Striding Prudently to Meet Challenges of Welfare Reform : Properly done, it will move people to jobs and the tax rolls

Figuring out the shape of welfare reform in Orange County requires waiting for the dominoes to fall. Whatever action the county takes depends on decisions made in Washington and Sacramento.

Congressional Republicans developed the new welfare plans last year and President Clinton signed them. But how much money will be allotted to the states is still uncertain. There is also the chance that some provisions may be modified.

In Sacramento, Republican Gov. Pete Wilson outlined his proposals for welfare reform in California in his budget address in January. Democrats in the capital have come up with their own plans, which diverge from Wilson’s in many instances.

In Santa Ana a week and a half ago, a committee that unfortunately was forced to work with blindfolds, uncertain how much money would trickle down from the federal and state capitals, put together a tentative plan to implement changes in Orange County. For while Washington and Sacramento dole out the money for welfare, it is the county that administers many programs. Despite the handicaps, county officials wisely have tried to be prepared for the eventual outcome of the reform, realizing the new way of doing business will have a great impact on the county.

More than 100,000 people in Orange County receive some form of welfare. For most recipients, the assistance comes in the form of food stamps; for many there is money as well. At the federal, state and county levels, officials have agreed that welfare will be temporary, not permanent. There will be time limits on how long someone may receive aid. There is also agreement on what is needed to get people off welfare: jobs.

The county report, endorsed last week by the Board of Supervisors, said that while the state will determine how much money it will provide, who can receive it and for how long, “The primary mission of the counties as administering agencies is purposeful job search resulting in employment.”

It will not be an easy task.

The goals of the state program are good: work, personal responsibility and self-sufficiency. Officials correctly have recognized the need for some exemptions, including the disabled and those who care for them. There is a special need not to harm children.

But Orange County’s committee, which included officials dealing with social services, health care and law enforcement, also suggested modification of Wilson’s plans in some areas. Many of the committee’s proposals deserve careful attention.

One proposal was to provide prenatal care for illegal immigrants and medical assistance for immigrant children in protective custody. The governor’s plan does not recommend either benefit. Angelo Doti, director of financial assistance in the county Social Services Agency, said the panel felt that it makes sense to fund preventive care programs because the children born in the United States are citizens, even if their parents are not legal immigrants. It is cheaper to prevent illness than cure it.

The Orange County committee also recommended that welfare benefits not be cut off to parents caring for children under a year old, elderly people caring for grandchildren and victims of domestic violence.

A major recommendation was that the state provide more funding for job training. That will be key to getting people off welfare.

Numerous studies have described the difficulty of training people who have been on welfare for many years--sometimes all their lives--to do what nearly everyone else takes for granted: getting up when the alarm clock rings, showing up at work on time day in and day out, dressing appropriately.

But such habits can be taught, as evidenced by the federally funded Greater Avenues to Independence program. In the last fiscal year, Orange County’s GAIN program found jobs for thousands of people. The program requires money, because welfare recipients are given counseling, job training and, often, child care.

Welfare reform remains a major task, requiring assistance from the private sector. But if done properly, it can move people from the welfare rolls to the tax rolls and benefit society.