Sounding Off: Perceptions of the less-fortunate remain skewed

In his Sunday commentary on our welfare system, Judge James P. Gray has touched all of the welfare myths raging for years and has blatantly suggested we go back to the Dickensian era of the “poor house” with all of its admirable attributes (“It’s a Gray Area: The trick of current welfare system”). His essay is filled with so many factual errors that it’s hard to know where to begin.

Let’s first look at the system he proposes that would lift people out of poverty and “restore their dignity.” First, don’t trust them with any money; give them only the necessities of life, such as dormitory living, group style meals, health care in government clinics, clothing and other “similar essentials.”

They would have to earn this largess by doing required chores. (Sounds like the 19th century “work houses.”) He goes on to say that while providing basic needs, this system would also provide incentives to move beyond welfare because “there would be a logical and necessary stigma” attached to living in such publicly supported places.

Judge Gray states that he and his fellow Libertarians would provide this help, not because they have to, but because they want to. “That is the type of people we are.”

I wonder if they realize that 75% of those receiving welfare aid are children?

Now let’s look at the factual errors. He states there are few incentives in the present system to get off welfare and if a woman wants to receive aid, all she has to do is get pregnant, and if she wants more money, just have another baby. He repeats the old myth that families remain on the dole for generations.

If Judge Gray had studied the present Cal Works Program ( a reform of the old aid to families with dependent children), he’d find that in order to receive cash assistance, the parent has to spend 32 hours a week in job-related activities — working, looking for work, taking skills training classes, etc. If she doesn’t follow through, she is sanctioned. Rather that staying on welfare for generations, the lifetime limit to receive aid is 60 months.

According to the Western Center on Law and Poverty, the average maximum grant for a family of three is $694 a month, with an added $200 a month for each new child. I wonder how many women would have a baby to receive an extra $200? It is true, food stamps are also given and MediCal is provided for those eligible, but I wonder how many of us could live in Orange County with less than $1,000 a month for rent, utilities, clothing, transportation, etc. It doesn’t sound like such a cozy deal.

As with all segments of society, there are certainly some welfare recipients who game the system. The recent expose about using welfare money to go on cruises or in Las Vegas pointed out, deep into the story, that the abuses were less than .1% of recipients. For 23 years I dealt on a daily basis with impoverished families who came to Share Our Selves (SOS) for help and found very few who didn’t hate the situation they were in and would do whatever they could to get out of the desperate plight they found themselves in.

They didn’t need the “incentives” of which Judge Gray wrote. Many of them were receiving government aid; many others could not bring themselves to apply until they had lost everything and were facing homelessness. My lasting impression of most of those I met was a humbling acknowledgement of their courage, resiliency and desperate desire to maintain their dignity and provide for their children.

I think we’re still suffering in America from our Puritan heritage and Protestant work ethic, where external wealth was somehow a sign of virtue, and poverty a sign of being less good. I wish we could all share in the goodness of so many among us who are enduring poverty in our affluent communities.

During this recession, many middle- and upper-middle class families have fallen into poverty. We need to encourage them, not disparage them, if they need to apply for aid. I’m sure you wouldn’t want your neighbors to be stigmatized because they can no longer provide for their families without some help.

Jean Forbath founded Share Our Selves in 1970. She lives in Costa Mesa.