Women and Poverty Public Education Initiative
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53206
March 19, 2002

To:  Members of TANF Subcommittee
From:  Jean Verber, Director of Women and Poverty Public Education Initiative

I appreciate the opportunity to weigh in before the March 21 deadline with comments on work requirements and time limits as they are being considered in the reauthorization process.

I have worked with poor women in central city Milwaukee since 1995, the end of AFDC through the transition to the present when many women are dealing with time limits and economic hardship.

Over the past 6 years, we have interviewed hundreds of welfare mothers, one-on-one as a way to document and track their progress and measure of well-being in the W-2 program.  It is from this history and vantage point that I offer these comments and recommendations.

Several key barriers clearly stand in the way of owmen moving toward some measure of self-sufficiency:

• low wage jobs, temp work, only part time employment options
• lack of education and training for better paying jobs

To truly get out of poverty, policies need to support

l. a combination of work and training to be eligible for family supporting jobs.

2. professional assessment and referrals for those with personal barriers to work. Services offered need sufficient time and count as 'work' to assure readiness, not only for successful employment but also to remain employed.

3.With a soft labor market, factories closing, downsizing, hours reduced, and more part time than full time positions open, women should NOT be tied to time limits.  In Milwaukee's central city, the Oct., 2001 survey of business openings showed a 10 to l job gap (ten active job seekers for every full time opening).  There is no way that arbitrary time limits will force or keep participation in this kind of labor market.

Furthermore, those in training, therapy, victims of domestic violence (more than we ever realized!), these cases need to be dealt with according to need and not locked in to an arbitrary lime limit.  Many, in our opinion, should be exempt due to insurmountable problems like caring for disabled children, those in rehab working with addiction, the mentally ill, physically ill, those struggling with abuse.

Somehow, the reauthorization policy language needs to be crafted to assure understanding of the above mentioned and humane treatment as primary and accountability facets as secondary to be truly effective and productive for families, as well as the community where they reside.

I urge you to engage with real families living in these situations so the reality comes from real experience.  We are challenged to create policies that we would want for our own mothers, sisters, and daughters.  The present policy program is a disgrace, punitive, and demeaning.  Our women and children deserve more.  Let's give hope back to them.   Thank you for giving these comments your careful consideration.

Jean Verber
Director