Problems on the Way to Self-Sufficiency

Aired August 18, 1999

This is INFOhio After Nine, I am David C. Barnett, it is Wednesday, the 18th of August, 1999. Thousands of welfare recipients in Cuyahoga County have worked their way off of public assistance. Others are having a tougher time of making that transition to self-sufficiency. Between juggling the requirements for day care and her job, Bonnie Newell was on the brink of disaster. As part of our continuing series, "The Changing Face of Welfare," 90.3 correspondent Harry Boomer brings us her story.

Bonnie Newell–It seems as though the minute that you get a couple steps ahead, you get a couple steps behind. Welfare took my day care vouchers.

Harry Boomer–Without day care vouchers for her three girls, Bonnie Newell says she had to quit her job at Corporate Collections.

BN–The caseworker said something about they came back to the office and saw a figure that once they came back to the office, they would mail them back out. But what happened, the situation with me, was that two months of day care vouchers had not made it to Agape, that's the day care, so I'm back at home, watching my kids. Right now, I'm worried about being sanctioned, because of you have a job and you start the program and you don't stay with the job, then they sanction you.

HB–Newell learned yesterday that her fears had come true. She was sanctioned for six months. On the eve of this report, Newell was able to sit down with her self-sufficiency coach, LaTonya Fisher, for the first time in months. After repeated unanswered phone calls from Newell, her former day care provider, and from me, the caseworker helped Newell reconfigure her situation.

LaTonya Fisher–Her problem was not that she couldn't get vouchers, but that she was no longer meeting the requirements to receive the vouchers. That has been changed again today, and we have addressed the issue with her child care.

BN–I was not totally open with Ms. Fisher in reference to my job because I was afraid of the repercussions that has happened to all of my other friends on welfare. I told her about the job that I was working, but I didn't tell her that I had to quit because of the vouchers not making it in. (HB: Did your caseworker drop the ball, or is there something that you contributed in the process or what?) No, I can't say that I contributed to any of this in the process because I was going to work and I was doing what I was asked to do. I've been having problems with the day care vouchers since I started the program. I really have. I've had to go out and pick them up, the first time they went to my old address, so you can understand that, that's going to be something that's-I mean, I can't change that. After they had my new address and then my check was always coming, I just couldn't understand where my day care vouchers were. I thought it might have been a problem with the way I had the work set up, but me and my caseworker had talked and that wasn't the problem. I don't know why they came back this time, they had the right address but yet they came back, so I'm not understanding that.

HB–Newell and Fisher did see eye-to-eye yesterday, after Newell spent the day working to re-establish her eligibility for vouchers and other benefits she lost after quitting her job.

LF–You are required to work or actually be participating in some type of work activity leading toward self-sufficiency for a minimum of 30 hours a week. In her particular situation, her activities and assignments had changed. Employment stopped, and she, like I said, her day care needs actually change, so she did need to come in and reapply for the services and she needed to also reactivate herself and then again become eligible by meeting the 30-hour work requirement.

HB–Fisher and Newell talked, and they decided that Newell needed to change her course to avoid the full impact of being sanctioned. She is now enrolled in the 30-day nursing assistance training program.

BN–They have a lot of different programs, but the main thing is I want a job and just-I don't want to keep going through these different programs to get this money, and considering that within next year, September sometime of next year, to my understanding, it's going to be 80% of people, period, lifted off of welfare, so, we have to see how that's going to go.

HB–Newell's self-sufficiency coach has seen clients face setbacks before. After her latest evaluation of Bonnie Newell's care situation, she remains hopeful.

LF–At this point, I do feel confident that she'll be able to do what's necessary so that she can meet the minimum requirements, but I'm also confident that she will be able to do what's necessary so that once she's done with our system, she'll be able to be what we're calling self-sufficient or independent.

HB–Newell has a month to get it together, or face another possible sanction. Time is running out for Newell and thousands of others on welfare.

BN–They're saying go through the program, once we get through what we're going to do for you, that's it. So people better, hey, to use the slang, we better recognize.

HB–For INFOhio, I'm Harry Boomer in Cleveland.