The National 4H Center in Chevy Chase, MD, near Washington, DC, was the scene of the February 14-16, 2001, Consultation on Reauthorization of TANF and Related Programs, held by the National Council of Churches (NCC) and funded by a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Although originally planned for 70 people, the Consultation grew to over 120 to accommodate those desiring to attend.  All member communions of the NCC were invited to send participants, as were state and local ecumenical and interfaith organizations and those who responded to a survey conducted by the NCC regarding how TANF and related programs are working at the state level.

Attendees represented 29 states and the District of Columbia.  They included:  national staff of the NCC and its member communions; leaders of state, local, and community ecumenical and interfaith organizations; present and former recipients of TANF and food stamps; religious social service providers; representatives of welfare rights organizations; and staff from religious public policy offices.

The consultation facilitator was Jennifer Tucker, Vice President of the Center for Women Policy Studies in Washington, DC.  Worship was led by the Rev. Noelle Damico, a United Church of Christ minister on the UCC Washington Office staff.  Worship materials came from the NCC’s Micah 6 project.

Opening Worship

The opening preacher, the Rev. Dr. James Shopshire, Sr., of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, told the assembly that the people and the churches are in the midst of an exile experience, being called to be faithful and to deal with issues they do not want to face.  He charged the gathering to stand for justice, not just charity, to “get a voice”, “get a presence” and “get on with advocacy” to change the “systems that devour large numbers of the poorest in the communities.”  He pointed out several features of the TANF legislation that need improvement and urged the group to work for change, “seeking the welfare of the people where God has sent us.”   Dr. Shopshire concluded, “May we show up as people who are recipients of the gift of grace and are ready to settle in for the duration.  May we be those who recognize that our own welfare is inextricably related to the welfare of the community”.

Setting the Scene

The group next heard from NCC General Secretary, Dr. Bob Edgar.  He discussed changes that have taken place in the Council, describing a strengthened relationship with Church World Service and Witness and ongoing work to build a new ecumenical table that will include broader partnerships in the Christian community than have been in existence in the past.  He cited another goal for the NCC that is gathering strength.  Building on its traditional commitment to “the least of these”, the NCC is developing a ten-year Mobilization to Overcome Poverty, intending to “change the way the United States thinks about the poor.” 

He pointed out that the NCC and its partners in the religious community will work in 2001-2 on the reauthorization of TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), the Food Stamp Program (FSP), and the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).  Those are necessary steps in the battle against poverty in the US, but they are only the initial steps in the public policy part of the Mobilization, which will go far beyond public policy work.  Dr. Edgar concluded, “We are going to work diligently on the legislative agenda; but having served in Congress for six terms, I know the real action is now out beyond the Beltway.  The real action is not simply legislative; it is changing the way in which our minds think about the poor.”

Mary Anderson Cooper, Director of the TANF and Related Programs Reauthorization Project, then reported on the survey conducted by the NCC on how the three programs are working around the country, what should be preserved, and what should be changed.  Responses came from 35 states and 130 organizations related to the NCC’s member communions and the national ecumenical network. 

Although respondents were almost evenly divided on whether or not the programs are working correctly and meeting their purposes, they were unified in concluding that need is increasing greatly and that the churches cannot meet the increased demand for help.  Many noted that one proof of the inadequacy of current programs is that the greatest increase in the need for food and housing assistance is among the working poor and families who have homes.  The public policy recommendations of respondents were used as input into the process of developing a Platform for the Council’s future work on these issues.

In small groups, the Consultation discussed the survey report, relating it to the experience of attendees with the three programs.  Their views were tabulated and reported to the next plenary session.

The Public Policy Agenda

TANF:  The next morning, there were a number of addresses by policy experts.  Mark Greenberg of the Center for Law and Social Policy in Washington spoke on reauthorization of TANF, noting that the Administration is expected to introduce its bill early in 2002.  The legislation must be reauthorized by October 1, 2002, in order to avoid a disruption of the funding stream to states.

In terms of evaluation, he noted that welfare caseloads have been significantly reduced, unemployment is down, and child poverty has decreased slightly; however, need has increased, as reported the evening before, and many people are worse off after leaving TANF than they were on welfare.  He urged the religious community to focus on:  (1) reduction of poverty, not caseloads; (2) supporting education, job training, and employment retention services; (3) protecting families with barriers to employment; and (4) holding states accountable for how they run programs.  He said teen pregnancy and family formation issues will figure strongly in the upcoming debate and may be the primary focus.

Food Stamps:  Ellen Vollinger of the Food Research and Action Center in Washington said that the Food Stamp Program will be reauthorized, in all probability, as part of a broader farm bill, perhaps this year.  She noted that the FSP serves only 59% of those who are eligible, partly because people are being discouraged from applying for TANF and FSP, and people who leave TANF are often wrongfully being denied continued participation in the FSP.

Child Care:  Helen Blank of the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington said that, despite spending of over $9 billion for child care this year, only 12% of the eligible children are reached by government subsidies.  Almost half of the available funding comes from TANF and, if the economy deteriorates, it could be needed again for welfare purposes, meaning there would be far less for child care.  Only four states require that every eligible child be served.   Most states have very long waiting lists for child care slots.  Further, she noted, providers and workers in child care are unfairly treated.  Most states pay for child care at well below the market rate, so that centers don’t want to accept subsidized children.  Workers are poorly trained, badly paid, and have few, if any, benefits.   States are not held to significant standards of accountability regarding how they spend child care funds.

Education:  Leslie Wolfe of the Center for Women Policy Studies in Washington, urged Congress to change the goal of TANF from ending welfare to “providing an effective and permanent route out of poverty, not that quick fix embodied in the TANF work-first program.”  She stressed that post-secondary education is the key to escaping poverty, asking the religious community to support proposals to count participation in education, including college, as meeting the work requirement under TANF and FSP.

A View from Congress:  Kimberly Barnes O’Connor, staff to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, listed the key issues that will be before Congress with regard to welfare as the following:  (1) the amount of money the states get, in the face of threatened funding cuts; (2) what counts as work (she supported counting education); (3) funding for child care; (4) restoring funds cut from the Social Services Block Grant.  She also noted that the teen pregnancy and family formation agendas will be important foci of debate this time around.  Finally, she said, most Hill staffers are young and have not worked on welfare before.  They will need intensive education on the issues.

A View from the Field:  Hannah Rosenthal, now with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in New York City, was formerly the Mid-West Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  She urged the group to hold government accountable to a standard that views success not as a high rate in the reduction of the welfare rolls but as a significant reduction in poverty.  She stated that “Welfare reform was never about welfare; it was always about health care,” since welfare itself costs very little but “the budget-buster is Medicaid.”   Earlier attempts to block grant Medicaid were stopped by President Clinton, but that effort could be made again, and should be resisted.  She pointed out that when welfare and Medicaid were administered and monitored together, more people had health care.  Now that they have been decoupled, states are free to refuse Medicaid coverage to poor people.

A View from a Welfare Advocate:  Liz Accles of Welfare Made a Difference in New York works with people who have been recipients of welfare programs to get them to tell their stories, thus putting a personal face on the welfare issue and helping to remove the stigma.  Her organizations calls for:  (1) Investing in people to end poverty; (2) ending the time limits under TANF; (3) granting recipients full access to education and training; (4) providing appropriate child care for the children of working parents and exempting from work requirements the parents of school-age children.

Keynote speech by Dr. Lynn Curtis, President of the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation

Dr. Curtis challenged the favorable evaluations of the TANF law’s effect, saying that caseloads have dropped because of the good economy, which made jobs available for people who already wanted to work and were able to.  The previous welfare program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, was intended to counter child poverty.  By that standard, TANF has not been successful since child poverty has decreased far less quickly than the welfare rolls have.  There is an increase in “deep poverty”, that is, those families who live on less than half of the poverty line, which is, itself, not enough to sustain life.

Dr. Curtis recommended that TANF be abandoned and replaced by a new program that uses the decline in child poverty to measure success and invests resources in job training/placement/retention/creation and a benefits package that includes quality child care, adequate health insurance, and excellent transportation.  He enumerated a list of programs that work (including Head Start, the Safe Havens program, and full-service community schools) and others that do not work (such as work-first programs, tax breaks for the rich to stimulate the economy, boot camps and prison construction).  He commended community-based policing and development corporations with training programs.

Dr. Curtis urged creation of a private commission to look at issues of systematic racial bias in the criminal justice system and to consider remedies to the concern that half a million people leave prisons every year with no place to go for housing and jobs.  Dealing adequately with the educational, employment and criminal justice issues he cited would cost $50-60 billion per year and would require input from both government and the private sector.  Instead, the nation is focused on a $1.6 trillion tax cut and more prison construction.  Another issue Dr. Curtis stressed -- also mentioned by other speakers -- was campaign finance reform.  He called for public financing and much shorter election campaigns, as well as a voter democracy movement to improve the way voting is done and counted in the U.S.

Noting the media’s role in publicizing what is negative about life in the U.S., Dr. Curtis called on foundations to fund grassroots groups to help them get their messages out.  Most are too busy doing good work to take time to publicize it and win recruits.  Finally, he called for creation of a new political alliance among the middle class, workers, and the poor, to focus on realizing the dreams of the nation’s neglected children.

State Case Studies:  North Carolina and California

Barbara Earls, Director of the JUBILEE Project of the NC Council of Churches, stressed the importance of campaign finance reform and universal health care as key issues for the religious community.  JUBILEE mobilizes people in the religious community, educating them about the realities of welfare reform so that they can raise their voices in advocacy.  It also builds partnerships between the faith community and local social service organizations.  Some of their programs link congregations with low-income families, to identify resources that can help them meet their needs and goals.  With a theme of “widening the circle”, JUBILEE brings people together in communities so that those who have needs and those who can help them learn to understand and care for each other.  Gradually, they begin networking and become advocates.  Now there is a program of grassroots training, to teach people how to work with the media and with legislators to get the story told about poor people and what would help them improve their lives.

Scott Anderson, Director of the California Council of Churches, focused on capacity assessment and building for the religious community’s role in welfare and poverty issues.  Clergy in CA know little about TANF and half of those aware of the charitable choice provisions fear involvement in a program with government funds and the accompanying red tape.  The Council of Churches surveyed state clergy and found that 45% of respondents did not have the institutional capacity to utilize government resources, while nearly half had created or participated in organizations providing social services.   The state has devolved social service provision to counties, and public employee’s unions oppose churches using funds.

Scott noted half of the state’s congregations have fewer than 100 members, with average budgets of less than $100,000; yet, the congregations provide amazing amounts of services.  Capacity for service programs is most often available in three places:  congregations of over 750 members, non-profits affiliated with denominations; and coalitional or intermediary organizations through which many non-profits join forces to seek funding and hire staff  Scott identified five key ingredients to building faith-based capacity:  (1) leaders with clear understanding of how to deliver publicly-funded services while observing church/state limits; (2) processes designed by public agencies to encourage faith-based participation; (3) theological rationale for participating in public/private partnerships; (4) entrepreneurial leaders in the religious community with support and influence; and (5) establishment of professionally staffed non-profits to manage finances.

A discussion period followed this presentation.  Then attendees divided into issue groups on TANF, Food Stamps, CCDBG, and Education and Training.  Each reported its recommendations for change.  After a dinner break, attendees went to small groups to combine what they had heard during the day with their own experiences for the purpose of suggesting features of an advocacy platform for the Council and its constituency.  Their reports were combined into a written report made the next morning.   A platform including this input and that of survey respondents will be acted on by the NCC Executive Board in May.

On Friday morning, attendees went into four groups to work on designing a strategic plan for 2001-2, including: (1) theological and heart-transforming strategies and resources;  (2) connecting with/assisting congregations; (3) the role of the NCC in facilitating collaborative work; and (4) addressing the public policy agenda at national, state and local levels.  Newsprint from these sessions is available, summarizing points made by each group.  A strategic plan using this input and that of survey respondents, is being developed for submission to potential funders for the continued TANF/FSP/CCDBG reauthorization work.

Closing Worship

Dr. Phillip Wogaman, Senior Pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, DC, preached the closing sermon, on the Parable of the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16).  It illustrated, he said, that God’s grace is there equally for all -- those who labor all day and those who cannot find work.  He called the group “to be God’s emissaries to help correct the weaknesses of the market in sustaining the community.” 

He sympathized with church advocates who are frustrated by having to fight the same fights over and over again through the years, reminding them that “We can trust that the One who has given us grace is also present everywhere and most of all present in the work of people who toil faithfully in the vineyard, bearing the burden and heat of the day and not knowing exactly when the harvest will come; but knowing that because it is going to be God’s harvest, it is going to come.”