L.A. mulls paying parents to tend kids

LOS ANGELES, June 17 (UPI) -- Los Angeles County officials say they're considering putting unemployed parents to work by paying them to care for their own young children.

In a move to cope with possible cuts to California's CalWorks program, county officials are proposing to expand subsidized child care payments to jobless parents who have been receiving both child care and Welfare to Work subsidies but who may lose the latter under state cuts, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

County officials say the move to expand child-care payments to thousands of welfare-recipient parents -- allowing them to stay home and tend to their children under 6 years old full-time -- would cost less than what the government is now paying for the childrens' day care necessitated by welfare rules mandating parents take job training classes and search for jobs, the newspaper reported.

"What we're saying is do not cut Welfare to Work outright: Target the cuts to the people who are the most expensive," Miguel Santana, a deputy to the county's chief executive, told the Times.

A California legislative budget committee Tuesday rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to eliminate CalWorks, arguing that it should be cut by $270 million instead, the newspaper said.