from the DataCenter's Economic Justice Program, Spring/Summer 2002

What Rural Families on Welfare Need

On February 22, mothers on welfare in northern California spoke to elected representatives, welfare administrators, and community members about the impact of welfare "reform" on their efforts to become financially self-sustaining. Organized by LIFETIME in conjunction with local welfare recipients and their allies, the Chico Town Hall Meeting on TANF Reauthorization presented a moving testament on the failure of welfare reform policy to address rural family poverty.

The Town Hall meeting also served as a high-profile kickoff for welfare rights organizing in northern California counties whose Representative, Wally Herger, is a key player in the federal welfare reauthorization debate as Chair of the House Subcommittee on Human Resources. In addition to Congressman Herger, Chico City Councilwoman Coleen Jarvis; county supervisors from Shasta, Yuba and Tehama; welfare administrators from Butte, Nevada, Siskiyou and Yuba counties; Butte County Sheriff Scott Mackenzie; Field Representatives from California Assemblyman Dick Dickerson's and San Aanestad's offices; and more than 200 community members participated in the Town Hall.

The women who spoke underscored the connections between economic conditions and poverty—and the necessity of developing welfare policies that address poverty and support economic opportunity.

Melissa Garcia, whose testimony opened the meeting, powerfully described how lack of education traps rural people in poverty, while well-paying jobs in their communities go to skilled outsiders. In Butte County, low-wage service jobs are highly competitive, but there is a shortage of nurses and teachers. Garcia has struggled to overcome domestic violence, homelessness and the objections of her caseworker to attend college, and is working on her Masters teaching credential. As a teacher, she will earn enough to leave poverty behind. "Education, not marriage, is the key to escaping poverty," said Garcia.

Cathy LeBlanc's testimony demonstrated that time limits on welfare benefits fail to address the reality of depressed rural economies. Welfare recipients in her community have been exempted from work requirements because there are no jobs and only one licensed childcare provider. But, asks LeBlanc, "What will happen to families like mine when their benefits run out in 2003?"

A report on The State of Welfare in Butte County was released at the Town Hall to legislators, the media and community members. Using local and statewide statistics, the report documents how the dramatic decline in welfare rolls has had little impact on reducing rural family poverty, even for former recipients who find employment. The report recommends that welfare policy focus on poverty reduction, provide public assistance recipients with support and access to education and training, including higher education, and eliminate time limits on receiving benefits. The DataCenter partnered with LIFETIME, Californians for Economic Self Sufficiency: A Project of the National Economic Development and Law Center, Grass Roots Organizing for Welfare Leadership, and the National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support to produce the report, and played a major role in gathering the data.

The Town Hall received widespread and favorable local media coverage, which the local welfare rights task force has continued to develop. Congressman Herger's welfare reauthorization bill, which virtually mimicked the Bush administration's proposal to increase work requirements, limit access to education and training, and funnel welfare dollars to push poor women into marriage, received negative headlines in the local press. The pressure got to Congressman Herger, who was recently moved to write a defensive letter to local newspapers complaining about articles like "Herger welfare bill flawed, critics say." Herger wrote: "Welfare is intended to be a temporary assistance for the needy, not a grant for college education for able-bodied persons avoiding work."

Due to the efforts of LIFETIME and welfare rights activists in Herger's district, Congressman Herger's lack of interest in developing policies that enable families to move out of poverty is clearly visible in the public eye.

Download The State of Welfare in Butte County
(1.6 mb PDF file requires free Adobe Acrobat®Reader.)

Read LIFETIME's review of the TANF Town Hall.

For further information or to get involved, contact LIFETIME.