Copyright 2002 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.  
Chicago Sun-Times
January 2, 2002 Wednesday
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 31

LENGTH: 820 words

HEADLINE: Time to reassess restrictions on welfare

BYLINE: Madeleine Philbin

HIGHLIGHT:
Cutting aid will hurt children

BODY:
Because of flaws in the welfare reform system and the current economic slump, some children in America are now facing a crisis. Thousands of mothers in the United States--some of them here in Illinois--will soon lose their welfare benefits because they do not have jobs.

The 1996 welfare reform law placed a five-year lifetime limit on women collecting support. The goal of the legislation was simple and commendable: transition parents from welfare to work. But successfully achieving that objective is often far more complex. When welfare support is cut off, we cannot ignore the impact on children.

In an analysis of 16 welfare studies, the Children's Defense Fund found that children's school performance improved and their behavior problems decreased when family income increased through a combination of work and welfare.

When income decreased, just the opposite occurred. We have the power to help or to hurt children by the kind of welfare policies we put in place.

Even when the economy was booming, women moving into the work force from welfare faced enormous hurdles: finding adequate child care, meeting transit and clothing costs, fending off domestic violence, and overcoming learning disabilities, mental health issues and educational limitations.

Many of these women also face the challenge of returning to school--in addition to working full time and caring for a family--to obtain an education that would allow them to obtain better jobs. These women dearly want to become role models for their children. They do not lack motivation; they lack long-term resources and support.

Through our work at the Chicago Commons Employment Training Center we have come to know many determined, motivated moms who are able to take that first step into the work force. In the past year, we have helped more than 200 women enter the job market.

Now, with the specter of recession looming, many of the mothers we have assisted will be the first ones fired from their low-paying jobs. Others have already lost positions. And there have always been women who needed more resources than the 1996 welfare reform law made possible.

In the coming months, the 1996 welfare reform bill will come up for renewal. To assure welfare reform reduces childhood poverty, important changes should be made:

?176-129? We must maintain and improve the safety net for children, while helping parents meet work-related welfare goals.

This includes a concerted push to remove administrative barriers that hinder families from receiving food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance, mental health services, quality child care and emergency support services.

?176-129? We must ensure that families with multiple barriers to employment receive necessary services.

One survey suggests that 25 percent to 50 percent of parents lost their cash benefits when a mental health problem, a physical disability, an undiagnosed learning disability, or a domestic violence situation resulted in an inability to successfully pursue a job.

It is Chicago Commons' experience, serving thousands of children yearly through our Head Start and other programs, that young children in these families are significantly more likely to have developmental, behavioral or school problems.

?176-129? We must revise time limits on welfare eligibility.

A time limit implies that all families can address their problems in the same amount of time. This assumption is flawed because it assumes all families are the same, that they have the same problems and that those problems can be addressed the same way.

Time limits on cash assistance should be eliminated, or at minimum, revised to ensure that families are not arbitrarily or punitively terminated from cash assistance and services.

Unemployment benefits may not be sufficient to support the family during a serious economic downturn.

?176-129? We must redefine the goals of national welfare legislation, so that it reduces child poverty, not just caseloads.

A reduction in state caseload size isn't an adequate measuring tool; we must also reduce childhood poverty. A family may leave the "caseload" for many reasons, but few leave because they have achieved a secure economic situation.

To make these policies possible, welfare funding to states must focus on helping people to move from poverty into long-term jobs that pay a family-supporting wage.

If we improve the safety net for children, ensure that families receive necessary support services, revise rigid time limits on eligibility, and redefine goals to focus on reducing child poverty, we can create an effective welfare reform program that helps reduce family poverty and, in the long-term, also reduces welfare dependency.

Only then will we really change welfare into a program that leaves no child behind.

Madeleine Philbin is area director of the Chicago Commons Employment Training Center.

LOAD-DATE: January 11, 2002