Announcement

People who surf the 'net to find information about their state's welfare program and other social benefits may find themselves adrift in confusing Web sites that don't always deliver.

All 50 states use Web and Internet technologies to provide basic information about state welfare, unemployment and other social safety net programs, but only a few states, such as Pennsylvania and Washington, provide "one-stop shopping" that connects citizens to everything for which they may qualify.

The new Kenai Home Depot is seeking workers to fill the 130 or so positions that will be needed when the doors open for the first time this winter.

The store's grand opening is set for Dec. 18, and store manager Terry Rahlfs said the new home improvement retail center is working to be fully staffed by then.

It's October - which means PFD HH season and of course, Halloween! Do you have questions on PFD Hold Harmless on how to count retained PFD's as resources or how long to give a household hold harmless benefits or even which notice to send?

So if you do (or even just want to check your knowledge of the PFD HH program) and are up for a little Halloween fun, take our new PFD Hold Harmless Skill Challenge.

More than 1,100 elderly Alaskans previously excluded from the Longevity Bonus program are among 7,200 seniors who are now receiving monthly checks of $120 under the new Alaska Senior Assistance Program, established by Governor Frank H. Murkowski.

The governor directed the needs-based program be established to take the place of the bonus program, which was terminated effective this past August. Under the previous program, 18,000 of the state's estimated 44,000 seniors received a monthly check of between $100 and $250. However, the other 26,000 over the age of 65 did not recive any bonus payment. The previous program was based on date of birth criteria only, and did not take into account the personal wealth of an individual.

A press release will come out soon announcing that Alaska will receive over $6.3 million in Federal TANF High Performance Bonuses for federal fiscal years 2001 and 2002. In FFY01 Alaska placed first in the nation for Job Entry and received a bonus of over $3.1 million for that achievement. For FFY02 Alaska was 6th in the nation for Job Entry and was awarded about $2.3 million. Bonus payments were also made for Success in the Work Force ($590,000) and for enrollment in Medicaid ($258,000). Alaska received the maximum bonus payment (5% of our TANF block grant for each fiscal year). These bonus payments must be directed toward cash assistance for the families we serve and will help relieve some of the pressure caused by the budgetary challenges we are currently facing.

Alaska's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in the Dept. of Health & Social Services, Div. of Public Assistance was notified recently that they were awarded performance achievement bonuses totaling $6.36 million. Alaska received $3.18 million for FY 01, the maximum bonus allowed for ranking first in the nation in the "job entry" category -- the percent of people placed in jobs. Alaska also received $3.18 million for FY 02 for successful performance in job entry, success in the workforce, and Medicaid enrollment

Greetings All -
I would like to announce the kickoff of our "Better Than Average!" campaign to improve our Food Stamp Program payment accuracy. I know that you've already put a lot of work toward this goal.

I have traveled to many of our offices lately and been impressed with the efforts underway to "scrub" cases, and build the quality of our casework. This gives me great confidence in our collective ability to achieve our campaign goal of having Alaska's Food Stamp error rate be under the national average.

There is some confusion with the online version of the Report of Claim Determination form (gen95). The form is currently under revision and a new version that will allow you to send it by email will be available soon.