meet 30 hours, yet the industry is only going to give you 29 hours for obvious reasons for health care and other benefits, how to deal with the employer side of this in incentive or other structure. When you have an inconsistent schedule, you’re not getting enough hours you still need the money, you’re never going to give up the money, you still have to have money to pay the bills,” McPike said.
JLARC staff found there is not enough coordination between the state’s workforce development programs and the local departments of social services that manage the self-sufficiency programs.
While employment rates for VIEW and SNAP clients who used state workforce development services tended to be higher by over 20 percentage points, less than one percent of VIEW and SNAP clients participated in those services.
JLARC staff also noted that high caseloads at local departments of social services hinder the ability to adequately assess clients and plan their services and activities.
To read the full report, and JLARC’s recommendations for improvement, click here.
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