Complex welfare system needs reform -- experts

The experts, who analyzed the article about Jim (not his real name) before The Evangelist went to print, are:

* David Hamilton, associate director for Catholic Charities at the New York State Catholic Conference (the public policy arm of the state's bishops), and

* Joseph Buttigieg, associate executive director of Albany diocesan Catholic Charities.

Complex system

That in itself, he said, "is likely to push the person further into depression, because he's lost his supports."

In addition, Mr. Hamilton said, people like Jim who attempt to get aid soon discover that "we've set up a `residual system,' a system that's set up to help people just for a short time in an emergency. But we don't want to make the system more attractive than work, so we dehumanize people, assume they're trying to cheat the system. Already, the system is making assumptions that there's something wrong with you" for trying to get help.

Difficulties

Many of those who should receive benefits, he said, give up because the application process is so difficult. Both experts noted that asking for help is a humbling experience.

"It's not like, `Oh, happy day, I'm going down to the welfare office,'" said Mr. Buttigieg. "You go and have this assembly-line treatment. None of us would want to be treated that way. We haven't overcome the stigma of people who need help, that somehow they are less than human."

Mr. Hamilton noted that there is also a stereotypical image of someone on public assistance that isn't accurate. The public, he said, often sees aid recipients as solely African-American women with several children or panhandlers who beg for money to buy alcohol. "The real image of someone who needs a disability payment or Medicaid is someone like Jim," he said.

Wrong way

"The promise behind welfare reform is we weren't going to do a one-size-fits-all. It was absolutely inappropriate to think this fellow was prepared to work at this point in his life," said Mr. Buttigieg. "To be sticking him in a self-sufficiency group just doesn't make sense."

The official said this points to the fact that "we have not made provisions in the system for people who are going to be long-term dependent because they're incapable of entering the workforce."

Changes needed

Those who were able "could work their way back to self-sufficiency, so self-sufficiency becomes a goal and a reality, rather than just a topic of discussion in a support group," he said. "A support group alone is not going to give someone the ability to get a job that pays a living wage."

Blame can't be placed on the heads of social-services caseworkers, either, said Mr. Hamilton. He called a caseworker's job "one of the most stressful positions: They are trying to help people who are truly needy and vulnerable, in a system that has defined `successful welfare reform' as a 50-percent reduction in caseloads. This puts incredible pressure on the worker to help the person while complying with the implied mandate to reduce caseloads."

Myths

In response, he said, he assigns students to create a budget as if they were living on $10,000 a year. When they realize how little money that is, Mr. Hamilton said, the students' attitudes change.

"The amount of money we provide on assistance is so marginal," Mr. Buttigieg agreed. He added that "there have been a lot of misinterpretations" by the public of the spending habits of people on public assistance.

"People on assistance are the most frugal people you'll ever meet," he stated. While a birthday cake for a child may seem like an extravagant purchase to the person in a grocery line behind a welfare recipient, Mr. Buttigieg said, "I can't think of a mother or father who wouldn't want a birthday cake for their child."

Besides, he said, "that is not the common experience. The common experience is you get a big tub of peanut butter and some macaroni and cheese."

Poverty remains

About 50,000 to 60,000 New Yorkers will reach the five-year limit on receiving federal benefits in December, Mr. Hamilton said. After that, they will be transferred to a "safety-net" program at the state and local level. He said the program is primarily voucher-oriented, with food stamps and vouchers for clothing -- and very little discretionary income.

"Our fear is that they're going to be handed a list of food pantries and told, `Here's where you can go if you run out of food stamps,'" he said.

That is a real concern, said Mr. Buttigieg, because aid programs have been closing in droves. "We're seeing a real erosion across the board in terms of safety nets for people," he stated.

Seeing individual

"This reminds me why I come to work every day," he said. "It's a big system with a lot of individuals in it, and we can do something as advocates to speak up for people like Jim whose voices are often trampled, so he not only gets the help he deserves, but he's treated with dignity and respect."

The official said that lawmakers need to hear from people like Jim, as well. "There's a face there and a person there," he said. "That's a reminder a legislator needs to have."

(05-17-01) [[In-content Ad]]