By Carmen Ortiz Hendricks, DSW, ACSW
(September 1996)

Soon to be a menace to our city and our profession is the so called "welfare reform bill". The "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996" has been enacted by the U.S. Congress and most likely will be signed by President Clinton by the time you have this issue of Currents in your hands.

This bill removes the federal guarantee of social welfare assistance, or as NY State Assemblyman Edward Sullivan stated in a letter to the New York Times on July 28, "The House and Senate versions of the bill attack principles the Democratic Party has held and struggled for decades: that the Government has an obligation to care for the needy; that children in dire circumstances are a national responsibility; that if provided with an opportunity to work, people will work; that immigrants are welcome to our shores."

Move to Action

The bill will hit our members and clients particularly hard. Built on the ideology of work, this bill will engender a frustrating "Catch-22" for persons seeking employment in our city and finding that there are few jobs out there for them. For example, NYC can only afford to have 32,000 of its 850,000 welfare recipients in its workfare program. To create the jobs this bill calls for, the city would need $100 million more than it will receive under the proposed block grant. As the New York Times Magazine of August 18th put it, "The issue is not welfare but the disappearance of work..." Moreover, in a city where 30% of the population is foreign born, the bill's ban on assistance to documented immigrants is especially cruel even without factoring in the numbers of undocumented immigrants that turn to our social agencies for assistance.

The debate over this bill has moved our members to action, and has become the most important challenge confronting our Chapter since I became President on July 1st. Under the leadership of our

Welfare Reform Task Force, we have been campaigning for the President's veto. When Congress enacted this legislation, we immediately wrote to President Clinton urging him to veto the bill. We have been urging members to call (202-456-1111) and Fax (202-456-2461) the White House as well as send on-line messages to "President at White House. GOV." Many of our members have also been prominent at city-wide rallies opposing this legislation.

NYC/PACE (Political Action for Candidate Election) has written letters of commendation to those Congresspersons who voted against this legislation, and letters of condemnation to those whom PACE has endorsed and supported in the past yet who voted for this legislation. The Welfare Reform Task Force, joined by PACE, drafted a resolution that was introduced at the 1996 Delegate Assembly calling for withdrawal of our support to President Clinton and those Congresspersons who voted for this bill. A compromise resolution was crafted at the Assembly as NYC stood alone in its resolve to not endorse a President who will dismantle more than six decades of social welfare policy by the stroke of his pen.

Catch 22

This has now become the "Catch-22" for us as a Chapter. In a politically charged election year, President Clinton's support of this legislation creates an enormous dilemma for every social worker. What does NYC/PACE do about supporting the President's reelection and the reelection of Congresspersons who may have voted for this legislation? What do we do as social workers and citizens prior to entering the voting booth? Do we get involved in this election or sit it out? Do we actively campaign for a Democratic President and a strong Democratic Congress? We face some very hard choices. The NYC Chapter and NYC/PACE will sponsor a "Call to Political Action" on the evening of September 30th at Hunter College School of Social Work. My hope is that we will not let our differences of opinion divide us, but rather we will come together and allow all opinions to be heard.

In the meantime, continue to let Congress and the President know what you think. Welfare cannot be repaired by breaking the backs of poor women and children, or by widening the enormous gap already existing between the rich and the poor. This welfare reform bill produces a meager financial gain and a major social loss. If and when it is enacted into law, social workers will need each other to fight along with our clients for real welfare reform.

During my term of office, I want to insure that all opinions have an equal opportunity to be heard within the Chapter. Please share your thoughts by writing to me at the Chapter office.