Portland observer., May 17, 1973, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2
P o rti and /Ob server
Thursday, May 17, 1973
With Ron Hendron
A YOUNG V IE W OF W ASHINGTON
TOWARD A BALANCED BUDGET
By Ron Hendren
MEMBER
ALFRED LEE HENDERSON
tDITOR/PUBLISHER
WE SEE THE WORLD
THROUGH BLACK EYES,
Welfare system
invites corruption
W e lfa re a n d C h ild re n 's S ervice ca sew orke rs at
the A lb in a M u lti-S e rv ic e C en te r a re accused o f
a u th o riz in g ille g a l p a ym e n ts a nd b e n d in g a ge ncy
p o licie s. Mr. Juras, a d m in is tra to r o f th e W e lfa re
D e p artm en t, a n d th e o ffic ia ls o f the Bureau o f
H um an Resources act as if th is w e re so m e th in g
n ew . A fu ll scale in v e s tig a tio n has bee n la u n ch e d
to u n co ve r ille g a l practices o f these casew orkers
w h o h a p p e n to w o rk in A lb in a .
But it is co m m o n k n o w le d g e a m o n g the ranks o f
W e lfa re th a t ca sew orke rs w h o care a b o u t th e ir
clie n ts have b e e n p ut in a p ostio n w h e re th e y must
lie, ch e a t a nd steal in o rd e r to h e lp th e ir clients.
As lon g as w e lfa re re cip ie n ts a re a llo te d m ise rly
sums to su pp ort th e ir fa m ilie s w ith ; as lo n g as
w e lfa re re c ip ie n ts a re lo o k e d upon as c rim in a ls or
m isfits a nd a re p u n ish e d by slo w s ta rv a tio n ; as
lo n g as c h ild re n a re d e p riv e d o f the basic h u m a n
needs, som e id e a lis tic ca se w o rke r w ill fin d a w a y
to slip a little e x tra cash to a s u ffe rin g fa m ily .
M a n y w e lfa re re c ip ie n ts liv e in severe d e p riv a ­
tio n
- c h ild re n w a it m onths to g et glasses; o ld
p e o p le m ust go w ith o u t te eth, glasses a n d h e a rin g
aids, re le g a te d to a life o f in a c tiv ity a nd lo n e li­
ness; p re g n a n t m others d o n ot have a d e q u a te
diets, e n d a n g e rin g the h e a lth o f th e ir c h ild re n and
g ra n d c h ild re n ; fa m ilie s liv e in houses w ith o u t
a d e q u a te heat.
A n d w h a t ca se w o rke r has not
fo u n d ch ild re n w h o h ave n e v e r had the lu x u ry o f
w e a rin g u n d e rw e a r or s le e p in g b e tw e e n sheets.
W h a t is the recourse o p e n to the c a se w o rke r
w h o has to h e lp his clie n ts m e e t som e o f th e bare
essentials. The lim ite d b udgets a llo w o n ly e n o u g h
fo r h ou sin g a n d fo o d , w ith extras b e in g scraped
o ut o f thos item s. So if a c h ild needs shoes to go
to school, h o w can th e ca se w o rke r o b ta in th em ?
He can fin d a c o m m u n ity a g e n cy to b u y th e m , but
w h e n he has to fin d s im ila r resources fo r 300 to
400 clie n ts, tim e is not a v a ila b le fo r th is a c tiv ity .
He can g iv e the m o th e r "tra n s p o r ta tio n " m o n e y ,
h o p in g she w ill use if fo r shoes. He can p ad his
m ile a g e a nd use the m o n e y fo r the shoes. He can
ig n o re som e o f th e fa m ily e a rn in g s. A n y o f these
recourses is u n e th ic a l a nd ille g a l.
Som e case­
w o rke rs buy the shoes w ith th e ir o w n m o n e y , b ut
he c a n 't do this fo r e ve ryo n e . So he slips in to the
h a b it o f a d ju s tin g b udgets a little b it, a n d breaks
the la w .
It is fittin g th a t th e in v e s tig a tio n sh o u ld ta ke
p la ce in the A lb in a w e lfa re o ffic e , fo r this o ffic e
w as to h ave b e e n a p ro g rm to test n e w m ethods
a nd pro ced ures, to try to d e v e lo p
hum ane
re la tio n s h ip s
w ith
re cip ie n ts,
to
in v o lv e
the
c o m m u n ity in the so lu tio n o f this e no rm o u s
p ro b le m . But it is no m ore th a n a tra n s p la n t o f the
d o w n to w n o ffic e - the sam e p h ilo s o p h y , the sam e
procedures, th e sam e rules a n d restriction s, the
sam e callousness. Since the o ffic e 's e sta b lis h m e n t,
the co ntrols h ave b ee n tig h te n e d , the b ud ge ts cut,
the instru ction s g o n e o ut to d isco u ra g e even those
persons w h o a re e lig ib le fro m
a p p ly in g fo r
assistance, ord ers g iv e n to cut the b ud ge ts as
close ly as possible - a ll in the interest o f sa vin g
m on ey
Som e ca sew orke rs are a b le to a ccept this e d ic t
and g o a b o u t c u ttin g w h e re th e y can, e v e r a le rt to
fra u d or o v e rp a y m e n t. O thers, re m e m b e rin g th e ir
o rie n ta tio n to the job, w h e n th ey w e re to ld they
w e re to be o f service to the c o m m u n ity a nd to be
m em be rs o f a h e lp in g p ro fessio n, re je c t the
a g e n cy and p la ce th e ir o w n id e a ls a n d concerns
first
These are th e ca sew orke rs w h o a tte m p t to
serve th e ir c lie n ts in a fa ir a n d just m a n n e r a nd
these a re the ca sew orke rs w h o g et in tro u b le .
The A lb in a o ffic e o f W e lfa re a nd C h ild re n 's
Services have a lw a y s bee n v ie w e d w ith suspicion
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201
N. K illingsw ortli, Portland, Oregon 97217. M ailing address,
P.O, Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208
a nd som e fe a r by the d o w n to w n o ffic e
There has
a lw a y s bee n the fe a r th a t the s ta ff w o u ld id e n tify
w ith the c o m m u n ity or th e m u lti-s e rv ic e c e n te r a n d
thus g e t o u t o f co n tro l. It has b e e n the c e n te r o f
disse ntio n fro m w ith in the ranks, a n d m ost o f the
fe w ru m b lin g s a nd th re a te n e d u p risin g s in the
w e lfa re s ta ff have o rig in a te d in th is o ffic e .
N o w the w e lfa re d e p a rtm e n t sh o u ld ta ke a loo k
a t the A lb in a o ffic e . N ext th e state sh o u ld ta k e a
loo k a t h o w its p o lic ie s are c o rru p tin g th e best o f
its e m p lo ye e s. The o n ly a n sw e r to this w o u ld be to
b u ild a re a lis tic , se nsible w e lfa re p la n th a t c o u ld
be a d m in is te re d fa irly e ven by th e m ost se nsitive
a nd id e a lis t e m p lo y e e .
In th e m e a n tim e , p erha ps
the best th in g w o u ld be to is o la te the c a s e w o rk e r
fro m his c lie n t - if he c o u ld n 't see a sick c h ild or a
lo n e ly o ld m an, m a y b e he c o u ld b e tte r c o n tro l the
purse strings.
W hat price justice?
D an iel Ellsberg a n d A n th o n y Russo h ave bee n
fre e d o f a ll charges a ga in st th e m because o f
"e x tra o rd in a ry m is c o n d u c t" on th e p a rt o f the
g o v e rn m e n t in p ro se cu tin g th e ir case. Jurors have
in d ic a te d th a t had th e tria l c o n tin u e d , Ellsberg a nd
Russo w h o u ld have bee n a q u itte d .
The d e fe n s e cost Ellsberg a nd Russo $900,000
The g o v e rn e m n t is e s tim a te d to h ave spent
a p p ro x im a te ly $3 m illio n on its le g itim a te p ro secu ­
tio n , plus w h a te v e r w as spent by th e W h ite House
e spion ag e .
There is s o m e th in g w ro n g w ith a system th a t
says a m an is in n o c e n t u n til p ro v e n g u ilty , yet
re q u ire s a m an to spend a fo rtu n e to p ro v e his
in n o ce n ce . If you w e re arrested to d a y , it w o u ld
cost se veral h u n d re d d o lla rs fo r y o u r share o f the
b a il to g et o u t o f ja il, necessitate the h irin g o f an
a tto rn e y , p ile up in v e s tig a tio n costs a n d c o u rt costs.
H ow m a n y o rd in a ry citizen s can a ffo rd to pay
several th o u sa n d d o lla rs to p ro ve th e ir innoce nce ?
It is c o m m o n k n o w le d g e th a t the rich have
g re a te r access to justice than the p oo r. But th ere
m ust be a w a y to g iv e the o rd in a ry c itiz e n access
to justice w ith o u t lo o sin g a ll he has a nd s p en ding
the rest o f his life p a y in g .
A firs t step w o u ld be e lim in a tio n o f the b a il
system, w h ic h d is c rim in a te s b e tw e n those w h o can
pay a n d those w h o ca nn ot. The second step w o u id
be fre e access to le g a l counsel fo r a ll citizens,
reg ardle ss o f e c o n o m ic status. The Legal A id a nd
Public D e fe n d e r systems n o w e s ta b lis h e d fo r the
very p o o r sh o u ld be e x te n d e d to c o v e r a ll citizens
d e s irin g th e ir services.
W e h a v e seen th e results th a t Legal A id has
a c h ie v e d a g a in s t such p u b lic a g e n c ie s as W e lfa re
If these services w e re a v a ia la b le to a ll p e o p le ,
p erha ps the law s w o u ld be a p p lie d m o re e v e n ly
a nd the in d iv id u a l w o u ld have a fa ir chance at
redress. Perhaps the c itiz e n w o u ld h ave th e same
rig h ts as c o rp o ra tio n s a n d g o v e rn m e n t.
»5
LETTERS TO THE
EDITOR
Watergate
Sul s options $5.25 per year - Tri-County area, $6.00 per year
- outside Portland.
Telephone, 283-2486.
Second Class Postage Pcid a t P ortland, O reg on
The Observer’ s official position is expressed only in Its
P ublisher’ s Column (The Observation Post) and the E d ito r’ s
Desk. Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion
of the individual w rite r or submitter and does not necessarily
reflect tlie opinion of the Observer.
Dear Mr. Henderson:
I find your paper always
informative and enjoyable.
The editorial
“Watergate:
Roots in History” is devas
taring in its dispassionate
enumeration
of
historical
facta tha|»M0»<t no "editorial
¡zing" one of the very best
articles I read on this sordid
case. I f feel it's in line with
the excellent reporting of the
Christian Science Monitor on
that topic.
Best regards!
Otto M.
W A S H IN G T O N -In two out o f every
three years during the last half century,
the federal government has spent more
money than it has taken in.
Over the last 54 years, the United
States government budget has been in a
deficit poaition 37 times, and with the
exception o f the World War II yean, the
largest over-expenditures have occurred in
recent yean.
Indeed, since 19fttt the deficit has
ranged from $13 billion to $34 billion
every year. Why have we penisted in the
practice o f spending more money than is
available?
A significant part of the answer to that
question lies in the procedures Congress
uses to allocate funds. There are no
legislative committees with the authonty
to oversee federal spending within the
framework o f the total amount of tax
dollan available during a given year. Each
congressional committee seeks authori­
zations and appropnations for the depart­
ments and programs within its juris­
diction without any really effective re­
gard for the government’s total annual
tax income. Naturally, everybody wants
an ever-increasing slice o f the pie. The
result almost invariably has been that
more pie is given out than has been
baked. And further into debt we go.
This decades-old disarray in the gov­
ernment's financial planning prompted
newly-elected senators to write the Sen­
ate leadership early this year to urge
reform of the budgetary process.
As a result o f these and other pres­
sures, the Joint Study Committee on
Budget Control was established, and last
month the committee submitted its rec­
ommendations.
Most significant among its proposals
was that House and Senate committees
on the budget should be established,
whose responsibility it would be to see
that all federal appropnations would be
made within realistic spending limitations
long way toward reducing executive-
legislative tensions over impoundment of
funds the White House vehicle for re­
fusing to spend money appropriated by
Congress. And, if taken seriously, it could
provide an important key to containing a
rising national debt which has to date
played an important role in strangling all
efforts to achieve a stabilized economy,
control inflation, and keep both wages
and prices within realistic bounds.
that would not significantly exceed reve­
nues.
Members of existing appropnations
and finance committees would comprise
two-thirds of the budget committees'
membership, with the remaining one-
third appointed by the congressional lead­
ership from among the other legislative
committees.
In theory at least, the Congress would
not appropnate more than the total
amount recommended by the budget
committees, and again, in theory, that
total amount would not significantly ex­
ceed the total tax revenues available in
each given year.
I f the study committee's recommenda­
tions are accepted, it would be the first
major change in congressional appropria­
tions procedures since the Budget and
Accounting Act o f 19 2 1 -m o re than 52
yean.
Predictably, that time span roughly
parallels the period o f extraordinary def­
icit spending which has placed the coun­
try precariously in debt, and in often
tenuous financial relationships with other
world powen.
The proposed new arrangement would
provide a means of forcing mem ben of
Congress to place strict priorities on their
spending proposals. It would likely go a
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