Response to Proposed Calif. Welfare Cutbacks

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LUKE BURBANK, host:

So what exactly does this mean for California's poor? Well, that's what I asked Nancy Berlin a little earlier today. She directs California Partnership, a coalition of advocates for the poor.

Ms. NANCY BERLIN (Director, California Partnership): We're going to see families who aren't able to pay their rent. We'll see an increase in family homelessness. I think that's what worries me the most, that we - especially in Los Angeles - have been struggling so much recently to look at ways to solve homelessness. And this will only increase it.

And worst of all, it's children who will suffer from this the most. All of these cuts directly impact cutting children off of aid.

BURBANK: I guess the argument, though, from the governor's office would be that the state of California risks losing a lot of federal money if it doesn't get its policies in line in terms of getting people who are receiving this aid to actually go to jobs and work.

But meanwhile, there are other states that seem to have better success, people that are receiving this money actually going to jobs. California's rate is pretty low at 25 percent. Why is that? And why can't that be addressed through something like this?

Ms. BERLIN: California is a big state. We have the largest case load in Los Angeles on welfare. So we have a much bigger problem to address here than states like Ohio do.

The state is already working with community groups and advocates like us to try to increase those work participation rates. We passed a budget this last year that added significant money to welfare-to-work programs. And we can do this without punishing families and without putting them out on the street.

I talked to a family over the weekend where a mom had been working and lost her job and had already reached some of her work requirements before but then lost her job, which happens to a lot of people around the end of the year. And she's now back looking for work again.

She'd be one of these families who would be caught in this. She's trying hard. She's trying to do what everyone's asking her to do and what's best for herself and her kids. But it's going to take her time to get back into another work situation. And she really needs better education and training.

And that's - and that's what we really need to look for. We need to look for not the quick fix, which is cutting people off, but how do we really help families get back on their feet once and for all.

BURBANK: Nancy, some people have said that this is the governor - Governor Schwarzenegger here in California, sort of on one hand he's proposing broadening who gets insurance, and on the other hand he's talking about making the rules stricter for who gets this welfare payment.

Aren't the same people who would potentially be losing this welfare benefit, aren't they also benefiting from the increased insurance? So isn't it kind of six of one, half a dozen of the other?

Ms. BERLIN: What's striking to me is that the governor is proposing to help more children become insured so they can be healthier, but at the same time he's going to take money away from low income kids.

BURBANK: Nancy, I mean your job is to advocate for poor people in California. So obviously your point is going to be we need more funding from more people. But if you're going to be getting money, what's the motivation to get a job?

Ms. BERLIN: Parents are already penalized when they don't get work now. If a parent doesn't meet the work requirements, that parent is taken off the grant and they don't get any assistance.

What we did when the welfare reform laws came into effect - and this was something that Governor Wilson did, a Republican - is he said we want to make sure that children don't suffer just because their parents made a mistake.

What Governor Schwarzenegger is proposing to do is take the whole family off of aid when the parent makes a mistake. And that - that's not a way to help families do better. That's not something that I would be proud of as a Californian.

BURBANK: Nancy Berlin, thanks for speaking with us.

Ms. BERLIN: Thank you.

BURBANK: Nancy Berlin is the director of California Partnership based here in Los Angeles.

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