THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 13, 1994 TAG: 9412130295
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
As the political debate explodes over state and national welfare reform, Norfolk may find itself somewhat insulated from the fallout.
Norfolk has been implementing its own reforms, some of which are being copied in Gov. George Allen's welfare initiative being released Thursday.
The architect of Norfolk's reforms is George G. Musgrove, who this month left his job as the city's human services director to become an assistant city manager in Richmond.
At least two Musgrove policies have become keystones for Allen: using ``self-sufficiency workers'' who dole out funds and help recipients with job skills; and strengthening job-training links with the private sector.
``George had a great deal of input and a great deal of influence with these,'' said Jeff Brown, executive director of the Governor's Commission on Citizen Empowerment, which helped formulate Allen's welfare proposals.
Norfolk also may benefit fromanother of Musgrove's beliefs: that a proposal to limit welfare benefits to two years is unfair, especially in cities where jobs are hard to find.
``The actual cost to state and local governments, as a result of time limits, will be higher than what it is now,'' Musgrove said. ``More homelessness. Kids coming into foster care because parents didn't know how to care for them. Expanded shelters. Expanded soup kitchens . . . all tied to time limits.''
Musgrove and others voiced this concern to Allen's administration.
As a result, Brown said, temporary waivers may be granted to cities such as Norfolk where unemployment exceeds the statewide average.
Musgrove came to Norfolk in 1990 after being social services director in Baltimore and a special assistant to Maryland's transportation secretary.
Almost immediately, he began transforming Norfolk's Social Services Division and, in the process, irking some longtime employees. The major change involved the creation of ``generic caseworkers'' much like the ``self-sufficiency workers'' in the Allen plan.
The generic caseworker combines responsibilities of two traditional social services employees - those who determine who gets benefits and those who help clients find jobs and ultimately get off welfare.
``The key to welfare reform internally is that the person who hands you the check has got to be the person who insists you've got to get a job,'' Musgrove said.
Generally, generic workers have smaller caseloads - 60 to 70 - than traditional eligibility workers, who have up to 240 clients.
Norfolk now has 21 generic workers and plans to create about 35 more positions, said Suzanne Puryear, acting director of human services.
Under Musgrove, Norfolk Social Services also improved its relationship with private employers. The agency hired a skills-assessment company to evaluate the abilities and needs of many welfare recipients.
One program is operated by the city's Industrial Development Authority, which tries to prepare welfare recipients to meet real business needs. Nationwide, many efforts have failed because trainees and employers were not properly matched, said Robert B. Smithwick, Norfolk's development director.
In two years, the Norfolk Industrial Development Authority has placed 94 of its 182 trainees in jobs, said Archie Seay, its director.
Musgrove and Smithwick contend that the private sector must also become more open to hiring successful trainees.
``Whether we can get the business community to really get over their stereotypes of what this population is all about as opposed to what the system has done to people is going to be our biggest challenge,'' Musgrove said.
Musgrove generally applauds Allen's tough-minded approach to welfare reform, such as linking benefits with work or education.
For one thing, he said, it's what voters want.
``In tough economic times, it grates even more to think that people are getting something for nothing while I, who am working class, am struggling to pay every bill,'' Musgrove said.
But he's also leery of more politicization, especially nationally. ``I'm afraid now that people will try one-upmanship in the welfare reform movement: `I could be more of a reformer than you. I could be more punitive than you.' ''
Musgrove said much opposition to welfare is based on inaccurate stereotypes of recipients as frequently pregnant or involved in crime.
Nevertheless, Musgrove said, it's time for reform because changes will promote self-sufficiency.
``I don't know how else we can break this welfare cycle other than putting a mandatory work requirement in place,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: George Musgrove
"The key to welfare reform internally is that the person who hands
you the check has got to be the person who insists you've got to get
a job.'
City policies on state's agenda
"Self-sufficiency workers"
Stronger private-sector links
KEYWORDS: WELFARE REFORM NORFOLK by CNB