In aiming to close California's $26 billion budget shortfall, state lawmakers slashed millions in funding for a welfare-to-work program, a move that is drawing criticism.

The CalWORKs program-a state-funded, county-administered program that aims to provide work experience, job training and education to welfare recipients in order to help them find a job-took a $528 million cut following the passage of the state budget in July.

The program also provides cash benefits for needy families. A typical family of three could expect to receive about $694 a month, according to Andrea Ford, policy director for the Alameda County Social Services office.

But the budget reduction has led to benefit cuts for participants who fail to comply with the welfare-to-work requirements, which include a mandatory 32 to 35 hours of work-related activity per week.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, participants who fail to meet the requirements for three months will see their benefits reduced by 25 percent.

If they fail to comply for nine consecutive months, they will not only lose all of their benefits, but will also see their children's benefits reduced by 50 percent.

Ford said that the unprecedented cut to benefits for children is not the answer.

"Children should not be made to suffer for their parents' non-compliance," she said.

The cuts to the program have also forced county administrators to reduce the maximum enrollment period from 60 months to 48. If recipients are unable to secure employment by then, they will be removed from the program.

Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson said in light of the economic recession, reducing the enrollment period is unfair to participants who must now face stiffer competition in an ailing job market.

"Employers are taking the best of the best," he said. "We're finding that even people with degrees are working fast food. We're penalizing individuals for not finding a job when there just aren't any jobs to find."

Carson added that former recipients who cannot find employment may turn to criminal activity, which in turn could lead to increased costs for the state in the long-run.

"When people who receive CalWORKs benefits drop out of the system, they either become successful employees or they turn to alternative forms of survival," he said. "If that alternative is illegal activity, it's going to cost us."

In addition to cutting benefits and reducing the enrollment period, participants with two or more children under the age of six will become exempt from the work requirements.

CalWORKs-which stands for California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids-was created in 1997 in response to a federal overhaul of the welfare system.

In Alameda County, over 19,000 participants are enrolled in the program, which also provides benefits for their 33,000 children.

Tags: CALWORKS CUTS, WELFARE TO WORK