Change asset rules to exclude assets needed for work such as transportation, clothes and tools. Assign a single caseworker to each family, reducing the need to shift clients from office to office. With these reforms, all adult welfare clients will have a customized Family Independence Contract that outlines specific areas of responsibility that must be met in order to receive assistance and foster independence. The clinton administration belatedly approved a previous Michigan waiver to require teen parent to live in an adult-supervised setting and attend school or lose benefits. The waiver did not include food stamps.
Polls show overwhelming support for Michigan's welfare reform strategy .
Since the launch of TSMF in 1992, more than 90,000 aid recipients have left state welfare rolls because they earned too much money to qualify. Caseloads have fallen by more than 20 percent over the past two years. Nearly 30 percent of parents on welfare are working and earning income and 75 percent participate in the Social Contract. Nationwide, the number of aid recipients who are working is roughly eight percent. Michigan's welfare caseload has fallen for 26 consecutive months.