Few participants in Brownback mentoring program for Kansans on welfare

A voluntary mentoring program for welfare recipients has attracted only 13 participants since it started six months ago, according to state officials.

The program was announced by Gov. Sam Brownback in January as part of his push to lift low-income families out of poverty.

The state program, which is being funded by a federal grant, is projected to cost about $350,000 a year. The program known as HOPE – Hope, Opportunity and Prosperity for Everyone – pairs welfare recipients with community volunteers and helps them pursue education and employment.

So far 115 people have volunteered to act as mentors. The original goal was for 1,100 volunteer mentors. The governor’s wife, Mary Brownback, was the first to volunteer as a mentor.

Brownback, who was in Wichita on Wednesday for a meeting of the Governor’s Social Services Program Council, questioned whether the program was approaching participants early enough.

The program is modeled on a similar one with the Department of Corrections. Brownback said the Department of Corrections has fewer volunteer mentors but more people wanting a mentor. “But,” he said, “we have a captive client.”

Susan Mosier, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, suggested creating incentives for welfare recipients who take part in the program.

“I don’t think we’ve communicated and packaged it in a way that’s captured people’s attention,” she said during the meeting.

The participants receive Temporary Cash Assistance for Needy Families, more commonly known as welfare.

The program plans to expand the one-on-one mentoring to youth graduating from the foster care system in the next couple weeks.

The group also watched two videos about Kansas workers with cerebral palsy. Gov. Sam Brownback, who attended the meeting, said watching the video put perspective about his personal struggles in relation to “when you see somebody else who struggles with a lot more.”

“We’ve tried to do a lot in this administration (to) get job opportunities for people with disabilities,” Brownback said. “We’ve really put a heavy, strong focus on it and I am just a big believer in it.”

Brownback said that without employment help, “the opposite is terrible where you just sit, isolated at home with nothing to do. That’s just cruel. It’s bad. We’re gonna keep pushing it as much as we can.”

He said since he has been in office total enrollment for technical education has tripled. Most of the increase is due to high school students, he said, and includes people without disabilities.

Last year the Kansas Department of Children and Families returned $15 million to the federal government that could have helped people with disabilities find and maintain employment.

Michael Donnelly, director of rehabilitation services for the state agency, said after the meeting that the state gave back the money because not enough people asked for the services.

People who work with disabled Kansans complained the state should have reached out to Kansans who could have used the service before deciding to relinquish the money for other states to use, according to a report by the Kansas Health Institute News Service. Recipients also complained about inefficiencies in the disability system that make it harder to apply for the program.

Contributing: Bryan Lowry of The Eagle

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 7:22 PM with the headline "Few participants in Brownback mentoring program for Kansans on welfare."