Symposium Abstract

The published articles from the 2006 Symposium open with Michele Estrin Gilman's Fighting Poverty with Faith: Reflections on 10 Years of Charitable Choice.  Gilman examines a provision of the 1996 welfare act, commonly known as Charitable Choice.  The provision permits government funding of religious institutions to deliver welfare-related services.  The article discusses the benefits and limitations of Charitable Choice.  It also asserts that the government is able to partner with churches while avoiding the dangers of charitable choice.

In Missing the Mark: Welfare Reform and Rural Poverty, Lisa R. Pruitt considers welfare reform's impact on rural America.  Pruitt particularly examines the circumstances facing female-headed households and those living in persistent poverty.  Pruitt discusses legislative and policy-maker failures to consider the distinct obstacles faced by rural families, and asserts that welfare reform failed many poor people in rural communities.

Joel Berg's Welfare Reform: The Promise Unfulfilled focuses on the goal of welfare reform to move people from welfare to work.  Berg notes some commonly believed reasons for people being on welfare.  Berg then asserts that welfare reform has had a minimal impact because it did little to change the previous status quo of neither allowing Americans to starve nor enabling large numbers to climb out of poverty.  Berg concludes by suggesting a broader agenda to reduce poverty and end hunger in America.

In Will Marriage Promotion Work? Vivian Hamilton focuses on authorized appropriations by Congress to fund "healthy marriage promotion" and "responsible fatherhood" efforts.  Hamilton fouces on whether marriage promotion is likely to increase the rate of marriage among poor individuals, and whether the marriages will help lift people from poverty.  Hamilton studies the reasons poor people marry at significantly lower rates than people of higher economic classes and concludes that marriage promotion efforts are unlikely to affect the factors keeping poor people from marrying.

Yoanna X. Moisides' I Just Need Help...TANF, The Deficit Reduction Act and the New "Work-Eligible Individual" explores the creation and definition of the "work-eligible individual" in the TANF program.  Moisides pays specific attention to the exclusion of caretakers of individuals with disabilities from being classified as work-eligible individuals.  Moisides suggests caretakers should be classified as work-eligible individuals in order to enjoy access to programs and services aimed at personal development.

In Localizing the "Welfare Queen" Ten Years Later: Race, Gender, Place and Welfare Rights, Rosa Ernst explores how national stereotypes about welfare recipients impacts local welfare rights groups, especially when local racial contexts and realities of poverty do not comport with dominant national racial sterotypes.  Ernst conducted in-depth analysis on three welfare rights groups operating in different states to assess how groups grapple with racial stereotypes.

In TANF in a Global Economy, Steven Schwinn explores some of the tensions between welfare reform and globalization.  Schwinn focuses on the ability of states to acheive the goals of welfare reform's work requirement as globalization creates service jobs for either the highly skilled or for those with few skills.

Symposium Articles

Michele Estrin Gilman, Fighting Poverty with Faith: Reflections on 10 Years of Charitable Choice.

Lisa R. Pruitt, Missing the Mark: Welfare Reform and Rural Poverty.

Joel Berg, Welfare: The Promise Unfulfilled.

Vivian Hamilton, Will Marriage Promotion Work?

Yoanna X. Moisides, I Just Need Help...TANF, The Deficit Reduction Act and the New Work-Eligible Individual.

Rosa Ernst, Localizing the 'Welfare Queen' Ten Years Later: Race, Gender, Place, and Welfare Rights.

Steven Schwinn, TANF in a Global Economy.