Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 11, 1993 TAG: 9306110086
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
A record 5 million families - almost all headed by a single parent - collect checks under Aid to Families with Dependent Children. At least 3 million mothers probably have been on welfare for two years or more.
Clinton has said that low-income Americans deserve help with education and training, but after two years of assistance "you have to ask people to take a job, ultimately, either in the private sector or in public service."
Only one in every hundred women on AFDC now works in exchange for her family's check - as a teacher or Head Start aide, hospital candy-striper, welfare office clerk or in other low-skill positions.
States are required to put some AFDC recipients into education, training or work under the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills training program.
Studies by two research groups, one conservative and one liberal, say most JOBS participants are in education or training. The studies say about 1 percent of the 4.49 million families on AFDC in 1991 worked in exchange for a check.
Robert Rector, a welfare policy analyst for the conservative Heritage Foundation, pegs the number of women in jobs or on-the-job training at 20,000 to 50,000, based on a recent analysis of federal data.
The liberal Center for Law and Social Policy estimated the number at 17,000 to 35,000 in an average month in 1991. Its 1992 study was based on preliminary 1991 federal records and a survey of the states.
Increasing the numbers is "an enormous, daunting task," said Paul Offner, an aide to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
David Ellwood, assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in December that at least 3 million women probably have been on welfare for two years or more.
"If half of these are required to work, the cost and mechanics could be staggering," he said, citing Offner's estimate of the cost of creating a public service job and day care at $3,500 per case.
In a recent interview, Ellwood said the administration's overhaul of the welfare system would put limits on the time a family could collect benefits followed by work requirements. HHS Secretary Donna Shalala said last week that mothers of young children may not necessarily be exempt.
Federal records show 498,195 AFDC recipients were in the JOBS program in 1991, including 262,977 who put in at least 20 hours a week.
Advocates for the poor say the states have emphasized education and training under JOBS.
"Given that a large percentage of the AFDC caseload has some serious skill or educational deficits, it's clear that providing people with education and training programs that improve their employability will be a good long-term investment," said Susan Steinmetz, senior legislative associate for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Steinmetz also notes that state welfare caseloads have risen with the recession, while jobs vanished.
by CNB