Wisconsin's War on the Poor

mikal komba, 05.02.2004 11:53

Wisconsin's War on the Poor
by Michael Komba of Casa Maria Community
[reprinted from email lists]
If the peace and justice movements in Wisconsin
are to continue to grow, activists need to...

If the peace and justice movements in Wisconsin are to continue to grow, activists need to confront the lack of racial diversity and people of low income, who are usually the most affected by societal injustices. How can we help bring about a more diverse movement of people for social change? This is a complicated question, but a very important one to consider.

One answer is that we need to expand our own campaigns for peace and justice to include more issues that directly affect the poor and people of color. The most pressing issue that would accomplish this is the struggle against W-2 or Wisconsin Works. Wisconsin's W-2 program has been called one of the most successful "welfare reform" programs in the country. Its right-wing founder, Tommy Thompson, has received praises from New York City, Marquette University, the Ford Foundation as well as countless politicians. The reason many have hailed W-2 as a victory is that it reduced the amount of people of low income on welfare about 90%, the steepest drop ever in any state. The idea behind this "welfare reform" policy, which was helped along by funding from the right-wing Bradley Foundation, was to privatize welfare and have private companies take over public servi ces for the poor.

The reality for most on W-2 is not as happy. When W-2 began, homelessness skyrocketed, the need for food stamps, housing assistance and food pantries went up, and transportation and childcare for people of low income became more difficult. Mothers and fathers on W-2 reported overburdened caseworkers, mistreatment and lies by W-2 corporate agencies, a general lack of educational opportunities and forced work that is demeaning and lacks promised job skills training.

According to a study by the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future, Blacks and Latinas/os are sanctioned, or kicked off W-2 double the rate of whites. Since this study was released last year, there has been no response by any W-2 agency regarding improving services for African Americans or Latina/o people. This blatant racism funded by our tax dollars continues despite public outcry.

At Casa Maria Catholic Worker, a house of hospitality for homeless mothers and children in Milwaukee, we hear many stories from Black and Latina mothers who are homeless because their W-2 agency has illegally cut them off from funds. We hear from mothers who are forced into "job skills training classes" in which they sort hangers at Kohl’s Department Store, work at Taco Bell or take computer classes with no teacher. While this lack of educational services continues, Wisconsin jails Black residents at the highest level of any state. According to a study released Sept. 30th of this year by the University of Chicago, there is no real difference when looking at ability to hold a job, economic stability and wages when comparing people on W-2 and people below the poverty level who chose not to be on W-2.

Likewise, 80% of Hmong families say their lives are worse under W-2. About 75% have reported less income and over half have less food than when welfare was privatized in 1996. About 90% say they cannot communicate effectively with their caseworkers. Most Hmong people on W-2 do not speak English, which is one of the main reasons they’re on W-2, yet many of the materials they receive are in English. This is one of the great contradictions of welfare deform. There are huge promises of success and sparkling statistics about reducing the welfare roll, yet even the most basic things that could benefit people are left undone.

To make matters worse, the majority of our taxes for W-2 are going towards the corporate agencies’ administrative costs, which use up an average of 63 cents out of every W-2 dollar! This leaves only 37 cents for actual services for mothers and fathers who need assistance. It is not uncommon to see social workers driving expensive cars next to mothers struggling to get their children off the bus near W-2 agencies.

These private companies are wreaking havoc on poor mothers and fathers throughout Wisconsin. Maximus, which has a $70 million a year contract with the state, is being sued for race and sex discrimination by 20 of its own workers and has misused ½ million state tax dollars and spent it on advertising in other states. UMOS, which has a $23.8 million contract, has recently been fined $168,000 by the state for illegally cutting services for families in their program. In 86 of the 110 cases examined at UMOS, parents were denied resources they were legally supposed to receive. This means that 75% of the people who receive W-2 at UMOS do not get needed services. Another W-2 agency, YW Works, has the highest sanction rate of all 72 W-2 agencies in Wisconsin. YW Works is allowed to keep all money not given to economically sanctioned poor families an d they are only one of five W-2 agencies allowed to do this in the state!

Luckily, there is hope! Because of pressure from mothers, advocates for the poor, the Welfare Warriors and the Milwaukee County W-2 Task Force, YW Works is being kicked off W-2 at the end of the year. This is the first time ever that a W-2 agency has been kicked off welfare and this is a great time of celebration for those working for justice. Unfortunately, the people who receive services from YW Works will now be shifted to other corrupt agencies. The struggle continues against Wisconsin’s war on the poor with renewed hope!

The people of Wisconsin must confront, and if need be, shut down the institutions that directly impoverish people of color and the poor. When activist groups can demonstrate to people how corporations and our culture of greed directly affect their lives and the lives of their loved ones, people will begin their path of resistance to war, environmental destruction, free trade and other global issues. Many times activists get so caught up in protests against the occupation of Iraq and corporate globalization that they lose focus of what is going on in their own backyard. It is very difficult for a mother raising two kids on her own in the inner city to understand how her presence at an anti-war rally will contribute to the greater good. The majority of the country does not easily see the connection between being mistreated by a W-2 caseworker and the US military killing over 6,000 civilia ns in Iraq during the recent war. Despite this, there is definitely a connection that mainstream society needs to know about.

For example, the National Director of Maximus, Stephen Goldsmith, is also Vice President of Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons manufacturer for unjust wars. It is no surprise that Lockheed Martin itself is now seeking to run a “full scale” welfare program in Arizona and Texas. Perhaps Lockheed doesn’t know that hundreds of millions of dollars have been cut from the Welfare to Work Program, low-income cash aid and housing assistance to compensate for the costs of the war in Iraq. Hmmmm...

As said before, W-2 received support from the Bradley Foundation in its creation. In 1995 the Hudson Institute gave the Bradley Foundation $175,000 to support the “study” of welfare reform in Wisconsin. Later that year, the Private Industries Council received a $50,000 grant and Goodwill Industries accepted a $100,00 grant from the Bradley Foundation to support W-2 planning and implementation. This was a year before W-2 began in 1996. The Private Industries Council later became a W-2 “oversight agency” with a contract of about $5.7 million a year, yet they claim they have no power regarding W-2 corporate agencies. They continue to exist through state and federal tax dollars despite the fact that they don’t really do anything. Goodwill, on the other hand, became a full-fledged W-2 agency with an $87.5 million state contract. That is, until December 2001 when they voluntarily withdrew the mselves out of the W-2 business because of “community dissatisfaction.” Goodwill never stated any specific reasons for getting off welfare but most likely it was because of good media coverage of public protests against Goodwill’s misuse of public funds.

So, why has Wisconsin been chosen to receive so much right-wing funding for economic polices that used the poor as guinea pigs? Many believe it is because the conditions were perfect for their “experimentation.” As of 1996, when welfare was privatized, Wisconsin had the 2nd highest concentration of black poverty in the US, the highest concentration of Latina/o poverty, the highest infant mortality rate for Asian children in the US, and a high child mortality rate for Indian children. Since 1997, infant mortality has increased 10%, most likely because of W-2.

Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, is one of the most segregated cities in the world. Milwaukee is also home to Manpower International, the number one employer in the United States. Since W-2 began, Manpower International has been busy finding jobs for parents who quit W-2 out of understandable frustration. Of course, they are very proud of the fact that they only guarantee people a job for a day; so don’t expect to come back tomorrow!

This all may seem like too big of an issue for one person to take on and, well, it is! A movement of people need to mobilize around W-2, the Bradley Foundation, Wisconsin’s corporate welfare and racial injustice. Join Casa Maria’s monthly protests at W-2 agencies, get involved in WNPJ’s corporate accountability task group and get educated and educate others about the Bradley Foundation, the right-wing think tank funder in our own back yard. One of the most important things for activists to do is to get to know people who are poor and disenfranchised by the majority. If we claim to stand up for people of color and the poor who are most effected by war, corporate greed, hunger, environmental devastation, and other major injustices, we must first figure out how to be in solidarity.

References:

Myth and Reality: The experience of W-2 in Wisconsin, The Feeding Trough: the Bradley Foundation and the Real Story Behind Wisconsin’s National Model for Welfare Reform, both by Phil Wilayto/ A Report by A Job Is A Right Campaign 2000, 1997

Welfare Warriors, Mother Warriors Voice, execpc.com/~wmvoice 414-342-6662

The Institute For Wisconsin’s Future Reports, October 2002, December 1999

Milwaukee County W-2 Task Force

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel March 24th 03, April 10th 02, Sept 30 03

The Nation 3-2-98

David Reimer 12.02.2004 - 12:46 Mikel, I don't know who's a good canidate for county executive. I was thinking David Reimer because of his confidence in his ability to improve county government by managing the budget better. However, he created Wisconsin's W2 program, which as you've pointed out, is devistating for poor people and a godsend for rich people. I'm obviously not voting for Scott Walker. Is Joe Klein a sound choice? What do you think? Aytan> e-mail:: yonahluck@hotmail.com Riemer Response 14.02.2004 - 01:03 Dear Mr. Luck I'm glad you raise the issue of W2 in such a thoughtful way. I've heard David address this issue many times in the course of the campaign, and this is what he always says about W2. The old welfare system was an F-. It had disincentives for families to stay together and work their way out of poverty. David is very proud of his plan to replace the welfare system with a work-based system because he believes that every able-bodied adult has the right and responsibility to work and contribute to society. He's very proud of working to create the earned income tax credit and Badgercare, which has really helped a lot of children and parents with medical coverage. But W2 is more like a D+ or maybe a C- on the grading scale. There are a lot of shortcomings, many of which were created by legislative wrangling. In addition to a lot of tweaking, David would make three major changes in W2. 1. Extend W2 and Badgercare to all low-income adults, which would add non-custodial parents and the childless. 2. Replace grants with transitional, wage-paying jobs so that employees would be eligible for more federal dollars, which would bring more money into Milwaukee County's economy. 3. Hold W2 agencies accountable for results, not process. Agencies must get people out of poverty through work. I hope you will support David. He's a very moral, thoughtful man who wants to tackle the big issues such as healthcare, connecting people with jobs, and eliminating governmental inefficiencies so that the middle- and lower-income citizens of Milwaukee county can afford to live here and have services that improve our quality of life. He is already scheduled for other events during your gathering, but I hope you will share this information with the group. If you have additional questions or would like to help us out, we could certainly use it! Jodi Goldberg Campaign Manager >>> David, I had intended on voting for you, until I found out that you constructed Wisconsin's W2 program. You seem to brag about it saying, "Played a critical role in developing W-2 program, which moved thousands of Wisconsinites from welfare to work." It's understandable that you'd brag, since Wisconsin's W-2 program is considered one of the most successful welfare reform programs in the country, having reduced the amount of people of low income on welfare 90%. But there are many criticisms of Wisconsin's W-2 program. I'm sure you know of these criticisms, but if not, here's a link to a good article which outlines some of the less bragable realities of W-2.  http://milwaukee.indymedia.org/en/2004/02/200258.shtml Before I cast a vote for you, I'd like to hear you address these harsh realities of W-2. I'd like an e-mail reply or, if you're not busy Sunday night, Bucketworks (at 1319 N. MLK) is holding it's weekly open forum at 7:00 PM. We will be talking about candidates for various elections on Feb. 17th Thank you, Aytan Luck aytan> positives 21.10.2004 - 12:13 Have you spoken with anyone who's been on the W-2 program and benefitted from it? Can you find anything positive about having people work for their money? Carrie>