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In states with high poverty rates, one would expect to find overflowing welfare rolls and not enough money to go around.

But in New Mexico, which the U.S. Census Bureau says has the third-highest percentage of people living in poverty, the state can't find enough families to take its money.

"New Mexico has so many families in need," said Kati Falls, Human Services Department deputy secretary for programs. "We are surprised that the caseload is as low as it is."

So few families are signed up for the federally funded Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides monthly cash to families, that the state has amassed a $45 million surplus.

The surplus money can be used only for cash payments, not for food stamp programs or salaries at the Human Services Department.

So for the first time in 12 years, the department is increasing the payments to families already signed up for cash assistance programs.

That is great news to Dinah Bitsie of Albuquerque, single mom to 2-year-old Violet.

With on-and-off-again employment, most recently at a McDonald's restaurant, Bitsie is living in an apartment subsidized by a charity for women trying to stay away from a life of drugs and mental health problems.

She's attempting to get child support from Violet's father.

Until then, Bitsie attends a local technical school. She borrows money from her uncle for diapers.

And she lives off food stamps, her monthly cash through TANF program and state medical care for her daughter.

The increase in payments will mean more to help her get on her feet.

"It's hard," Bitsie said.

Department officials say there are more families like Bitsie's in Albuquerque and the state that just aren't coming in to sign up for programs.

The TANF caseload over 2007 was at its lowest point ever.

"Some think it's the economy, better jobs, more employment, the minimum wage law," Falls said. "What is happening is we have had a decrease in the number of people applying and in the number qualifying."

The department does not track statistics on the reasons for disqualification, so Falls couldn't say if families are making too much money to qualify for TANF or if they aren't willing to participate in work and education requirements.

There is also a question of how difficult the program is to enroll in and stay qualified for.

"There are only two answers with this (low enrollment). One is administrative: How hard does the agency make it," said Jerry Bradley, policy research director for New Mexico Voices for Children.

"The other thing is, up until quite recently, unemployment has been fairly low and job growth has been fairly high," Bradley said.

To receive TANF support, a single parent raising one child can't earn more than $11,220 a year.

That equates to a full-time job paying $5.84 an hour. As of Jan. 1, minimum wage in Albuquerque is $7.50.

Unemployed applicants must actively seek work or an education that will ultimately lead to a job - another requirement for receiving TANF funds.

A parent with a child under the age of 1 can delay the employment requirement for 12 months total in their years on the program.

Families receiving TANF money cannot be on the program for more than five years in their entire life.

That means parents can't have subsequent children and continue unemployment, said department spokeswoman Betina Gonzales McCracken.

"She could use three months off with her first child and then three months off for her next child, but if she uses all 12 months with her first child and has more children, she would not be able to stop seeking work or she would risk losing her benefits," McCracken said.

About 10 years ago, before what is commonly called the Welfare to Work reform, the work requirements, five-year time limit and limits on unemployment to care for young children were not in place.

Since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the federal government decentralized the welfare program, giving the reins to the states.

New Mexico set up a program promoting education with the hope that participants could get good-paying jobs.

"We all know that a job at Wendy's flipping burgers is not going to move a family forward in the same way as if a family were able to go to a community college or UNM to take classes to become a teacher or an engineer," Falls said.

Since 1996, families and individuals needing federally funded food stamps have steadily increased - reaching an all-time high in 2006.

But the number of families on TANF - the traditional welfare program targeted by the reform act - have steadily declined in New Mexico.

In 1996, an average of 33,203 New Mexico families received welfare payments every month.

Through August 2007, the most recent month for which data is available, a monthly average of 13,925 families received TANF payments, 4,206 of them residing in Bernalillo County.

The Urban Institute, a nonpartisan economic and social research group in Washington, D.C., found that since the reform act, welfare caseloads across the nation sharply declined by more than half, from 4.6 million families in 1996 to 2.1 families in 2002, the most recent data at the time of the institute's report.

More current statistics are not available.

The steady drop in cases and the steady flow of federal funds to New Mexico created a bank of "carry forward money" for TANF families.

However in 2003, that bank ran out and the Human Services Department cut back on contracts and services.

Since then, though, the fund has replenished and has $45 million for families in need.

"Assuming no more money is put in there, which it will be, and the caseload stays the same, this will last about until 2013," Falls said. "We are very happy we were able to increase the standard of need (payments)."