CalWORKs changes: More pressure

More Trouble Department
The new federal welfare law, signed last February, will put a lot more pressure on states, and thus on low-income families, who already had plenty, thank you.
The new law forces states to get more of the people on welfare working. It also puts more restrictions on what you can count as “work” (for example, you can count a year’s worth of job training, but the new law specifies that this “training” can’t be part of a four-year college program).
If you’re interested in the technical details, the feds didn’t actually increase the “work participation” requirement: it’s still 50%. What they did was drastically decrease the credit that states get for reducing the number of families on welfare. The states were using this credit to make up for the fact that nowhere NEAR 50% of the families on welfare were working. In California it’s been around 23%.
(That’s because families on welfare have REASONS for not working. Some parents lack job skills. Some are homeless. Some can’t find child care or transportation. Many have mental health, domestic violence, or substance abuse problems. That’s why they’re on welfare. Duh.)
(If you want even more technical details about the federal changes and California’s response, see the summary by the Western Center on Law and Poverty at http://www.wclp.org/files/Welfare%20Watchers%207-21-06%20final.doc )
California has responded to this pressure in a good way, by trying to protect supportive programs for CalWORKs families and even providing more funds for programs such as job training, that will help parents meet work requirements. They’re also moving some families out of the federal welfare program so they won’t be under pressure to work if that’s not appropriate for them. They’ve added policies to help families avoid “sanctions” (penalties for not meeting CalWORKs requirements) and to end sanctions quickly.
But the federal law will still increase pressure and restrict options for CalWORKs and CalWORKs families.
Fortunately California also has some kick-ass organizations that are mobilizing to help CalWORKs parents learn about the new law and figure out how to deal with it, both on an individual and a policy level.
LIFETIME (Low-Income Families Empowerment Through Education) (http://www.geds-to-phds.org/) will be working with other organizations in the TANF Stakeholders Working Group to prevent any cuts in income to CalWORKs families. They’ll also continue to work on expanding educational opportunities for CalWORKs parents.
Meanwhile LIFETIME staffer Dianna Collier will be traveling around the state holding workshops for parents on CalWORKS about how they can deal with the new requirements and build toward financial success for their families. To schedule a workshop at your community college or organization, contact her at dcollier@geds-to-phds.org.
And look for the Children’s Advocate’s article on new issues in CalWORKs, coming up in our March issue.