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^ ENDING WELFARE AS WE KNOW PROGRESS ^ IT: OR PARALYSIS? Y4.G 74/7; W 45/2 FARING Ending Welfare fls He Knou It: Proq^r. . . BEFORE THE HUMAN RESOURCES AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MARCH 10, 1994 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Operations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 83-989CC WASHINGTON : 1994 ForsalebytheU.S.GovcmmcniPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments.CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-046092-1 ^ ENDING WELFARE AS WE KNOW IT: PROGRESS ^ OR PARALYSIS? Y4.G 74/7: W 45/2 5ARING Etidlng Uelfire Hi Ue Knou It: Frojr. . . ^^^j^^.^ HUMAN RESOURCES AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MARCH 10, 1994 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Operations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 83_989CC WASHINGTON : 1994 ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice.Washington.DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-046092-1 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS JOHN CONYERS, Jr., Michigan, Chairman CARDISS COLLINS, Illinois WILLIAM F. CLINGER, JR., Pennsylvania HENRY A. WAXMAN, California AL McCANDLESS, California MIKE SYNAR, Oklahoma J. DENNIS HASTERT, IHinois STEPHEN L. NEAL, North Carolina JON L. KYL, Arizona TOM LANTOS, California CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut MAJOR R. OWENS. New York STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York CHRISTOPHER COX, California JOHN M. SPRATT, JR., South Carolina CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming GARY A. CONDIT, California ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida COLLIN C. PETERSON. Minnesota DICK ZIMMER, New Jersey KAREN L. THURMAN, Florida WILLIAM H. ZELIFF, Jr., New Hampshire BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois JOHN M. McHUGH, New York CAROLYN B. MALONEY. New York STEPHEN HORN, California THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin DEBORAH PRYCE, Ohio DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey JOHN L. MICA, Florida FLOYD H. FLAKE, New York ROB PORTMAN, Ohio JAMES A. HAYES, Louisiana CRAIG A. WASHINGTON, Texas BARBARA-ROSE COLLINS, Michigan BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont CORRINE BROWN, Florida (Independent) MARJORIE MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY, Pennsylvania LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California GENE GREEN, Texas BART STUPAK, Michigan JUUAN Epstein, StaffDirector Matthew R. Fletcher, Minority Stc^Director Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York, Chairman HENRYA. WAXMAN, California STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin JOHN L. MICA, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey ROB PORTMAN, Ohio CRAIG A. WASHINGTON, Texas BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont (Ind.) Ex Officio JOHN CONYERS, Jr., Michigan WILLIAM F. CLINGER, JR., Pennsylvania Ronald A. Stroman, StaffDirector Cherri L. Branson, Professional StaffMember Martine M. DiCroce, Clerk Martha B. Morgan, Minority ProfessionalStaff (11) CONTENTS Hearingheldon March 10, 1994 1 Statementof: Ammaudnii,tyDoOrrogtahnyi,zawteilofnarseforrecRiepfioenrtmaNnodwm[eAmCbOeRrN,]t,heBrAososkolcyina,tiNoYn of Com- 12 Gowens, Pat, Welfare Warriors, Milwaukee, WI 37 Johnson, A. Sidney, executive director, American Public Welfare Associa- tion 158 Johnson, Clifford M., director, programs and policy. Children's Defense Fund 127 Kramer, Marian, president. National Welfare Ri^ts Union, Highland Park, MI 42 Lawson, Bill E., Ph.D., department ofphilosophy. University ofDelaware, Newark, DE 90 Liederman, David S., executive director, Child Welfare League ofAmer- ica 134 Neal, Sheryl A., welfare recipient,Atlanta, GA 19 Nightingale, Demetra Smith, director. Welfare and Training Research Program, theUrban Institute 148 Pecot, Renee Elizabeth, Women's Economic Agenda Project Oakland, CA, and member, National Welfare RightsUnion 26 Sandefur, Gary, professor of sociology and associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, UniversityofWisconsin, Madison, WI 115 Towns, Hon. Edolphus, a Representative in Congress from the State ofNew York, and chairman. Human Resources and Intergovernmental RelationsSubcommittee: Openingstatement 1 Walters, Ronald, chairman. Department ofPolitical Science, HowardUni- versity, Washington, DC 65 Woolsey, Hon. Lynn C, a Representative in Congress from the State ofCalifornia 2 Letters, statements, etc., submitted fortherecordby: Amadi, Dorothy, welfare recipient and member, the Association of Com- munity Organizations for Reform Now [ACORN], Brooklyn, NY: Pre- pared statement 15 Gowens, Pat, Welfare Warriors, Milwaukee, WI: Preparedstatement 40 Johnson, Clifford M., director, programs and policy. Children's Defense Fund: Prepared statement 129 Kramer, Marian, president. National Welfare Ri^ts Union, Highland Park, MI: Prepared statement 44 Lawson, Bill E., Ph.D., department ofphilosophy. University ofDelaware, Newark, DE: Prepared statement 93 Liederman, David S., executive director. Child Welfare League ofAmer- ica: Prepared statement 137 Neal, Sheryl A., welfare recipient, Atlanta, GA: Prepared statement 21 Nightingale, Demetra Smith, director. Welfare and Training Research Program, the Urban Institute: Prepared statement 150 Payne, Hon. Donald M., a Representative in Congress from the State ofNewJersey: Prepared statement 63 Pecot, Renee Elizabeth, Women's Economic Agenda Project Oakland, CA, and member. National Welfare Rights Union: Prepared statement 29 Rowe, Audrey, commissioner, Connecticut Department ofSocial Services, on behalf of the American Public Welfare Association: Prepared statement 160 Sandefur, Gary, professor of sociology and associate vice chancellor for academic affairs. University ofWisconsin, Madison, WI: Prepared statement 118 (III) IV — Page Letters, statements, etc., submitted fortherecordby Continued Walters, Ronald, chairman, Department ofPolitical Science, HowardUni- versity, Washington, DC: Prepared statement 69 Woolsey, Hon. Lynn C, a Representative in Congress from the State ofCalifornia: Preparedstatement 5 ENDmG WELFARE AS WE KNOW IT: PROGRESS OR PARALYSIS? THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1994 House of Representatives, Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee OF the Committee on Government Operations, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:45 a.m., in room 2247, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edolphus Towns (chairman ofthe subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Edolphus Towns, Donald M. Payne, Steven Schiflf, John L. Mica, and Bernard Sanders. Also present: Ronald A. Stroman, staff director; Cherri L. Branson, professional staff member; Martine M. DiCroce, clerk; and Martha B. Morgan, minority professional staff. Committee on Government Operations. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN TOWNS Mr. Towns. The Committee on Grovemment Operations, Sub- committee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations, will come to order. This hearing is on, "Ending Welfare as We Know It: Progress or Paralysis?" Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, may I ask you to yield to me first? Mr. Towns. I would be glad to yield to the ranking minority member ofthe subcommittee. Mr. SCHIFF. I thank the Chair for yielding to me out of order. I want to say, I congratulate the Chair on getting this hearing estab- lished. I think it is a subject that bears close scrutiny. I am in the middle of a markup on a bill in the Judiciary Committee down the hall, so I need to return there until we have finished voting, and I will be back to the hearing. I just wanted to announce to the Chair, that is where I will be. Mr. Towns. I understand these conflicts. We appreciate your coming. Thank you very much. It is a pleasure to welcome all of our witnesses this morning. This hearing will examine the history, theory, and practice of needs-based Federal Grovemmental assistance programs, commonly called "welfare." The group of governmental assistance programs commonly re- ferred to as "welfare" is a conglomerate ofseveral programs, includ- ing Aid to Families with Dependent Children, various forms of housing assistance, the food stamp program, and medical assistance through the Medicaid program. (1) In 1935, the Aid to Dependent Children program was included in the Social Security Act. This cash grant program enabled States to aid needy children without fathers. Enactea during the Great De- pression, this program was viewed as a way to stimulate economic recovery by keeping women with children out of the job market, thereby reducing the competition for the few jobs that were avail- able. Although every Presidential administration since Truman has pledged to reform the welfare system, the system has remained ba- sically unchanged since its beginning. According to the Census Bureau statistics, there were 36.9 million poor people in the United States. Currently, about 5 million families or 14 million people rely on AFDC. The typical welfare package of cash, food stamps, and Medicaid is worth around $12,000 a year. Federal payments for AFDC are about $15 billion per year or about 1 percent of the Federal budget. Adding in food stamps and housing subsidies, the total Federal contribution comes to about 6 percent ofthe annual Federal budget. If there is a lesson in the reform experience of the last 60 years, it could be that a new thinking and resolve about the goals and ex- pectations of reform needs to be seriously considered, prior to em- barking on the path to reform. I hope that today's hearing will point a way toward avoiding paralysis and moving toward progpress. We may need to discontinue our thinking about welfare as merely income maintenance and de- velop strategies which work toward self-sufficiency. I would like to call our first witness, a person it is an honor to serve with in the U.S. Congress, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, from the great State of California. It is a delight to welcome you to the witness table to share your experiences with us and to talk about your ideas, in terms of how we might be able to reform the welfare system at this time. It is a pleasure to have you, and we look forward to your testimony. I would say to you, as vou know, that your entire statement will be included in the record. You may proceed by summarizing, or if you want to read your statement, feel free to do so. STATEMENT OF HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY, AREPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROMTHE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Ms. Woolsey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the oppor- tunity to share my experience as a single, working mother on welfare with the subcommittee today and to share my vision of a just and fair welfare system. Mr. Chairman, it is time to end welfare as I knew it 25 years ago. It is also time to end welfare as the welfare recipients who will testify before you later this morning knew it and know it also. It is time to end welfare as the taxpayers ofthis Nation know it. Make no mistake, Mr. Chairman, our welfare system is broken. It is broken both for the recipient and for the taxpayer, because it fails to get people intojobs and offwelfare permanently. I know firsthand the merit and faults of our welfare system, because 25 years ago, I was a divorced, working mother, struggling to raise my three children. They were ag—es 1, 3, and 5. I hadbeen living a "Leave it to Beaver" —existence a successful husband, a beautiful home, wonderful kids and suddenly, through no fault or wrongdoing of my own or my children, we were without support, and I was left alone raising my three children. I know what it is like to lie awake at night and worry about not having health care and health insurance for my babies. I know how hard it is to find good, dependable child care. In fact, I had 13 dif- ferent child care providers in 1 year. I know what it is like to choose between paying rent and buying new shoes for my childre—n. Like so many American families, I turned to public a—ssistance Aid for Dependent Children, food stamps, and Medi-Cal to supple- ment my wages in order to give my family the food and health care they needed. During the 3-year period that I relied on these programs, I always knew that I had an advantage over other welfare recipients, an advantage that enabled me to make it through the welfare system. First, my children and I were very healthy, but I always knew that an accident or an illness would have shattered that fragile economic stability that welfare had provided us. I was also educated, and you have to know I was assertive, so I could get through that welfare system. But I know that other women on welfare are not as fortunate. My experience on welfare, and the knowledge that others often need a great deal more help than I did to get back on their feet, never leaves me. It serves as the foundation for my commitment to our children and families, and it supports my belief that we must create a fair and just welfare system, one that provides families with the tools they need to achieve permanent financial independence. I was the typical welfare recipient in that I needed a safety net in a time of crisis, due to either the death or abandonment of a male in the family. In fact, 75 percent ofwelfare recipients are single mothers, with one to two children; 50 percent of welfare recipients are off welfare within 1 year; 70 percent are off within 2 years. I applaud the Grovernment Operations Committee for listening to the people who know welfare best and know best how to make it work. Our approach to welfare reform is based on experience, not theory. Make no mistake, if the concerns of welfare recipients, and women in particular, are not included in the welfare reform debate, the final product will be a failure. For example, we must change the goal of the welfare office from checking eligibility to providing recipients with the tools they need to become self-sufficient and off welfare permanently. Throwing money at the problem, however, is not the answer. We need to be as tough on failed governmental systems as some people say we need to be on poor families. I believe that the key to welfare reform is not to reduce the avail- ability of AFDC but to reduce the need for AFDC. Families, espe- cially single-paren—t families, are forced to rely on AFDC because other systems fail health care, child care, education, job training, job creation, and child support. In fact, I believe that overhauling our child support system must be one of the first steps we take in order to reduce the need for public assistance. Of the $47 billion owed in child support each year, only $13 billion is collected, leaving $34 billion between what is owed and what is paid to support our children. Because ofthat, I am introducing "SAFE," the "Secure Assurance for Families Everywhere Act," which will stiffen child support en- forcement, increase paternity establishment, and guarantee every child that is owed child support a minimum monthly payment. I also plan to introduce legislation, with Representative Ralph Reg- ula, to address other shortcomings ofthe welfare system. First, this legislation removes obstacles that prevent welfare recipients from obtaining education and training and establishes self- sufficiency standards for Federaljob training programs. Second, it helps to keep families together by abolishing financial penalties against two-parent families. Third, my plan will get families off welfare and into work by making it possible to earn one's way off welfare while working. It encourages, rather than prohibits, work by—allowing recipients to keep more of their earning—s and benefits such as health care, child care, and child support as they enter the workforce. Fourth, we will provide a full range of supportive services and qualified case management to support recipients through the proc- ess, until they are offwelfare for good. It will also build partnerships between labor, business, and government to create jobs that pay a family wage and provide training. Welfare reform that works for taxpayers and recipients will re- quire short-term investment for long-term results. We must craft a plan that both respects our Nation's budget dilemma and achieves our common goal for financial independence for all American families. Mr. Chairman, 25 years ago, I needed welfare so I could take care of my children. Now, I am in a position to reform that same system, in order to ensure that all of our Nation's children are given the care and support they need. Thank you for the oppor- tunity to testify, Mr. Chairman. [The prepared statement ofMs. Woolsey follows:]