Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 7, 1995 TAG: 9502070044
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HOWARD CULLUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But this seemingly simple objective is difficult to achieve in the real world. Meaningful welfare reform will take years of commitment and will cost more money in the short term. There is no "silver bullet."
First, it will be difficult for our economy to absorb the state's current welfare recipients into private-sector jobs. There are simply not 40,000 to 50,000 jobs in Virginia sitting around for the taking.
Most of the jobs that current welfare recipients fill will probably not have health care. If we reduce the welfare rolls by half and don't address health care, we will end up with more than 100,000 Virginians now with health coverage losing it.
Remember, too, that moving tens of thousands of people to a job setting is difficult. We're talking about people with no transportation while training or job sites are miles away. We're talking about families in need of child care - and child care is expensive.
Of course, these are the same difficulties all workers face. But it is much harder when you have no car, and when you are trying to live on Virginia's average cash payment of $291 per month. When you add in food stamps, the average recipient is trying to survive on $566 a month, or $6,800 a year.
Obtaining a minimum-wage job along with some food stamps will provide about $800 per month to live on. This must cover food, rent, transportation, clothes, child care and all other expenses. Again, we are talking about a family that almost certainly has lost health coverage.
Just finding a minimum-wage job will still leave this family making thousands of dollars less per year than the poverty level. In fact, it is rational behavior to stay on welfare, if getting off means you and your family will be worse off due to losing health care and other supports.
If we are serious about moving thousands of Virginians into the job market, the state must invest in job training, child care, health coverage and hiring incentives for businesses.
Even if we are willing to make this commitment of resources, there are no easy, quick solutions to pulling families out of poverty - that breeding ground of violence, abuse and drugs. The only way out of the poverty box is successful schoolwork by the children, leading to decent-paying jobs in the future. Thus, we must set as a condition of public assistance the clear expectation that recipients will make a commitment to the education of their children.
If we expect to change welfare, our institutions must also respond with good schools and safe neighborhoods. We need supportive churches and community groups.
The majority of Virginians support a safety net for the poor, those caught up in circumstances beyond their control - structural unemployment like the Great Depression, death of a breadwinner, disability or temporary job loss. There is broad support for helping our fellow citizens caught up in a crisis or an emergency.
But what happens to children and families if some proposed time limit is reached and a welfare recipient who has played by the rules still can't obtain a job? Do we cut off assistance and say "tough luck," or do we keep providing help - and for how long?
Virginia must move ahead with welfare reform for that most important of all reasons: We want children to grow up in homes where work is expected.
As the debate goes forward over the next year, however, it is important that we keep in mind the original reason we established these programs - to offer basic support to disadvantaged children. They are the reason we must approach reform with a responsible and caring strategy.
Howard Cullum was Gov. Douglas Wilder's secretary of health and human resources.
by CNB