For the first time, Idaho has received about $800,000 in federal funding to provide jobs.
According to Department of Welfare Program Manager Genie Sue Weppner, the funding is enough to create 18 year-long state positions as part of Idaho's Enhanced Work Services project.
The positions would be temporary, staffed from a pool of applicants who are required by state law to work in order to receive food stamps and cash assistance. The openings are in case management, where employees would be trained to determine who is eligible for state assistance such as food stamps.
The jobs are available in the Treasure Valley and in Idaho Falls, where Weppner said the state has a higher proportion of food stamp and cash assistance recipients.
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The money comes from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Emergency Contingency Fund, which provides funding to help financially struggling families.
According to Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesman Tom Shanahan, Idaho is eligible for up to $15.2 million in federal funding, but was only approved for $1.1 million.
The discrepancy, Shanahan said, is due to Idaho's stringent regulations regarding cash assistance programs. The higher a state's caseload, the more money the state can receive.
Subsidized employment programs in Illinois and other states funded by Temporary Assistance to Needy Families have placed workers in the private rather than public sector, allowing small businesses to gain employees that they could otherwise not afford. Weppner said she likes the idea, but it is currently not feasible for Idaho.
"We would need to have the funds and the food stamp and Medicaid caseload growth under control before we could consider it," she said.
Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com
