DHS plan to consolidate welfare offices stirs fears

The Hawaii Department of Human Services in late February held a series of public meetings on Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island to discuss a planned reorganization of its public assistance programs that could mean potential job cuts. The DHS cost-cutting plan consolidates some 50 welfare eligibility offices around the state into two large processing centers, one in Honolulu and another in Hilo.

The plan streamlines application and intake processes for social services programs such as Medicaid, welfare and nutrition benefits by consolidating them at centralized locations. Advocates for the poor said in early February they are worried a proposal to close welfare offices in Hawaii could create hundreds of new state worker layoffs and reduce access to food stamps, cash assistance and medical benefits.

The needy would lose basic services because the new processing centers would accept communications only by phone, fax or e-mail — technologies that the poor often cannot afford, according to Kanani Kaaiawahia Bulawan, of Waianae Community Outreach. Some of the poor would resort to crime, said Nora Nomura, deputy executive director for the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

The department told the union of its idea to consolidate welfare offices in a Jan. 29 letter, but no public announcement was made. The letter calls for layoffs, but it does not indicate how many people would lose their jobs or how much money the state intends to save. Nomura estimates between 200 and 400 layoffs. Hawaii Director of Human Services Lillian Koller has said that talks of layoffs are premature.

DHS denies its proposed reorganization would inhibit access to welfare and food stamp services. Koller wrote in a letter to the union that residents could still apply for assistance in person at the department's offices and community social service agencies. The department said there are approximately 30 eligibility offices but many of them provide other services and will likely remain open despite the reorganization.