Blood, David Speak on Welfare

Real welfare reform must focus on the needs of children, two activists told an audience of about 20 at the Institute of Politics Wednesday.

Margaret Blood and Geraldine David said popular misconceptions color the public's attitudes about welfare reform.

To illustrate her points, Blood cited a number of statistics.

She said that children represent two-thirds of the 125,000 Massachusetts citizens on welfare.

And half of the children on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) are under the age of five, Blood said.

Put another way, she said, one out of every five young children is on welfare in Massachusetts.

Given this, Blood protested the fact that AFDC accounts for only about one percent of the federal budget. She also objected to the present poverty line--a number she said has not been changed for some time.

Blood, the administrator for community programs at Boston City Hospital's Department of Pediatrics, said that many of the problems with welfare reform also stem from differences in the goals of policymakers and of activists.

"When people envision welfare reform, they have different goals," Blood said. "Do we want to get more people off welfare, get more to work or protect the best interests of the children?

Blood and David also addressed a number of barriers to welfare reform.

A minimum wage that has failed to keep pace with inflation, an inadequate health care system and lack of access to affordable quality child care prevent people from leaving--or erode the lifestyles of those receiving--welfare, Blood said.

Welfare reform is also handicapped by society's inability to determine who is entitled to public assistance, Blood said.

David, the director of Community Outreach for Boston's Persistent Poverty Project, said adequate support must be in place in order for welfare reform to succeed.

"We need to look at supporting others to have real welfare reform," said David, who is herself a former welfare recipient.

One way of doing this is heeding the suggestions of those affected by policy changes, she said.

"In order to help anybody, you have to...listen to them and they have to e at the foundation of what you're going to change," David said.