wfn.org | Focus of Welfare Reform

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3445 notes).

Note 3445 by UMNS on Feb. 19, 1997 at 15:29 Eastern (3539 characters).

SEARCH: welfare reform, poverty, government, United Methodist,
Clinton
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Bloom                              91(10-71B){3445}
          New York (212) 870-3803                    Feb. 19, 1997

Welfare reform should focus
on poverty, not programs

     NEW YORK (UMNS) -- Welfare reform should focus on eliminating
poverty, not programs, according to a United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries executive.
     During a Feb. 18 briefing at board headquarters here,
Patricia Brown spoke about how United Methodist-related community
centers across the United States are continuing to work with the
poor as massive changes in the welfare system are being
implemented.
     The same morning, across the street at Riverside Church,
President Bill Clinton discussed how churches and the private
sector could provide employment for people no longer receiving
government assistance.
     Clinton was criticized sharply by Earl Graves, publisher of
Black Enterprise Magazine, for imposing unfair burdens on the poor
through the new welfare laws.
     According to the New York Times account, Graves pointed out
that " ... black businesses and the black church are doing more
than their fair share in picking up the slack in the wake of more
than a decade of cuts in services to the urban poor by the
federal, state and local governments."
     Brown also said that churches cannot make up for all the cuts
in service to the poor. "Assumptions are made that the finances
and staff are available, even though that is often not the case,"
she pointed out.
     Passed by Congress last August, the new welfare laws
eliminate the concept that an individual or family is "entitled"
to receive welfare; distribute federal funds for welfare to states
through block grants, requiring them to fashion and administer
their own programs; increase work requirements for recipients and
eliminate benefits for legal immigrants.
     To cope with these changes, United Methodist-related
community centers are providing more direct services, monitoring
the impact of new regulations on their constituencies, organizing
and participating in various coalitions, and doing public and
legislative advocacy, according to Brown.
     Other monitoring and advocacy work is being done by the
church's general agencies. One example, she said, is the creation
of a United Methodist Child Advocacy Network by the United
Methodist Board of Church and Society.
     The 1996 United Methodist General Conference, the
denomination's top legislative body, stated that "An acceptable
welfare program must result in lifting people out of poverty, not
merely in reducing welfare roles."
     It called upon the government to:
     * define minimum benefit levels, below which states will not
be permitted to fall;
     * create jobs that pay a liveable wage and allow welfare
recipients to retain a larger portion of earnings and assets;
     * not impose arbitrary time limits on work-based programs;
     * simplify assistance by offering "one-stop shopping" for
information on issues such as child support, job training, medical
care and food programs;
     * acknowledge the responsibility of both government and
parents in seeking the well-being of children;
     * adequately fund programs designed to replace current
welfare programs.
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