How to put welfare recipients to work

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), March, 1995 by Michael Leavitt

LORI SATHER had two young children 16 and was pregnant with a third when she got tired of her husband's verbal and emotional abuse. The day she moved out of her house, she went onto the welfare rolls of California and became just one more statistic.

Like many women, Sather found that, because of her lack of education and experience, she couldn't find a job that paid above minimum wage. At $5 an hour, she couldn't make enough to pay for child care for her three pre-school kids and support her family. Welfare seemed the only answer.

For the nation's many women and children who live in poverty, welfare is not the answer. Many times, it is part of the problem. Leaders nationwide are realizing welfare, for the most part, forces people to remain in a system that keeps them poor.

In terms of purchasing power, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) grant level has dropped 40% over the past two decades. Women and children find it increasingly difficult to climb out of an economic hole that continues to deepen. The decline in rant levels is a result of increased caseloads and the fact that taxpayers, under economic stress themselves, are balking at putting more money into a system that encourages welfare as a way of life.

Nationally, welfare remains an income maintenance program. Utah, however, has chosen a different direction. When Lori Sather left California and took her offspring to Utah, she contacted the state's Department of Human Services. Fortunately for her, she became one of 1,600 families placed in the Single Parent Employment Demonstration Project. Implemented in January, 1993, the initiative required 44 Federal waivers and may revolutionize welfare forever. It focuses on employment, not entitlement, moving people off welfare while providing the supportive services they must have until they reach a salary level they can live on.

A computer randomly selects clients for whom participation is mandatory. Those entering the demonstration project, like Sather, become part of a team consisting of an eligibility worker, a self-sufficiency worker, and, when needed, a counselor.

Self-sufficiency and eligibility workers have available to them one-time emergency grants to provide clients with immediate financial assistance. They can make such a payment of three times the normal grant level to people who may require short-term help to stay off the welfare rolls. If the client needs more extensive assistance, the team immediately begins plans that may include employment placement, job search, Adult Basic Education, or training in a skill or trade.

It is a very different approach-one that encourages the client to succeed and offers help, not hindrances. Along with the face-to-face contact to plan for employment, a priority is placed on collecting child support payments.

Those who enter the Demonstration Project are required to attend the Quest Program, a three-day training class, unless they are involved in education or employment. The first day, the clients, many of whom are victims of physical or emotional abuse, build self-confidence and self-esteem. They learn how to be in charge and take control of their lives.

The second day, clients learn about community resources available to help them. They also are taught how the Demonstration Project works. The third day, the participants are given a test in basic English, grammar, and math. This helps both the client and the self-sufficiency worker understand the education and basic skill level of the client.

Clients then have the option of attending five more days of classroom training in the Self Directed Job Search Program. This teaches resume writing, how to fill out job applications, proper phone manners and interviewing skills, and positive grooming and dress standards.

For the next 60 days, clients have an opportunity to report to the Job Search Network Center, where they have access to job listings from around the state, career guidebooks, phone books, and a telephone to make appointments. A staff worker from the Department of Human Services is available in the center to provide instant feedback and direction.

An innovative feature of the Demonstration Project is the on-site placement of a staff person from the Office of Job Services. Clients are able to develop a personal relationship with the Job Service worker, who has on-line access to a state computer employment bank to help find the best position.

The Demonstration Project also includes incentives for participation. Clients who are active in the program have an extra $40 per month added to their grant. Those who refuse to participate without good cause can have their grant reduced by $100. Regulations that penalize employment are eliminated. For instance, the AFDC requirement that a person must have received financial assistance for three months to qualify for continued medical assistance after accepting employment is waived.

Employment not only becomes attractive, but is financially rewarded. When a family secures employment, its grant only gradually is reduced. A dollar of earned income does not result in a dollar reduction in the grant, as it does with regular AFDC.