TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Advocates for impoverished Kansas residents say tougher welfare rules are making it hard for the state’s needy to pull themselves out of poverty.
Members of Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration say the stricter policies are forcing people to find jobs instead of relying on handouts.
The Kansas City Star reports the most drastic statistics involve Temporary Aid to Needy Families, also known as welfare, which has seen a 38 percent drop in the number of poor people who receive the aid.
Among those are about 9,000 children who no longer benefit from the TANF payments that averaged about $280 a month and went to families with annual incomes of no more than 28 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $6,500 a year for a family of four.
