Feds, State Tighten Welfare Rules

08/07/2006

Welfare reform is now ten years old, and the program’s regulations are tighter than ever. Starting this fall, Washington will join most other states in firing people who don’t comply with the program. Currently recipients lose PART of their grant for noncompliance, but policymakers say sometimes they need to cut people off completely. Critics say the penalties are often imposed in error, and hurt children the most. KUOW’s Amy Radil reports.

SATINA JACKSON SAYS WELFARE SANCTIONS PUT HER IN A FINANCIAL HOLE SHE CAN’T GET OUT OF.

JACKSON IS A 27-YEAR-OLD MOTHER OF THREE. THE PROBLEMS STARTED WHEN SHE AND HER CHILDRENS’ FATHER SPLIT UP. THE STATE OF WASHINGTON STILL CONSIDERED THEM PART OF THE SAME HOUSEHOLD. THEY DOCKED PART OF HER WELFARE GRANT WHEN HE DIDN’T SHOW UP TO THE WELFARE-TO-WORK PROGRAM, CALLED WORK FIRST.

JACKSON: "He didn’t’ want to go to Work First, so they decided they were going to punish me because we’re on the case together."

BECAUSE HER PARTNER DIDN’T FOLLOW THE PROGRAM, THE STATE APPLIED WELFARE SANCTIONS. HER GRANT WAS CUT BY 40%. FOR SIX MONTHS, JACKSON RECEIVED $440 DOLLARS A MONTH PLUS FOOD STAMPS TO SUPPORT HERSELF AND HER THREE CHILDREN, AGES 3, 4 AND 7. NOW HER BENEFITS ARE BACK TO NORMAL. BUT JACKSON IS IN DEBT AND SAYS SHE CAN’T GET OUT.

JACKSON: "so on the 21st and 22nd of every month I have nothing. But maybe like 2 things of meat. And once I get like that I try to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, everything but the meat, cause I don’t want to be completely empty because I got to feed my kids."

JACKSON COULDN’T PAY HER UTILITY BILLS, AND HER WATER WAS SHUT OFF. FOR AWHILE SHE STAYED IN THE HOUSE, BUT….

JACKSON: "It’s unsanitized for my kids to be there, the little time we were there every five minutes we were taking trips to the library for them to use the bathroom."

THE SPIRAL CONTINUED. THE STATE CUT OFF HER CHILDREN’S DAYCARE, SO SHE DROPPED OUT OF THE ADULT EDUCATION CLASSES SHE WAS ATTENDING. MEANWHILE HER EX-PARTNER HAS TURNED ABUSIVE, SO SHE’S LOOKING FOR SPACE IN LOCAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS. SHE SAYS HER KIDS ARE HOMESICK, AND SHE’S OVERWHELMED.

JACKSON: "I can’t deal with none of this no more. I feel like I’m really on the edge right now. And I have to be strong for my kids cause if I do something stupid then who’s going to take care of my kids…."

JACKSON BELIEVES WHEN THE STATE CUTS OFF BENEFITS COMPLETELY, MORE CHILDREN WILL END UP IN FOSTER CARE.

DESPITE THIS STORY, TEN YEARS OF WELFARE REFORM HAVE CREATED LOTS OF SUCCESS STORIES. IN WASHINGTON STATE, 156,000 FAMILIES HAVE LEFT THE WELFARE ROLLS. THE DEBATE IS OVER HOW TO TREAT THE 54,000 FAMILIES WHO REMAIN.

MARLEY: "We don’t believe that families overall have been worse off because of the sanction policy. What we believe, what the governor believes, is that this is a tool to get people to participate."

DEB MARLEY OVERSEES WASHINGTON’S WELFARE PROGRAM AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES. IN SEPTEMBER, THE STATE WILL IMPOSE A NEW DEADLINE ON PEOPLE WHO AREN’T COMPLYING WITH WELFARE TO WORK PLANS. IF THEY DON’T FOLLOW THE PROGRAM FOR SIX MONTHS, THEY’LL BE DROPPED.

JEAN COLMAN DIRECTS THE WELFARE RIGHTS ORGANIZING COALITION, WHICH OPPOSES THE NEW SANCTIONS POLICY. SHE SAYS A DSHS SURVEY SHOWED MANY PEOPLE BEING SANCTIONED HAVE PROBLEMS WITH TRANSPORTATION, CHILDCARE AND INAPPROPRIATE CLOTHING.

COLEMAN: "All of these issues are barriers that workers should have worked with the parent to resolve, these were not reasons for sanction."

DSHS SAYS IT HAS REVIEWED ALL SANCTIONED CASES, AND RESOLVED MANY OF THOSE ISSUES.

BUT WELFARE RECIPIENTS SAY FOLLOWING THE RULES CAN BE HARDER THAN IT SOUNDS. TAKE HAFOC YATES. SHE’S A WELFARE RECIPIENT WHO JUST COMPLETED A TWO YEAR DEGREE. THE STATE TOLD YATES TO CALL A DEPARTMENT THAT WOULD HELP HER LOOK FOR WORK. YATES CALLED THE OFFICE MULTIPLE TIMES BUT NEVER GOT AN ANSWER.

YATES: "What it was is they gave me the wrong phone numbers."

THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES SAID SHE NEVER CALLED, AND THREATENED TO DOCK HER BENEFITS. BUT YATES HAD USED THE ONLINE PROGRAM SKYPE TO MAKE THE PHONECALLS, SO SHE WAS ABLE TO VERIFY HER EFFORTS.

YATES: "I took a screen saver and saved it on Word and took it down to them and had them sign it and said, I want that off my record."

SHE SAYS IF SHE’D BEEN SANCTIONED, SHE COULD HAVE BEEN EVICTED FROM HER APARTMENT.

SHE ENDED UP ON WELFARE FOUR YEARS AGO, WHEN HER HUSBAND ABANDONED HER AND HER SON. YATES SAYS HER BUSINESS BACKGROUND HELPS HER COPE WITH THE BUREAUCRACY.

YATES: "Because I used to run an office, I know how to keep receipts."

THE STATE’S DEB MARLEY SAYS IN THE FUTURE, OTHER WELFARE RECIPIENTS WILL NEED YATES’ SKILLS.

MARLEY: "They’re going to have to document a lot more than they have in the past."

THAT’S BECAUSE NEW FEDERAL RULES ON WELFARE WILL TAKE EFFECT THIS FALL. THEY WILL FORCE STATES TO PUSH MORE WELFARE RECIPIENTS INTO THE WORKPLACE MORE QUICKLY. THERE WILL BE A NEW SIX-WEEK TIME LIMIT ON SUBSTANCE ABUSE OR MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING. MARLEY SAYS THE STATES ARE CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE.

MARLEY: "We know that six weeks of mental health services or substance abuse services is not realistic, that’s not going to help people overcome those issues."

BUT SHE SAYS THE STATE MAY NOT HAVE MUCH CHOICE IN ADOPTING THE NEW FEDERAL GUIDELINES. BETWEEN THOSE RULES AND THE STATE’S NEW SANCTIONS POLICY, COMPLYING WITH THE WELFARE PROGRAM MAY SOON BE A FULL-TIME JOB.

AMY RADIL, KUOW NEWS.

© Copyright 2006, KUOW