From the DataCenter's Economic Justice and Criminal Justice Programs, Spring/Summer 2002:

Welfare and War on Drugs Activist Research Workshop

In April, the DataCenter's Criminal Justice and Economic Justice programs jointly held an activist research workshop for the Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program and staff of Alliance for Post-Prison Education, Advocacy and Leadership, both projects of the Center for Third World Organizing. The workshop addressed a provision in the 1996 welfare "reform" law that prohibits anyone convicted of a drug felony offense from receiving welfare benefits for life.

The felony drug provision of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was adopted as a tactic in the so-called War on Drugs with bipartisan Congressional support. Under the provision, women released from prison after having served their sentences have no recourse to welfare benefits or even in some cases, food stamps, while they seek employment and financial stability for their families. No other criminal offense is subject to the welfare benefit ban.

Although states can pass legislation to waive the provision, 42 states currently implement the lifetime welfare ban in some form. A recent report by the Sentencing Project, Life Sentences: Denying Welfare Benefits to Women Convicted of Drug Offenses, found that the ban has already impacted over 92,000 women and by extension, their children in the 23 states studied.

The DataCenter workshop explored how to plan, research and analyse a potential target of a hypothetical social justice campaign to end the drug ban in California, where 37,825 women have been affected. Using a scenario, workshop participants analyzed the issue and discussed potential campaigns. They next produced a campaign research plan, based on analysis of the information needed to develop a solid campaign.

In an exercise that demonstrated that the information source used impacts research results, participants role-played the research process, obtaining information from varied sources, including government officials, an Internet search, and an academic.

Participants analyzed their research for credibility and usefulness, and applied their findings to determine whether evidence supported the likely effectiveness of a campaign to pressure the potential target.

The Movement Apprenticeship Appeal Program (MAAP) is an internship program for organizers of color that provides extensive training and hands-on experience with community-based organizations. This Spring, MAAP interns actively participated in a national grassroots effort to impact welfare reauthorization.

Alliance for Post-Prison Education, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL) is a new criminal justice/racial justice project coordinated by former political prisoner Linda Evans. APPEAL's goals include public policy advocacy, providing organizing and leadership skills training for former prisoners who are activists, and educating community organizations so they will provide broader reentry support for people coming out of prison.

The DataCenter's workshops are designed to strengthen organizers' awareness of the role research can play in developing effective social justice campaigns, and to build practical skills in applying research to campaign strategy. Workshop exercises are complemented by handouts covering research tips and recommended Internet-based research sources.

For further information, contact the Center for Third World Organizing.