Welfare and Children

On behalf of the Los Angeles County Commission for Children and Families, thank you for your March 21 editorial, “Do It Right--Don’t Hurt the Children,” your April 9 editorial, “Whatever It is, It Isn’t Constructive Welfare Reform.” You managed to capture all of the most salient issues before the House and soon the Senate, in the effort to complete a major overhaul of our welfare system.

The House of Representatives, in its haste to meet its self-imposed deadline (100 days) has barreled through 60 years of social policy without a single thought to the most critical issue: Who will really bear the burden? Indeed, some of the sentiment expressed in the Personal Responsibility Act may well represent the attitudes of some of the electorate. But it doesn’t mean that these attitudes are based on a careful and thoughtful understanding of how the reforms should be accomplished.

Like you, our commission looks forward to a more careful, deliberate effort on the part of the Senate to craft sound social policy which protects our most vulnerable children, ensures that parents and families are able to fulfill their responsibilities and makes good fiscal sense.

NORINE BOEHMER, Chair

Los Angeles County Commission

for Children and Families