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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1997)
A prii 16, 1997 • T in P orii and O bservi r P age B2 Welfare issues are the next battleground sv C eles K i \( ., Ill Theodore II White, the late,great chronicler of presidential campaigns, once said that there are only three great national issues: "Bread and butter, war and peace and Black and white.” The current controversy over the elimination—or at a minimum, the restructuring-ofthe welfare system as we know it, embodiesall of White’s three great issues. Man’sconcern for survival in both the best and worst of times, is para- mount-hence bread and butter The current controversy unfortunately pits the middle and upper class against the least fortunate among us—war and peace Finally, the debate over welfare often lapses into vitriol that some times points fingers between the races-thus Black and white. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (A F D C ) was a federally prescribed welfare program devel oped in the 1930’s to help single mothers who were widowed and those who were abandoned by their husbands There were no work ex pectations of these women and it was likely that once remarried their needs for welfare ceased. But that was then, this is now. Societal ex pectations and conditions are much different today, but A F D C ’s objec tives remains fundamentally un changed However, a number of steps have been taken, particularly in Califor nia, to get welfare recipients back on the employment rolls. Even with these changes, approximately 80 percent of the state’s recipients are still no, working, not even part time. On A u g .22, 1996 President Clinton signed the Personal Re sponsibility and Work Opportu nity Reconciliation Act o f 1996 which has effectively eliminated the welfare program. The new fed eral legislation sends block grant funds to the states to prov ide time- -limited benefits to families. Un fortunately, due to the shortsight edness o f many conservative leg islators, their actions to throw people o ff the program w illy nilly, is making a bad situation worse This w ill have a drastic effect on people who need this program the most—poor whites, undocumented aliens, Blacks and other minori ties. What are we going to do to help alleviate the crisis that will occur when these new welfare change take full effect? Minority communities, Whitehouse hires from welfare With welfare rolls down by 20 percent since he took office, Presi dent Clinton aims to chip away a little more by hiring thousands of welfare recipients into federal of fices including the White House. The president was summoning his Cabinet today for its first full meeting of the second term to review numeric, agency-by-agency hiring goals and time tables for reaching them Aides said Clinton would commit the federal government, which em ploys 1.9 million people, to hire close to 10,000 welfare recipients over the next four years. The first 2,000 or so would be hired before the Sept. 30 close of this fiscal year. As proof that welfare hires can work, two former welfare moms employed by the Social Security Administration were expected to join Clinton and Vice President AI Gore for at least par, of the afternoon Cabinet meeting. Spokeswoman Ann Lewis said Wednesday that the president’s executive office — one of the government’s smallest out lets, with 1,500 employees would recruit and hire its share from the welfare rolls as part of Clinton’s drive to find jobs in the public and private sectors for 2 million welfare recipients over the next four years. "We think we have an obligation to set an example,” Lewis said. She added that mostly entry-level jobs would be open. Union leaders have expressed reservations about the hir ing initiative and its potential to push other job applicants from the pool, especially after the Clinton administration cut or contracted out more than 250,000 federal jobs over the last four years. The announcement of specific government hiring goals, which Clinton first ordered last month, was timed to coincide with the release of new administration data showing that about 2,755,000 individuals have gotten off the welfare rolls since January 1993 from 14,115,000 recipients to 11,360,000 recipients, or a 20 percent drop. White House officials credit the general ly stronger economy plus fed- erally approved state welfare experi ments with the overall drop. In itsfour years in power, the Clinton adminis tration has granted waivers to 43 states, allowing them to implement their own welfare changes. According to the Department of Health and Human Services survey, only Alaska, California and Hawaii, plus the District ofColumbia, showed a caseload increase, with Hawaii’s welfare rolls actually increasing by 20 percent. Clinton has tried to soften the blow of welfare legislation he signed last year, which imposed a lifetime benefits’ limit of five years for fami lies on welfare, by pushing the pri vate sector, nonprofit groups and churches to find room on their pay rolls for people trying to get off the dole. "The president has always said that the welfare reform legislation was a step — it was not the end of the journey,” Lewis said. The push for federal agencies to hire welfare recipients was launched last month, when the president, in his weekly radio broadcast, gave agencies 30 days to develop recruit ment and hiring plans. Gore is over seeing the effort. Clinton specifically suggested that agencies invoke an existing trainee program that allows agencies hiring entry-level workers to duck most of the red tape normally involved in government hiring. At the end of the three years, they may be converted to career civil- service status and promoted. in particular, have lost at least one generation by welfare coming into their communities; are we now go ing to lose another generation as a welfare goes out of the community? The burden clearly falls on commu nity leaders, church organizations and academics. Small businesses, for example, need to create new ways to do their work in a technological society where the computer reigns supreme. Then they could hire these former w elfare recipients and train them where they can be truly productive Employ ment in sweatshops and dead end manufacturing piecework just won t do. As we get closer to the end of the century, we must be mindful that when the underclass suffers, the rest of us will ultimately pay the price. Celes King, III is a Los Angeles businessman and state chairman ot the Congress of Racial Equality of California. OREGON’ S WELFARE CASELOAD Jan. 1993 117,656 Jan. 1994 116,390 Jan. 1995 107,610 J a n .1996 92,182 J a n .1997 66,919 Caseloads in Oregon -43% JOBS Plus Shows Positive Impact on Unemployed The Oregon Employment De partment released new data that show a state program, better known as a welfare-reform effort, has had a dramatic impact in helping un employed Oregonians return to work. The statistics show 585 unem ployed people successfully have used JO B S Plus during the past eight months, earning paychecks rather than receiving unemploy ment payments from the state. In cluding welfare recipients, a total of 1,914 people had found work through JO B S Plus since the pro gram went statewide in July 1996. Employment Department officials said the high number of unemployed placed through JO B S Plus was espe- cially impressive because, in most areas of the state, welfare recipients receive job-placement priority over those receiving unemployment as sistance. In addition to JO B S Plus placements over the eight-month period, the Employment Department found work for 11,797 unemployed Oregonians, placing them in jobs that have no subsidy from the state program. “Our emphasis is helping get un em ployed w orkers back in unsubsidized jobs,” said Virlena Crosley, director of the Employment Department. "But JO B S Plus is an excellent tool for helping many work ers get back on the job, especially those likely to exhaust their unem ployment benefits.” Arkansas Club of Oregon, organized in 1984 is known for serving over three hundred free Thanksgiving dinners, their Adopt 4 Needy Family for Christmas, Annual Tea, and Formal Ball. Members front row: Pearl Wilson, Glenda Bennefield, Ethel Holmes, Alice Clayton, Mary L. Cooms. Back row: Paul Knawls, Wesley Lowe, Cortez Samuel, President Charles Green, Marge Moore, Tommy Ray Smith, Thomas Moore. (Not in photo) Belinda Warren, Mary Alice Britt and Authur Harris. T he K orean A merican A ssociation O regon of Living Color, 5001 N.C MIK Blvd., Portland, OR 97211; Phone: 287-7788 Boston Market, 726 N.€. Killingsuuorth Portland, OR. 97211; Phone: 282-6776 Bargain Place Meet, 710 N.C Killingsuuorth Portland, 97211; Phone: 287-8082 Dekum Food Market, 800 N.C Dekum Owner: Sonny Kim; Phone: 283-1240 Alberta St Market, 915 N.C. Alberta Portland, OR 97211 ; Phone: 281-6388 Knott St. Grocery, 2709 N.G 7th Portland, OR 97212, Phone: 284-7490 Ainsworth Market, 5549 N.€. 30th five. Portland, OR 97211; Phone: 281-0479 Mid-K Beauty Supply, 5411 N.€. MLK Blvd. Portland, OR 97211; Phone: 335-0271 Superfine Foods, 4803 N. Lombard Portland, OR 97203; Phone: 283-3866 LeRho Chateau, L.T.D. DBA King Food Mart 3510 M.l.K. Blvd., Portland, OR 97212 Phone: 281-0357 C.L. Inc.; DBA Prescott Corner Maket 1460 N.6. Prescott, Portland, OR Phone: 284-7418 J's Food Mart, 3275 N.E Killingsuuorth Portland, OR 97211; Phone: 281-8489 We A ppr € ciat € Y our ßusiNess and S upport T hank Y ou
