STATE OFFICIAL DETAILS NEW-LOOK WELFARE.Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer A top state official Sunday Sunday: see Sabbath; week. urged community groups, employers and business leaders to work together to help move welfare recipients into the work force. Charlene Lewis Meeks, deputy director of the state Department of Social Services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales , said that welfare reform legislation signed by President Clinton in August will mean radical changes for communities as well as those who receive federal public assistance. Reform legislation ``is like a train that has left the station and it is moving all across the country and it can't be changed,'' Meeks told about 25 people who attended a two-hour forum at the South Central Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. offices of the Congress of Racial Equality Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), civil-rights organization founded (1942) in Chicago by James Farmer. Dedicated to the use of nonviolent direct action, CORE initially sought to promote better race relations and end racial discrimination in the United States. , a civil rights group. Meeks has been touring the state since September as part of a statewide campaign to educate the public about welfare reform. The forum was sponsored by CORE and Women Working with CORE. The federal legislation significantly scaled back the nation's 60-year-old welfare system. A new law, titled Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, often pronounced "TAN-if") is the July 1, 1997, successor to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, providing cash assistance to indigent American families with dependent children through the United States Department of , provides states with block grants which they may use for their own programs for the needy need·y adj. need·i·er, need·i·est 1. Being in need; impoverished. See Synonyms at poor. 2. Wanting or needing affection, attention, or reassurance, especially to an excessive degree. . However, the legislation says that unless some recipients work, the federal government will impose harsh financial penalties. In California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). , 25 percent of welfare recipients must work at least part time by the end of 1997. The rate rises to 50 percent by 2002. Community-based organizations such as churches will play a crucial role in the transition, Meeks said. In Los Angeles County, for example, 38,000 children will need child care for the state to implement welfare reform. To meet the need, Meeks is urging churches to expand Sunday child-care services. Such facilities would not only provide a safe environment for children, but generate jobs for the community, Meeks said. The Department of Social Services also is encouraging business leaders to promote job training for welfare recipients, and urging them to reject stereotypes about people who live off public assistance. ``We want to treat welfare recipients with respect and dignity, but we want to make them personally responsible,'' Meeks said. Under the proposed California Temporary Assistance Program, one of four welfare reform programs being considered by the Legislature, the state would pay for child care for working parents who fall below a certain income level. The state also would help with emergency expenses, such as car repairs, so that welfare recipients would not lose their jobs, said Meeks. The new programs, however, toughen many rules for welfare recipients, including those requiring them to establish child paternity The state or condition of a father; the relationship of a father. English and U.S. Common Law have recognized the importance of establishing the paternity of children. , Meeks said. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Charlene Lewis Meeks of the California Department of Social Services California Department of Social Services is a single state agency for many of the programs defined as part of the social safety net in the United States. Federal and State funds for adoptions, aid to the disabled, family crisis counseling, subsistence payments to poor speaks at a forum in South Central Los Angeles. Terri Thuente/Daily News |
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