Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 3, 1995                   TAG: 9503030120
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

WELFARE BILL DENOUNCED AS `ANTI-FAMILY'

In a three-page statement, the organizations accused lawmakers of ``playing politics with the lives of children,'' and argued that Virginians ``want constructive welfare reform, not punitive welfare reform.''

``The legislation symbolically and practically conveys a message that welfare recipients should be punished for the dire circumstances in which they find themselves, rather than offered a way out,'' the groups wrote.

On its final day, the 1995 assembly passed welfare reform legislation that is tougher than similar laws in all but two other states: Wisconsin and Massachusetts. The law cuts off benefits from Aid to Families with Dependent Children after two years, and requires recipients to begin working for their benefits within 90 days of receiving aid.

About 49,000 of the state's 74,000 AFDC recipients are expected to be enrolled in the program within four years.

Supporters, including the Democratic and Republican leadership of the House and Senate, argued that the plan is needed to end welfare dependency. The current system fosters illegitimacy and family breakdown, they said.

The organizations opposing the bill cited several concerns:

There are no mandatory exemptions from the two-year cutoff for individuals who fail to find work despite a diligent search. The legislation says that the state Board of Social Services ``shall address'' that possibility in setting out criteria for hardship exemptions.

The board is ``made up of unelected officials not accountable to the public,'' the statement said.

There is no exemption for people in a full-time educational program, such as nursing school. After six months, work hours can be curtailed but not eliminated.

Advocates of the plan say people who don't receive welfare often have to juggle work and school.

A provision eliminating additional benefits for children born more than 10 months after AFDC begins makes no exemptions for rape, incest or faulty birth control, the letter stated.

The plan must be approved by federal welfare officials before it can be enacted. The request will be mailed ``shortly,'' said an Allen administration spokesman.

Others signing the letter include the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP, the Virginia National Organization for Women, the American Association of University Women, the Portsmouth Area Resources Coalition and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995