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Welfare Myths: White House Seeks to Debunk Ones About Fathers

Seeded on Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:05 AM EDT
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Seeded by PowerIsKnowledge
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Does the state discourage poor fathers from being present in their children's lives? There are the emblematic images, like Diahann Carroll as a single mother on welfare in the 1974 movie Claudine, struggling to hide her boyfriend from a social worker.

Urban legends tell of "man in the house" rules that prohibit men from living under the same roof as moms who receive public assistance. Between media images, half-truths -- and also well-meaning but flawed policies -- the belief that the welfare system undermines poor families has been entrenched in the public mind for decades.

Now, with new fatherhood initiatives at public-housing authorities nationwide, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is seeking to debunk that idea.

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But officials will have their work cut out for them to get past the perception that their programs are only for women and children -- especially when current policies can inadvertently deter fathers from sticking around.

  • 2 votes
Reply#1 - Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:05 AM EDT
Kavika

well meaning but flawed, true of many of our programs. There is one instance that I am very familar with. A young single mother with two children was hired at our company. She had been on welfare and did not have any experience, but we were willing to train her. She took three different buses to get to work and was only a bit late when one of the buses was not on schedule, she took very little time off, only when she had to take one of the kids to see a doctor. In others words a good employee. After about a year with us, she came to me and told me that she had to quit. I was shocked and asked her why. Since she now had a full time job and was no longer on welfare she could not receive a stipend for child care any longer. I checked this out and it was true. That left her stuck in no mans land, go back on welfare or try to pay for the child care. This is a women that was off welfare, with a job and able to provide for herself and children. I was stunned that the program did not help her with the child care, since the state was saving a bundle of money. End result she did not quit since the company made some arragemetn for her.

A bit off topic but it shows now stupid some of their can be.

  • 1 vote
Reply#2 - Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:03 PM EDT
kj031056-1

Not at all.....I've said that same thing 1000 times especially when some guy goes off about welfare queens. I work with three younger women, ages 23-30. They all work full-time, but because they are still in the lower end of the wage pool, all receive some type of aid. Brooke just got her first raise in the 5 years she's worked here because if she would have made anymore money she wouldn't have gotten the daycare subsidy. Diane's ex is an alcoholic would doesn't pay childsupport so her and her daughters get reduced school lunch fees and energy assistance. Amy's ex was ordered to pay $100 per MONTH, that's right per MONTH because he's in the low end of the wage pool too, so she get's Badgercare for her daughter and herself, which is Wisconsin's medicaid.

They are all trying to do the best they can and just need a little help. My former childsupport case worker, said she estimated 1/3 to 1/2 of the women who were collecting benefits of any type wouldn't have to if the fathers of their children actually paid what they were court ordered to pay.

But it's just so easy to blame "human welfare queens" rather than take a look at the "corporate welfare queens" who receive about 3 times as much money from the government.

  • 4 votes
#2.1 - Fri Jun 17, 2011 1:07 PM EDT
Kavika

kj, it really pizzed me off that they were so stupid as to cut her off from child care. In the end for her it worked out, since the company was willing and able to help her out. This was in 2001, she is still with the company and now a department supervisor. It does go to prove that many of these single mothers if given the chance can do very well for themselves and progress to a point that they are entirely free of any gov't subsistence.

  • 2 votes
#2.2 - Fri Jun 17, 2011 1:45 PM EDT
PowerIsKnowledge

And that's all many of them ask for is a chance. Many of them had babies before reaching adulthood because they were emulating their environment but once they got the opportunity to escape that environment, they saw that there is a whole new world out there and they want to be a part of it, if given the chance.

Some fathers leave because they feel defeated and are too ashamed to form a partnership with the mother to do what is best for the children, and others are emulating their environment.

What people fail to understand is if you don't see anything other then what's in your own backyard then you can't dream. That's why fieldtrips are so important. Kids, at an early age, need to be exposed to what's out there in the world beyond the world they're stuck in--kids are visual. Yeah, I said stuck in because all kids are stuck, no matter the income of their parents, until they move out on their own.

How's that for a rant Kavika!

  • 2 votes
#2.3 - Fri Jun 17, 2011 1:54 PM EDT
Kavika

Power, that was a great rant. First class, you have become the ''Ranter in Chief''...lol

I'm going to have to work very hard to top that one Power...One that is my favorite are the ethanol subsidies. I can rant forever on that.

  • 2 votes
#2.4 - Fri Jun 17, 2011 2:08 PM EDT
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