The extra $188.6 million being ploughed in to pay for the Government's welfare reforms includes a $51.8 million package to contract out the case management of 1000 sole parents and 1000 people with health or disability issues to private providers as a trial to see if they are more effective at getting high needs' beneficiaries back into work.
A spokeswoman for Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said the results for that group of beneficiaries would be compared with those of a similar group being dealt with by Work and Income and further decisions would be made on whether to expand the use of contracted case management, which the Work and Income board had recommended for more specialist attention and one-on-one care.
The $51.8 million will also cover support for those 2000, such as paying for courses, wage subsidies and support when they returned to work, such as transport.
The latest welfare reforms kick in in July this year and will place heftier work-testing and job hunting requirements on almost all beneficiaries except for the seriously ill or seriously disabled who are unable to work. The reforms which come into effect in July this year will pool beneficiaries into three broad categories, depending on their ability to work.
They include the Jobseeker Support for all those who are considered ready and able to work, Sole Parent Support for those whose children are too young for school and the Supported Living Payment for the long-term ill or seriously disabled who are unable to work.
