THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 20, 1994 TAG: 9412200324
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY AND PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
A panel studying ways to change the welfare system needs your help.
Over the next two weeks, the state's Welfare Reform Task Force will seek suggestions from eastern North Carolinians at public hearings.
The group met Monday in Raleigh and will hold meetings in Wilmington and Greenville on Jan. 3 and Jan. 5 to hear suggestions on how the state can help welfare recipients get the education, job training and skills needed to move into the work force.
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. established the task force in September to develop recommendations on welfare reform. Hunt said he will use the suggestions as a basis for legislation to present to the General Assembly in late January. The task force is comprised of 32 North Carolinians from businesses, social services, government agencies and welfare recipients.
``We have to find ways to end the cycle of poverty, so that families on welfare can learn to stand on their own two feet,'' Hunt said in a statement announcing the public meetings. ``Many of the families on welfare want to work. They want to buy homes and send their children to college. But the system discourages them from pursuing those dreams. ``It's time to change that,'' Hunt said.
Tonight, the welfare task force will continue its work in Durham. The first task force hearing last week attracted dozens of people to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg government center to tell the committee members how to change the system.
Some of the recommendations offered include:
Provide health insurance and day care for children of working parents to help people in the transition from welfare into the work force.
Enforce child support payment laws strictly.
Train people to get jobs and help welfare recipients find jobs after they complete the training.
Hunt's task force is not the only player in the welfare reform game.
Several state committees and individual legislators are preparing proposals for the upcoming General Assembly session.
Welfare reform is one of about 10 legislative priorities established by state Republicans, who now control the state House of Representatives, in a document called ``A New Contract.'' Following the lead of GOP congressional candidates, state Republican legislative candidates gathered on the steps of the state Capitol to sign the contract.
If they pursue measures in the contract, Republicans will likely propose legislation to deny benefits to unwed mothers and fathers who don't cooperate in establishing paternity. GOP members also want to create ``workfare'' programs - requiring all able-bodied welfare recipients to work.
N.C. Sen. Betsy Cochrane, a Davie County Republican who was recently named Senate minority leader, said she hoped to have a package of welfare reform measures approved by the Senate in the early days of the session.
GOP House member John M. Nichols of New Bern said welfare reform will be one of his top priorities.
This summer, the Dare County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution calling for comprehensive welfare reform at the federal, state and local level. Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said he has received positive responses on the resolution from 15 North Carolina counties.
``I don't want to see anything happen to the child,'' Owens said Monday. ``I'm an old-fashioned conservative Southern Democrat. I believe that the hungry should be fed, the needy should be clothed, and those without shelter should have a roof over their heads.
``But we have to put a system in place that doesn't reward the mother who has children down the road with more benefits,'' said Owens, who also serves as Hunt's representative for northeastern North Carolina. ``We have to put a workfare system in place where a recipient works for what he or she receives. We have to re-establish the incentive to work.
``The federal food stamp program is out of control,'' Owens said. ``There's a lot of talk about giving the responsibility for welfare back to the states. But that generally means it will come back to the counties. What we have to do is meet together in a concerted effort to reform welfare.
``It's something that should be done, can be done, and will be done.'' ILLUSTRATION: PUBLIC MEETINGS ON WELFARE REFORM
[For a copy of the scheduled meetings, see microfilm for this
date.]
by CNB