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Federal assistance may be running out for nearly 14,000 of Michigan’s needy families – their five year’s having expired and the state no longer willing to continue extending the time beyond that through hardship exceptions.
It’s a change in state policy prompted by the tight budget.
At the same time, the state is also revamping how it hands out the assistance, and plans to limit the total time in most cases to four years, likely beginning Oct. 1, according Maura Corrigan, director of the Michigan Department of Human Services.
"In the long-run, the move will help Michigan’s families," she said today.
“I’m concerned, yes,” Corrigan said of families who will lose benefits, “but we’re here to help them make that transition – to fulfill the intent of the law and to get them to self-sufficiency.”