Catholic Charities seeks welfare reform fix

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June 2002

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Catholic Charities looks to Senate to "fix" welfare reform
Despite Catholic Charities' April testimony to Congress on the potential danger of increased work requirements for welfare recipients, on May 16 the House passed its version of the welfare reform reauthorization act including a provision to increase recipients' work load to a minimum 40 hours per week from the current requirement of 30 hours per week.

Sharon Daly, Vice President for Social Policy at Catholic Charities USA, called the increased work requirement "inflexible, impractical, and unfair," citing the need for working parents to be able to provide adequate child care as well as account for unexpected challenges like caring for a sick child or working odd hours. The bill eliminated a provision to increase child care allotments as well as a measure to restore aid to legal immigrants.

Network, a Catholic social justice lobby that is closely following welfare reform, denounced the bill saying it "takes us a step backward" from 1996 reforms. Network says attention to the fact that the bill fails to increase the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families block grant (the bulk of welfare funds) even to account for inflation. That lack of a cost of living adjustment will translate into a 22 percent decrease in support by 2007 in a real dollar comparison to 1997 grant levels.

While statistics show that welfare rolls have declined by over 50 percent since the 1996 reforms, studies have shown that those going off welfare are still unable to provide basic necessities for their families. (See April Salt) Another element of the bill that Network disagrees with is the elimination of a provision that allowed recipients to count up to 24 hours of vocational education activities as part of their work requirement.

Catholic Charities USA, along with the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, will encourage the Senate to adopt the following measures when it considers the bill this month:

-Increase the Child Care and Development Block Grant by at least $1 billion.

-Issue a full year of Transitional Medicaid Assistance to all families leaving welfare.

-Mandate a full year of food stamp support to all families leaving welfare.

-Enforce child support laws and pursue non-custodial parents who fail to pay.

-Restore benefits to legal immigrants, including food stamps, child care assistance, and Medicaid.—Tara Dix

For more information:
Bishops and Catholic Charities letter to the House on welfare reform
USCCB welfare issues
Catholic Charities USA
Network Catholic Social Justice Lobby

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