Gov. Sam Brownback said Thursday he opposes making a mentoring program for welfare recipients mandatory, an idea floated by the Department of Children and Families as it seeks to boost low participation.



�Oh, no, we�re not looking at that yet,� the Republican governor said.



The Wichita Eagle reported last week a mentoring program launched in January has attracted more than 100 volunteers but just 13 welfare recipients.



�We�ve just had a slow uptake,� Brownback said. �I think the better route I hear people talking about is incentivizing the mentoring programs rather than mandating them. So, looking at what we can do that would make it more attractive to people.�



The mentoring program is funded with a federal grant worth $350,000 annually. In a statement last week, DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore anticipated adjustments would be needed to improve participation.



Despite the governor�s opposition to mandatory mentoring, Brownback spokeswoman Melika Willoughby said the administration hasn�t ruled anything out.



�We�ll see,� Brownback added. �It�s a new program. I don�t know of any other states doing it.�



Participation in the DCF effort stands in stark contrast to participation in a similar program at the Department of Corrections, the governor said. Thousands of inmates have worked with thousands of mentors to help Kansans as they leave incarceration.



�It�s fantastic. It�s cut our recidivism rates,� the governor said Thursday. �So it�s worked well there with people coming out of the prison system. It�s worked really well.�



It�s a result Brownback�s administration hoped would be replicated among welfare recipients. Brownback called the discrepancies in participation rates �stark.�



Though neither program is mandatory, prison mentoring begins when inmates are still behind bars. A captive audience has been more receptive to mentors than welfare recipients, the governor said.



Brownback expressed confidence in a third mentoring program, aimed at foster children approaching adulthood, which was also launched in January. First lady Mary Brownback was its first mentor.



�We�ll probably put more emphasis on that than even the poverty reduction because when you have someone who ages out of foster care, they�re really in a tough spot,� the governor said Thursday.