This article originally appeared in the March-April 2007 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

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Low-income families under pressure

By Eve Pearlman

New federal welfare policies—and several of Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposals, if they’re adopted—will “result in it being more challenging for parents on welfare to access education and training and to move into employment that will enable them to support their families,” says Anita Rees, associate director of LIFETIME (Low Income Families Empowerment Through Education). She predicts these policies will worsen poverty and push more children into foster care.

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Federal changes: Get a job now

Vivan Hain turned to CalWORKs when her husband abandoned her and their three children. After a period of homelessness, she enrolled in community college and was working toward an associate’s degree. Then her CalWORKs caseworker told her that, because she had experience working in restaurants and retail, she needed to quit school and get a job.

That was no solution, says Hain: “When I was working low-wage jobs I was homeless! The reason for going back to school was to take my family out of poverty.” With the help of LIFETIME, she successfully appealed her caseworker’s decision and stayed in school.

But this year, new federal policies will increase the pressure on CalWORKs parents to get a job—any job—immediately.

More parents in jobs

“The big change is that the federal government is telling states that they need to improve their ‘work participation rates’ (for welfare recipients),” says Nancy Berlin, director of the California Partnership, a coalition of poverty-fighting organizations.

“The result,” says Rees, “is that California has to move 80,000 more families into federally approved work activities” or face $185 million in federal funding cuts.

Families need help

“People don’t go to welfare because they’re lazy, they go because they need help,” says Hain. Many CalWORKs parents lack high school degrees or English skills, many struggle with domestic violence, mental health or substance abuse problems. CalWORKs has allowed people time to participate in programs to help them overcome these “barriers” to employment, says Rees.

With the new federal requirements, she fears that many will be pushed out of these programs and into workplaces. The state, she says, should take advantage of federal rules allowing states to grant “waivers” to people in domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse programs.

“There does seem to be less than clarity about what the state will allow and what they think the federal government will allow,” says Berlin. “And counties will have some flexibility.”

Advocates’ input

Advocates for low-income families, including LIFETIME, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, and other legal services, have been meeting with officials from the state Department of Social Services, says Rees, “to try to structure a program that maintains the integrity of CalWORKS but also meets federal guidelines.” LIFETIME and other advocates have been pushing the state to “come out strong supporting education and training and other long-term fixes, versus the short-term ‘get a job, any job,’” Rees says.

More state help

Last year the California legislature responded to the new federal law by providing $100 million to help families get to work. It also adopted new policies on “sanctions”—cuts in CalWORKs checks when parents don’t meet requirements. Now counties are encouraged to contact people personally before applying sanctions. And families can get their full check again as soon as they comply with the rules, instead of waiting a set amount of time.

More support needed

The governor’s budget assumes that many more parents will get jobs, but includes no increased funding for child care. “I think that shows a lack of understanding of what it takes to go back to work,” says Berlin.

And, she adds, “many parents face severe obstacles—their heath, their children’s health, child care, transportation—and I’m not sure the counties are geared toward dealing with all that.”

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Governor’s proposals: Shrink incomes

Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed state budget would mean more cuts to the incomes of thousands of families. To reduce the state’s budget deficit, nearly $500 million would be cut from CalWORKs by:

• Cutting off kids. Now when a parent fails to meet CalWORKs requirements, the parent’s share of the family’s check is cut, but CalWORKs continues to support the kids. The Governor’s new budget proposes “full family sanctions”—stopping all income to the family.

Similarly, when a parent has used up his or her 60-month lifetime limit on aid, California has been continuing support for the children. Now the governor proposes ending aid to kids who have been on CalWORKs for 60 months.

Yolanda James is a Los Angeles single mother with three children, ages 14, 12, and 9. She’s in school studying for her GED and hopes to go into fashion design. After struggles with homelessness, lack of child care, and low-wage, part-time jobs, she has used up her 60 months of welfare benefits, but still receives $687 a month for her children.

James says she doesn’t know how she’d get by without that aid: “I’d be homeless all over again,” she fears.

Mike Herald, legislative advocate for the Western Center on Law and Poverty, estimates that these proposals would mean that 38,000 children would lose CalWORKs benefits immediately.

• Cutting grants to counties for things like employment services and child care—despite new federal pressures to get parents working.

• Cutting cost-of-living increase. The governor’s budget also proposes suspending the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for CalWORKs families—the COLA has been suspended or reduced for 13 of the last 18 years, says Herald.

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Advocates Rally

• Fighting cuts: LIFETIME and the California Partner-ship plan to organize parents to speak out against the proposed cuts in legislative and budget hearings. And this year, says Rees, “we plan to have the children more involved. This is the first time they’ve been specifically targeted, and they have a lot to say!”

• Advocating on the local level: California Partner-ship is pushing for “family-friendly implementation” of the federal changes. “It’s important for advocates to weigh in on the local level,” says Berlin—her organization will help connect people with advocacy in their own counties.

• Educating parents about their rights: LIFETIME has created a flyer for parents on CalWORKS detailing their rights under federal and state law, as part of a “know your rights” education campaign. They will also hold workshops for groups of CalWORKs parents who ask them to speak.

• LIFETIME: 510-352-5160, www.geds-to-phds.org

• California Partnership: 213-385-8010, www.california-partnership.org

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