Thursday, April 30, 1998 | 11:27 a.m.
The Welfare Division reports that the number of people getting Temporary Assistance to Needy Families in March was 27,374, down 36 percent from a high of 43,000 in March 1995.
Welfare Division Administrator Myla Florence said the number of recipients continues to fall because some needy people may be turning to families or friends for assistance because they know state benefits are limited.
Under reforms passed last year, families can get welfare assistance for no more than five years in their lifetime, and no more than two consecutive years. After two years of benefits, they must remain off welfare rolls for at least one year.
Florence said the assistance numbers are lower than the projections she made when the Legislature approved her agency's budget last year. That budget projects about an 800-person increase in the welfare rolls in the coming year.
Besides the temporary assistance report, the Welfare Division also announced that 74,318 people got food stamps in February. That was a 10,000-person decline in the last year.
Florence is pleased the assistance numbers are dropping at the same time the state population has increased. Just 15 people per 1,000 now get welfare assistance in Nevada.
"That is extraordinary in a state like ours," she said.
Welfare rolls also have declined at the same time unemployment has shown an increase. The unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in March, compared with 3.9 percent in December. The December unemployment rate was the lowest in 20 years.
In addition, casino winnings and sales by Nevada businesses have shown declines in recent months.
Florence said her agency's strategies with employers to hire welfare recipients also may have contributed to the decline in the welfare rolls.
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