the conscience of Alabama

Alabama's Welfare Reform Program

How Successful is it?

Compare welfare caseload when clock started ticking to 20 months later:

December 1996 =Adult Caseload of 22,567 & 73,567 Children

July 1998 = Adult Caseload of 11,901 a net decrease of -47% & 41,579 children a net decrease of -43%

On December 1, 1998, those recipients who have been on welfare for two years and are not in a work activity will lose their benefits. DHR Commissioner Petelos estimates that 15% of the caseload falls into this category.

Where did Former Recipients Go?

Between March 1 and September 30 of 1997, 6,123 welfare recipients lost benefits because of failure to cooperate with either JOBS or child support. And beginning in June 1997, when new DHR rules permitted cutting recipients off for failure to participate in work activities or with child support information, adults on welfare who were required to participate in a work activity began to decline precipitously, dropping from an April high of 19,397 to 13,674 at the end of September. DHR reported just over 5,000 working in June, falling to just over 4,000 by September.

A study by Millsaps College of what happened to those leaving Mississippi's welfare rolls revealed:

--51% unemployed

--25% working part time

--18% working full time

--4% no response

--2% disabled or retired

While Alabama is not Mississippi, we think there may be enough parallels

between the states and their welfare systems to assume a similar outcome for Alabama's former welfare recipients. National estimates are that one-third to one-half of those leaving welfare have left because of employment.

HowShould Alabama Measure Success of Welfare Reform?

Should we look just at the caseload drop? The problem is, the fact that a woman has left welfare says nothing about whether she is employed and self-sufficient or homeless and destitute.

Are there other measures we could use? Yes, for example, how many adults leaving welfare are using child care? Figures from September of 1997 reveal that the number of children in transitional child care, 2,841, actually decreased from the 2,867 in 1996. There were, however, more children in JOBS child care last year (4,894) than in 1996 (3,338) indicating that more welfare recipients are in work activities before leaving welfare. Updated figures, when available, may show a different picture.

In an effort to get more specific information about our citizens' experiences in leaving welfare, Alabama Arise is surveying former recipients and working folks.

Survey forms should be available at Legal Services offices, shelters for victims of domestic violence, non-profit social service agencies, neighborhood and tenant residence groups, homeless shelters.

September 1998

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