O.C. Braces for a Surge in Welfare Cases

By CARLA RIVERA

April 15, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SANTA ANA —

Orange County officials are bracing for a surge of new welfare cases beginning next month as more than 200,000 amnesty residents become eligible for government assistance.

Officials estimate that as many as 45,000 of these residents, who gained permanent resident status under the federal amnesty program, may seek some form of aid in the next year, swelling county welfare rolls by as much as 25%.

The expected flood of new cases stems from provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which requires a five-year waiting period before amnesty immigrants become eligible for government assistance programs, such as Aid to Families With Dependent Children, food stamps and Medi-Cal.

That waiting period runs out May 5, and Orange County is likely to be especially hard hit.

The county’s 200,000 amnesty residents are the third highest number for any county in the nation and, next to Los Angeles, the second largest population of amnesty residents in the state. Officials estimate that anywhere from 8% to 20% of that population will apply for some form of welfare.

“It’s like a new city that has arisen,” said John Webb, director of research and planning for the County Social Services Agency.

Some immigrant rights activists, however, contend that officials are overstating the need for welfare among amnesty residents, and they fear that focusing attention on the issue will only serve to encourage anti-immigrant sentiments. These experts, including some academicians who have studied the issue, say there is a strong work ethic among immigrants as a whole, and among amnesty residents in particular.

The potential increase in the welfare caseload comes at a time when there is a trend in California and elsewhere to severely restrict welfare benefits.

Officials base their estimates on the rate of welfare usage that would be expected in a typical population of 200,000 people. They believe that amnesty residents may seek welfare in even greater numbers because they are particularly at risk of being in low-paying, marginal jobs.

While it is impossible to determine just how many of the amnesty residents will apply for assistance, the county nevertheless is bracing for all possibilities.

There is little doubt that the cost to the county of administering welfare programs will rise, but by how much no one is sure. AFDC, Medi-Cal and food stamps are largely federally and state funded.

The only fully county-funded program is General Relief, which provides a monthly average of $262 in cash assistance to adult indigents. Officials estimate that increases in the General Relief caseload stemming from amnesty residents could cost the county an extra $1.25 million in the next fiscal year. Current expenditures in the General Relief program total about $14.4 million.

There will also be a toll on caseworkers and other staff as work and client volume rise.

“I anticipate maybe having to schedule later hours for our (welfare) offices,” said Angelo Doti, director of financial assistance programs for the Social Services Agency. “It will particularly hit hard on our bilingual staff.”

According to the estimates of welfare officials:

* AFDC caseloads could increase by as many as 25,000 clients.

* The county-funded General Relief program could gain at least 400 clients.

* The county’s Medi-Cal population, currently about 88,000 people, could see an increase of between 20% and 50%.

* The numbers of food stamp recipients--currently 102,116--could increase dramatically, by as much as 25,000 cases.

* An estimated $8 million in additional aid will be dispersed to Orange County residents during the next budget year as a result of amnesty residents.

Under federal regulations, county officials are under the additional burden of having to canvass the entire public assistance caseload to determine eligibility for AFDC among those who previously were disqualified because of the waiting period. In addition, the state is planning a massive mailing in July to inform amnesty residents that they may now qualify for full Medi-Cal coverage.

Welfare officials today are holding a public forum to get the word out to community-based organizations about the welfare benefits that will become available to amnesty residents.

There is particular concern among county officials that some immigrants may not have completed the requirements to obtain full permanent residency status and thus be eligible for benefits.

“One of our concerns is that a (caseworker) could be the first to inform an applicant that they have not successfully completed the (amnesty) process,” said Robert A. Griffiths, Social Services Agency deputy director. “We’re not sure that’s a role we should be taking the lead in.”

Under the amnesty program, illegal immigrants were granted legal status if they could show that they were in the country before 1982. Applications were accepted for a year, beginning May 5, 1987. To obtain permanent resident status, an applicant must pass English literacy and civics tests, as well as a physical examination, have no criminal record and pay an $80 filing fee.

If requirements have not been met, the person is to revert back to illegal status and not only lose eligibility for public assistance but also be subject to deportation.

While county officials are preparing for increased caseloads, others say the nature of amnesty residents argues against such a boost. These academicians and immigrant rights advocates contend that because amnesty residents must show a strong work history, they are not likely to swell welfare rolls.

“The reason why these people are immigrants is because they want to work to achieve a better life for themselves and their families,” said David Hayes-Bautista, a professor in the UCLA School of Medicine and director of the Chicano Studies Research Center there.

Hayes-Bautista said a 1987 Los Angeles study found that 2% of amnesty applicants had used welfare programs in the five years before their applications to become permanent residents. The figure is far lower than the 8% to 20% estimate of county welfare officials.

Others point out that recent immigrants are more likely to fear the system and may believe that utilizing services will jeopardize their status.

“Getting cash assistance for a long period of time could make it harder to immigrate other family members (into the United States) and that’s a big incentive to stay away from government programs,” said Susan B. Drake, a Los Angeles attorney with the National Immigration Law Center.

And experts say that many cultural characteristics of Latinos--the group that comprises the vast majority of immigrants in Southern California--mitigate against heavy use of welfare programs.

“Mexican immigrants tend to rely on family more and actually underutilize the system,” said Leo Chavez, an assistant professor of anthropology at UC Irvine. “While this group tends to have more children, they are also more likely to be married. . . . I think the public assistance costs of immigrants are likely to be less than those of the U.S.-born Latino population.”

But other experts argue that recent immigrants tend to be stuck in high-risk employment situations and predict that their use of welfare will be greater rather than less.

“They are probably making marginally lower incomes, they are more likely to be employed in jobs such as construction or agriculture where the risk of injury is greater, and they are less likely to have health insurance,” Webb said.

“I think there is a real concern that jobs where these families can make a living wage are increasingly scarce,” Drake said. “The problem is we don’t pay people enough to boost them above the poverty level.”

Many charity directors say they expect an increase in demand for welfare, judging by the strains placed on their own agencies, which have been the principal means of support for immigrants ineligible for public assistance.

They report an unprecedented level of demand for services such as supplemental food, clothing, rent assistance and health care, part of which they attribute to immigrants, both legal and illegal.

“We have been seeing (this population) all along,” said Jean Forbath, a leading voice in the volunteer community who founded the Costa Mesa-based charity Share Our Selves.

“They are not homeless, but many of them have come in for supplemental food, help with transportation expenses, help with the rent,” she said.

For some amnesty residents, the need for assistance has been greater than they anticipated.

Marco Bueno had lived in the United States for 12 years before he applied for legal status four years ago. The 46-year-old Santa Ana resident said he has always been proud that he was able to work to support his family of five. But Bueno recently lost a good job that he had held for a number of years when the contracting company he worked for folded. Since then, he has worked on-again, off-again construction jobs and as a handyman for a cousin.

Now, he believes that when he becomes eligible for public assistance next year he may have to ask for help.

“It would especially be good to have food stamps to help out; that is where the real need is,” said Bueno, sitting in the waiting room of the Santa Ana welfare office where he had recently taken another relative to apply for assistance. “I don’t want to go on welfare, but I have to care for my family. I feel like I’ve contributed enough.”

Forbath and others worry that a flood of welfare applications among the amnesty population will only feed anti-immigrant sentiments. They believe that immigrants have already become the scapegoats in rising welfare statistics.

“I think there is the perception of the immigrant as an outsider, as a freeloader, but that is false,” said Msgr. Jaime Soto, Episcopal vicar for the Latino community for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. Immigrants always “have been a part of what makes California a prosperous state, and they do have entitlements to those benefits,” Soto said. “California needs to see its social services as a form of investment in its future, just as these immigrants have made the state a part of their future.”

Potential Boom In Immigrant Welfare Cases

Beginning May 5, illegal immigrants who became permanent residents five years ago under the federal amnesty program will be able to apply for public assistance. There are four programs available to them.

1. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)

Current county caseload: 90,715

Potential amnesty increase: 5,000-25,000

2. Medi-Cal

Current county caseload: 88,000

Potential amnesty increase: 17,600-44,000

3. Food Stamps

Current county caseload: 102,000

Potential amnesty increase: 8,400-25,000

4. General Relief

Current county caseload: 4,700

Potential amnesty increase: 400