Welfare can't be abolished until unemployment is abolished

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

GROWL VICTORY: HHS TO HOLD REGIONAL HEARINGS ON WELFARE

TOMMY THOMPSON MEETS DEMAND TO HEAR DIRECTLY FROM MOTHERS ON WELFARE

Sep 7--When nearly 100 members of Grassroots Organizing for Welfare
Leadership (GROWL) descended on the Washington, D.C. offices Tommy
Thompson on January 31, 2001 they had a simple message: "Hear Our
Voices."  The leaders from grassroots welfare rights groups from around
the country demanded that the newly confirmed Health and Human Services
Secretary hold a series of hearings around the country to learn from
parents themselves about how the new welfare laws affected their
families and communities. GROWL leaders demanded that Thompson convene
these hearings before the reauthorization debate of federal welfare laws
begins in 2002.

Thompson sent a letter to GROWL a few weeks later denying the request,
but the effort moved forward. By late April, the office of
Representative Wally Herger, a California Republican who chairs the
House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources that's leading the
welfare reauthorization discussions began receiving thousands of
postcards with the same request for hearings. More than 130 groups from
across the country participated in this GROWL organized effort, and
Herger met immediately with GROWL representatives in his home district
in Chico, California.

This Wednesday, in a victory for GROWL and its allies, HHS announced
that it would hold a series of "listening and discussion sessions" in
five cities across the country Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas,
and New York. HHS has scheduled the Atlanta event for September 24 and
plans to hold the other meetings throughout the fall. The meetings are
being led by Wade Horn, the newly confirmed HHS assistant secretary for
children and families who has proposed to discriminate against single
parent families within the welfare system.

For more information about how you can bring an anti-discrimination and
pro-opportunity message for all families to the HHS event in your area,
contact Dan HoSang at GROWL at dhosang@xxxxxxxxx

A complete copy of the HHS press release announcing the forums is
included below.




HHS PRESS RELEASE--HHS TO HOLD NATIONAL FORUMS WITH STATE LEADERS ,
RECIPIENTS September 5, 2001 For Release: Immediately Contact: ACF Press
Office (202) 401-9215

HHS TO HOLD NATIONAL FORUMS WITH STATE LEADERS, RECIPIENTS AS EARLY STEP
TOWARD WELFARE REFORM REAUTHORIZATION

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced a series of national
"listening and discussion sessions" to gather insights from those on the
front lines of welfare reform to prepare for next year's reauthorization
of federal welfare reform legislation. The nation's governors, state
legislators, county officials, welfare program directors and welfare
recipients will be invited to discuss ways to strengthen the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which was created by the
welfare reform legislation enacted in 1996.

The sessions will allow Secretary Thompson and other top HHS officials
to learn more about states' experiences implementing welfare reforms and
running assistance programs. "Welfare reform has been a remarkable
success story, resulting in historic reductions in welfare dependency
and child poverty, and dramatic gains in employment -- especially among
single mothers. Yet, welfare reform has only just begun," Secretary
Thompson said. "We must now build on the lessons of the past five years
to help more families become self-sufficient in the future."

Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., HHS assistant secretary for children and families,
will lead the five regional sessions, starting Sept. 24 in Atlanta.
Other sessions will be scheduled for this fall in Chicago, Dallas, New
York and San Francisco. Horn heads HHS' Administration for Children and
Families, which oversees the TANF program. "These sessions will allow us
to learn what governors, recipients and others on the front lines of
welfare reform see as the best ways to build upon our successes," Horn
said. "As we prepare to reauthorize this legislation, we need to pay
close attention to what works at the state and local levels to identify
strategies to further improve the lives of America's children."

These sessions are an initial step by the Bush administration to develop
TANF reauthorization legislation. TANF, which was created by the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act of
1996, provides $16.5 billion in federal block grant funds to states each
year to provide cash assistance to needy families, support their
transition to work and self-sufficiency, and promote the formation of
two-parent families. The TANF program is currently authorized through
fiscal year 2002, and Congress will consider reauthorization of the
program next year. An HHS fact sheet on welfare reform implementation is
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2001pres/01fswelreform.html.
More information about welfare reform is available at
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov. ###