HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 

RECOGNIZING THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF SAFETY NET PROGRAMS AND ENSURING THE MAINTENANCE OF OTHER BENEFITS WHEN WELFARE IS TERMINATED

WHEREAS, in the Conference of Mayors’ November 1997 survey on welfare reform implementation 81 percent of the cities surveyed reported an increase in emergency food assistance requests, and almost half of these attributed that increase "mostly" to welfare reform; and

WHEREAS, in that same survey 59 percent of the cities reported an increase in emergency shelter requests and 15 percent of these attributed the increase "mostly" to welfare reform; and

WHEREAS, safety net programs, such as the Social Services Block Grant, Community Services Block Grant, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Child Care Development Block Grant, are essential to preventing many vulnerable families – those making the transition from welfare to work, those with multiple barriers which make employment more difficult, and those who are working and poor and face a short-term crisis – from slipping through the cracks; and

WHEREAS, funds provided by safety net programs are also used for essential services such as utility assistance, case management, respite care, meals for homebound elderly, transportation, child abuse prevention and domestic violence assistance for families, children, older persons and persons with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, these programs provide states and local governments the flexibility to meet the needs of their communities and are essential to meeting the basic needs of our nation’s most vulnerable people; and

WHEREAS, a U.S. General Accounting Office report, "Welfare Reform: States’ Early Experiences with Benefit Terminations,"observed that the number of families receiving food stamps and Medicaid decreased significantly after termination of AFDC benefits, despite provisions that preserve eligibility for these benefits; and

WHEREAS, while the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act gave the states increased flexibility in the administration and design of cash assistance programs, it maintained the entitlement nature of both food stamps and Medicaid; and

WHEREAS, city officials are similarly seeing examples of families who lose their welfare benefits and also no longer receive food stamps or Medicaid; and

WHEREAS, city officials also have detected a decrease in use of child care assistance by these families who lose welfare benefits,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the federal government to recognize the essential nature of safety net programs, such as the Social Services Block Grant, Community Services Block Grant, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Child Care Development Block Grant, and to increase support for them.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the federal government to require state welfare agencies to notify cash assistance recipients who have been sanctioned off, found employment or terminated from cash assistance because they have reached their time limit that they are still eligible for food stamps, Medicaid and child care assistance.