Oregon launches welfare reform pilot.

Merging work and welfare. It's a national goal for welfare reform as defined by the Clinton administration. But Oregon didn't want to wait for Washington.

The Beaver State launched its own version of "workfare" this fall with Jobs Plus, designed so that those on welfare work for their benefits. State officials say if the pilot program involving 1,000 families in six Oregon counties succeeds, it could become a national model.

Although a number of states have similar versions of such workfare plans, Oregon's is one of the first to subsidize wages almost completely.

The state got federal waivers in September that allowed it to pay cash in lieu of food stamps and require welfare recipients to participate in the Jobs Plus program. Workers will earn minimum wage, $4.75 an hour, for up to nine months' work for private employers. Employers will cut the pay checks, then be reimbursed by the state with money that would have been paid out in benefits. Businesses will also put an additional $1 per hour into an individual education account for each welfare recipient hired. Jobs Plus participants can use that money for community college classes or additional job training.

If participating workers haven't been hired after six months, they get one day a week to look for another, unsubsidized job. After nine months without success, they are moved out of the program and matched...