Massachusetts welfare rolls decline

By Jack Sullivan

July 4, 2000 Web posted at: 4:39 PM EDT (2039 GMT)

BOSTON, Massachusetts (The Boston Herald) -- For the first time since officials have maintained records, the number of people receiving welfare assistance in Massachusetts has dropped below 100,000.

``I think it shows a lot of progress,'' said state Sen. Therese Murray (D-Plymouth), who crafted the 1995 welfare reform law. ``We're getting down to those individuals who are truly in need.''

But advocates for the poor said the numbers are misleading and claimed the state has no safety net for those tossed off the welfare rolls after two years with little or no training or education.

``Although the welfare caseload has declined pretty dramatically, that in and of itself isn't necessarily a good thing,'' said Ruth Bourquin, staff counsel for the Mass. Law Reform Institute, which has sued the state several times over welfare changes.

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``The question is, are people better off than they were before? The data indicates over the last decade, childhood poverty has increased dramatically.''

According to figures released last week by the Department of Transitional Assistance, the number of people receiving welfare benefits, mostly women and children, was 99,150 for the month of June.

That is the lowest number since computer records were started in 1973, and a spokesman for Gov. Paul Cellucci said there is ``probably a good chance'' it is the lowest in the state's history.

The number of welfare recipients is down more than two-thirds, from 286,333, since the implementation of the 1995 reform act. The highest the rolls have swelled is more than 348,000 in 1981, according to officials.

Supporters said the requirement that able-bodied recipients go to work at least 20 hours a week, along with the two-year time limit and other overhauls have coincided with a strong economy to shrink the number of people receiving welfare checks.

``It's remarkable,'' said Cellucci spokesman John Birtwell. ``It's not only an indication of how strong the economy is, it's also an indication our efforts to put people back to work and make work the lynchpin of welfare reform.''

Among the statistics from the latest report comparing current figures to 1995:

*Two-parent families receiving welfare have dropped nearly 80 percent, to 846.

*The number of teen parents has dropped more than half, from 5,779 to 2,674.

*There are 42,650 families who comprise the total number of welfare recipients.

``I call this the gift of work,'' said state Rep. Reed Hillman (R-Strurbidge), a member of the Legislature's Committee on Human Services and Elderly Affairs. ``I think people always feel better about themselves when they work.''

According to the figures, the average wage of those leaving welfare for work is $8 an hour, giving a family of three $1,386 a month based on a 40-hour work week rather than $579 for the same family from welfare.

``Our goal is not merely to move families off welfare but to help them escape the clutches of poverty,'' said Claire McIntire, commissioner for the transitional assistance department. ``A paycheck heads them on the path of self-sufficiency.''

But Bourquin said the requisite training and education are missing to save people from menial jobs with no benefits such as health care and day care in a fickle job market that could change at any moment.

Bourquin said the threat of cutting people off from needed government assistance is forcing them to take menial jobs at wages that still put them below the federal poverty level for a family of four.

``Is welfare reform moving people out of poverty? There certainly is nothing to indicate that,'' she said. ``They're only trading a welfare check for a very sporadic and small paycheck.''

Next month, Elizabeth DeJesus' daughter will turn four, ending the Marlboro mother's monthly welfare benefit of more than $400.

DeJesus, who became pregnant during her senior year of high school, said she fears she won't have the education to land a decent job, in part because the state will no longer pay the costs of her high school equivalency program.

``I've been trying so hard,'' DeJesus said. ``I want a job that pays good money and benefits, but if I don't have an education I won't get that job. I might have to work at McDonald's or Marshalls. I don't want to work there.''

Murray said such initiatives as forcing pregnant teens to stay in their family home or a stable environment, ending benefits for prisoners and recovering drug addicts, and closing the exemption loopholes have pared the rolls without sacrificing aid to those most in need.

``People are still coming in the front door, still getting assistance and signing up,'' she said.

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