Posted on Thu, Jan. 13, 2005
State chooses DCF workers' savings plan; about 4,400 to lose jobs
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - State workers will continue to handle applications from people seeking food stamps, Medicaid, welfare and other benefits, but about 4,400 state jobs will be cut from the program by 2007, Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday.
Workers in the Department of Children & Families created the plan to streamline the work that decides who among millions of poor Floridians is eligible for the Economic Self-Sufficiency program.
The department had also considered giving the work to a private company.
But Bush said Thursday that agency Secretary Lucy Hadi told him Wednesday that she had decided to accept the state workers' plan and he agreed. It should save taxpayers $69.2 million a year, money that will be reinvested to make it easier for poor families to apply for help, according to a draft of the plan.
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http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/10639637.htm