This article originally appeared in the January-February 2008 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

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Grassroots Snapshot

Parents push for a voice in CalWORKs

By Aqueila M. Lewis

Nobody can walk in a low-income parent’s shoes unless they’re low-income,” says Leilani Luia, founding member of LIFETIME (Low Income Parents Empowerment Through Education). “I think it’s important for us as low-income parents to make our voices heard.”

Luia and other parents from California Partnership (CAP), Marin Grassroots Leadership Network, and LIFETIME asked to meet with California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshé last year after she wrote a letter to the SF Chronicle supporting the governor’s proposed cuts to CalWORKs grants.

The governor had proposed to end all support for children whose parents were not eligible for CalWORKS, either because they had received a CalWORKs “sanction,” because they had reached their five-year lifetime limit, or because of immigration status. That proposal was not adopted, but the final budget did include the governor’s proposed suspension of the CalWORKs cost-of-living increase.

Winning a meeting

At first, Secretary Belshé’s office said that she would not meet with the CalWORKS parents. Then in May, over 150 CalWORKS parents, children, and leaders, along with SEIU’s United Health Care Workers, marched to and occupied Belshé’s conference room to demand a meeting with her. Low-income parents—and Luia’s six year old daughter, Maylea—told Department of Social Service (DSS) staff about the impact the cuts would have on their families. Through the sit-in, parent leaders won an appointment to meet with Secretary Belshé on June 13.

Pushing for input

During that meeting, Olivia Beltran, Marin Grass-roots Leadership Network member, Sylvia Chapman, LIFETIME member, with Nancy Berlin and Mari Lopez from the California Partnership (CAP) staff, protested the suspension of the cost-of-living increase and asked for regional hearing where CalWORKs parents could tell DSS officials about the impact of state policies on their families.

According to Berlin, Belshé and her staff focused their discussion, instead, on the kinds of services people needed to get back to work and suggested that CalWORKs parents meet with their county welfare directors. “We said we thought the problem was more systemic,” says Berlin. “It’s not just a county problem, it’s also a statewide problem.”

“It did seem a little strange to us that the department was telling us what parents needed rather than listening to the parents themselves,” Berlin adds. “That’s what we are trying to change (by having regional meetings) so parents can tell them, because they’re the ones that have the experience with CalWORKS and know what they need.” 

Ongoing efforts

“We are still negotiating (for regional hearings),” says Berlin. “We think that low-income families should always be first in discussions about what happens to CalWORKS.” DSS staff involved in these discussions were not available for comment by press time.

Meanwhile, parent leaders say their meeting with Belshe helped lay the groundwork for more voice for parents in the future. “It’s an awesome responsibility to get reform working,” says Chapman. “It’s such a bureaucracy—we have to take it step by step and not be left out.”

“If you give up just because you’re struggling, that’s teaching your child to give up,” adds Luia. “If you fight for the things that you know are right, you become stronger as a person, advocate, and parent.”

For more information, contact Nancy Berlin, CAP director, 213-385-8010, nberlin@communitychange.org

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