The Good Side of The Welfare Reform Act

    The first benefit I hope to see, is hope. I believe that a lot of these families have been in a
situation where there has been no benefit to working. When you count what it costs for
health insurance, replace food stamps with money earned, take away housing benefits (
which less than 25% get anyway ), add childcare costs, and the time it takes away from your
family, would you work for $6.00 per hour? I don’t think that I would.
    In the Welfare Reform Act (WRA) some families will keep their food stamp and medical
benefits up to two years ( varies from state to state and food stamps are not extended as
long as Medicaid ).
    This will have the benefit of alleviating the fear dependent people may have of “ can I do it
on my own?”( Connecticut Dept. Social Services website and American Public Human
Services Assoc. website) Another positive change is the fact that if a teen parent is in school,
it will count towards work, fulfilling the work requirement while still giving the financial
assistance they will need to finish their high school education.
    I also felt that it is a step in the right direction not to increase government funded support to families who conceive a child while on government assistance. I feel that this has never reflected reality. How many of us, when finding ourselves expecting another child, were given a raise by our boss? I
never was. I feel that this helps bring accountability to our families. This is a provision that
is optional for each state and I hope that many of them choose to make use of it. An
expanded list of allowable work activities will benefit all of us, receiving assistance or not.
This list not only includes work, job-skills training, vocational training, on the job training,
high school ( or GED ) attendance, but, impressively, it also includes community service
and a provision for child care. When a person can’t get a job, and the government provides
for them ( even if it is a substandard living ) they should give something back. Maybe if we
get them involved in community service we will all be able to take more pride in our
communities. The smartest thing I have witnessed so far is the combining of welfare
services with employment services, Job Service in Utah is no longer. This has made the
welfare office a much more professional place to be. Both workers and clients seem much
happier. They have all the services you need all in one place, as well as, computers for
resumes, people in the lobby to greet you and guide you to where you need to go, and today
it is much more like going to any other office than to a welfare office. This has helped
restore dignity to families in need. One last thing I really liked about the WRA was finding
out that ILLEGAL immigrants were not eligible, and haven’t been for some time, for cash
assistance ( although they are still eligible for emergency medical help). I believe that all
people are human and have certain basic needs, and even rights, but if I steal a loaf of bread
to feed my poverty ridden family, I risk going to jail, regardless of poverty. We must all
accept the consequences of our actions. That aside, I feel that before we can care for the
world we need to bring our own poverty problems more under control.
                   The Downside of The Welfare Reform Act
I think that the most disgusting part of the WRA is that in reading the more detailed
summary, parts of it seemed like a commission contract I once signed for a sales job. For
example, there is an illegitimacy reduction bonus. There will be a $2 million amount given
annually from 1999 to 2002 to the five states that have the greatest reduction in illegitimate
births without increasing abortions!!! Now, I am pro-choice, although my religous beliefs
tell me that abortion is sinful, I feel it is such an evenly split issue that we need to let each
person be accountable to their own higher power on this issue instead of forcing our own
moral values on others when the end result doesn’t directly affect us. This provision is kind
of like the $2,000 per month bonus awarded to the top salesperson in a company I used to
work for, isn’t it? (American Public Human Services Assoc. website) Another big problem
is the limitation on vocational education and teens in school. This is a stipulation that says
that in order to meet the governments quota of work participation for federal funding, not
more than 20% of the families may count towards the work rate by participating in these
vocational or high school related training programs. If we really expect, over the long term,
to make people self sufficient, this training is important. Not only for the skills, but some of
these people have not participated in structured activities like school or work for a long
while. I do believe that we should all do our best to be self sufficient, but be reasonable. It is
also a state option to deny assistance to unmarried teen parents and their children. I think
those who are lost enough to end up in that situation need our support the most. Why deny
them the encouragement to finish their education, and the support alot of them need
emotionally, once again, just to prove our moral values? I really don’t understand this
concept, to me it seems like reverse age discrimination. In my research I found two very
interesting New York Times articles that added alot of perspective, even for a person like
me who, so far, has liked the welfare reform. The first was dated 8/25/96, and titled Welfare
Seekers Outnumber Jobs They Might Fill. In this article It stated that there are 470,000 adult
welfare recipients in the state of New York, and when comparing that with the growth since
the end of the city’s recession in 1992, it would take 21 years for all 470,000 welfare
recipients to find work. I feel this is where community service would play an important role,
think how much cleaner New York would be! I do realize that it would only make a small
dent in helping these people to be independant, but I was taught to eat the elephant one bite
at a time. The other article, dated 9/1/1996 also in the New York Times, written in Kansas
City , Mo, and entitled Success Difficult to Achieve in Welfare To Work, had a few
conflicting ideas about the employability of welfare recipients. Some of the People
interviewed had hired welfare recipients and had felt they were attitudinal, and didn’t like
being told what to do. Like I already said, if you had been sucked into a feeling of
hopelessness and dependency, would you have a little resentment at being cast out and
forced to work without the proper preparation? Probably so. The other people interviewed
had also hired welfare recipients and were happy with their performance. Most of the people
interviewed, happy or not, said that their numbers reflected that a lot of the people hired
were no longer employed and I believe that this reflects what I have been saying, not that
they don’t want to work, but that they are not given the preparation they need.
                                          Summary
I believed when I began my research to find out if this welfare reform will be effective. I am
no closer to that conclusion than I was when I began. I can tell you that I don’t think it’s
right for bureaucracies to “give bonuses” based on abortion rates/unmarried births, nor am I
denying the potential problems like lifetime limits when there may be far too many people
that will need jobs. I do think there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. So far the things
that have been implemented appear to restore hope to the once hopeless, and isn’t that the
best place we can start? There are alot of things to worry about, how will the children be
fairing in the next five years? Will homelessness increase? Will we finally ensure that we all
have the skills to survive in today’s world? Only the next five years will begin to tell us that,
but at least for now we can hope.
                  Part II Welfare Reform’s Potential Impact on Families
                                        Introduction
My primary goal is to find out which of the optional policies Utah chose to make us of, and,
whether or not our economy is likely to provide jobs for our local families in need. Utah is a
great place to focus on whether reform is going to work because Utah started the model for
the current reform in 1993, called Single Parnet Employment Demo Program.
                 Will Utah’s Job Market Support Our Goals?
The first thing that I did was to call the Chief Economist for the Department Of Workforce
Services ( DWS, the “welfare office”), Ken Jensen. I learned from Ken that Utah has a good
market for creating jobs for the needy. Our job market growth recently peaked at 6.2%
(approximately 50,000 jobs) in 1994. Since then there has been a gradual decline in growth,
total 1998 was 3%, 1999 is projected at 2.5%, and the year 2000 is projected to be 2.3 % .
These numbers are very encouraging because the 2.5% this year will still total
approximately 25,000 jobs. In addition to this, Utah has had a very tight labor market for
quite some time, with more jobs than available workers. This type of a labor market not only
increases a persons chance of getting a job, but, also improves the chances for Earning a
competitive wage that is enough to support a family on. In 1996 the state of Utah paid out
$64 million in AFDC benefits (cash only) with an average of $363 per month, so
approximately 176,309 families recieved assistance. As long as we continue our current
growth and market, we should be okay when it comes to providing jobs for those that need
them.
                         Are We Preparing People Enough
I also interviewed Angie Kingsley, a Supervisor at The Department of Workforce Services. I
found out from Angie that even more encouraging is the fact that there is a high retention
rate in Utah for Welfare to Work participants. Here in Utah there is a program called The
Six Phase workshop. This is a program that begins with an interview that gives the case
manager an idea of exactly what each particular person is really in need of. Second is an
assesment which gives the worker an idea of what kind of skills, hurdles, and expectations
each person has, allowing them to create realistic expectations about the work environment
and develope the skills they need. Third phase is assertive communications, which teaches
people how to effectively communicate needs and problems without creating more
problems in the work environment. The fourth phase is pre-employment skills training,
interviewing and job search skills. Fifth is life management skills which teaches money
management, as well as time management and other necessary skills for self sufficiency.
Last of all is job retention skills training. Finally each person will complete a final interview
and then begin a job search. Each phase is 4 hours, 2 days per week. The employment rate
after completing this program is approximately 91%. Another great aspect for Utah is the
fact that Utah has chosen to use community service as one method of qualifying for work
participation. This is a benefit in more ways than one. First it provides valuable services in
our communities and helps families take more pride in the world around them. Second it
sometimes allows case workers to see firsthand a clients work habbits, dress, and problems,
allowing them to help their clients develope the neccesary skills for surviving in todays
world.
                      Vocational Training and High School
There are requirements that must be met for any client to recieve the benefits of training.
First they must have a record of following through, finishing, or at the very least being
compliant with the new requirements for “welfare”. Second they have to go through
vocational testing to help ensure that they are going to both enjoy and excel at what they will
be trained to do. Last of all, they must research the jobs that are within the realm of the
training they choose, to ensure that there is some kind of market for the trianing that they
chose. All of this and the training must fall within the 36 month lifetime limit that Utah has
adopted.
               Daycare Funding And Qualifying For Programs
Daycare has always been a highly funded and fairly distributed benefit in Utah. For example
a family of 4 can recieve daycare assistance if there income is up to $2,136 per month. This
is for either a married or single family household. There are 8 graduating steps in qualifying,
within each step you pay a higher percentage of your daycare each month. For single
families daycare can be used for training, work, job search, or community service. If you are
married, you can only use daycare benefits to work or get training, not for job search. There
have also been positive changes in asset limits that now allow families to build assets to
boost themselves with after they no longer need assistance. For cash assistance the vehicle
asset limit is $8,000, additional assets can be up to $3,000. The asset limit for medical
assistance however does not allow the $8,000 for the car. This is a great step because it
allows poor families to aquire a “decent” car, thus avoiding problems with reliable
transportation when the time comes for families to begin work or training. I think it also
allows people just a little more dignity than previous policies allowed.
                                          Summary
I began this paper thinking that welfare reform was a very necessary change. I still believe
that. I also believed that this current reform was a pretty good step in the right direction. Part
of me still believes that also. There is another part of me that is concerned for families who
live in an economy that is not able to produce the jobs it’s communities need to put the
needy to work. I am happy to say that here in Utah the WRA will be quite successful in my
opinion. I am, however, quite sad to say that the reasons for our success will probably be the
downfall of other communities. What will happen to those who live in communities
without the job growth we have? Will other states adopt our longer term (6 week) job
preparation program, or will they just send the masses out to get a job? Is there adequate
daycare in other states to provide safe care for poor families while they get the skills
necessary? After all is said and done, I am more certain about Utah’s “welfare future” but
am even more unsure than when I started about the state of the rest of the country.