Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 17, 1994 TAG: 9412190059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER NOTE: below
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In her 24 years as director of the Roanoke Department of Social Services, Corinne Gott has watched government efforts to reform welfare flash and fizzle.
Why? The talk is usually a lot tougher than the action, she says.
"They talk ... like they're going to cut people off, put them into work ... stop them from having babies," she said Friday. "But they haven't yet written any of that into any policy that can be implemented."
So Gott said she would reserve comment on Gov. George Allen's proposal to overhaul the state's welfare system by encouraging recipients into self-sufficiency and off the welfare rolls with a two-year limit on benefits.
"I have to step back and let the chips fall where they may," Gott said. "I've said my piece before. I am tired of talking about it. I'm not running down to the legislature to beat my gums this time. They know where I stand on the issue.
"This is just a trend. And once the wagon starts running downhill, it'll take the whole village to stop it."
Elsewhere, Allen's far-reaching welfare reform proposals were politely applauded for their intent to move people from dependency to self-sufficiency. But behind the clapping hands were questions, concerns and criticism.
"The first question is: How ready is the employment community to absorb all of these people?" asked Ted Edlich, executive director of Total Action Against Poverty, a Roanoke agency. "If they are ready, the jobs are not going to pay at a rate that people can be self-sufficient.
"Is it a good thing to get people in the work force? Yes. Do people feel better about themselves when they're earning their own way? Yes. The question is: How do you help people stay independent so that they don't need the services?"
Allen's proposal calls for emergency help for poor people with temporary needs and up to three years of state-financed day care and medical assistance while welfare recipients make the transition to the job market. But it still was unclear how much money Allen intends to invest in providing that help.
The proposal also includes a mandatory work requirement, calling for Social Services caseworkers to place recipients in a work environment within 30 days of starting their two-year benefit period. The intent is to give recipients work experience while they receive vocational training or education. The jobs would be in the private sector or in a nonprofit community service or public sector project.
"We're saying it's unfair for welfare recipients to sit back and not do any kind of work while getting their training and education," said Lydia Millington, a former welfare recipient from Richmond who was a member of Allen's Commission on Citizen Empowerment. Allen's proposals are based on recommendations developed by the commission.
Gott said she had concerns about that requirement, particularly for the Roanoke area.
"Thirty days? I think it's a little too ambitious for the job market in Roanoke," she said. "I don't know about the rest of the state."
State Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said the requirement makes good sense.
"I think most people agree this is not a free ride," he said. "Either you move into a job or go to work for one of the private nonprofit organizations that can use volunteers. If the state's going to give money to help the individual, the individual ought to be able to help the community. I can't see how anyone could object to that rationale."
Angela Perkins, a social worker with the Fifth District Employment and Training Consortium, said that, while some recipients are capable of adhering to the two-year deadline, many are not.
"We have a lot of people who are going to need to start at the very basic level in order to ever get to the point of getting good job skills and getting a job," she said. "It's an important thought: You can get a job but can you support yourself?"
Since spring, Felicia White has juggled college classes, part-time jobs and child rearing with work on Allen's empowerment commission.
White, like Millington, is one of several commission members who are current or former welfare recipients.
"I don't know what changes are about to happen," White said. "I don't think we can tell what's going to happen or if it's actually going to work or not.
"But I think the commission had good intentions. People wanted to make a change."
The state legislature must approve the plan. And the state must obtain waivers from the federal government to implement the reforms.
"We'll have to see what compromises can be worked out," Griffith said, referring to the next General Assembly session. "Working out details may be time-consuming, but, in principle, the vast majority agree with the concept."
by CNB