Feds approve Ohio's changes to welfare program

COLUMBUS (AP) — Federal regulators have approved Ohio’s plan to increase the number of welfare participants who are working or pursuing employment.

The changes to the state’s welfare program are aimed at avoiding more than $130 million in federal fines.

Federal law requires that Ohio show that at least 90 percent of adults in two-parent households and at least 50 percent of all adults are working a required number of hours.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that under the plan approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the state would give $10 a month to working families receiving food stamps. That allows them to be counted as working welfare recipients.

The newspaper reports that if successful, the $7 million investment could help Ohio avoid the fines.