Public Policy Position on Welfare Reform
Adopted by the NMCC Board of Directors August 27, 1996
Background
The Federal Government recently enacted a sweeping 'welfare reform' package of legislation which will change how the public sector funds assistance to individuals and families whose own resources are too meager to support even the basic necessities of food, shelter and safety. The State of NM also has instituted major changes in how assistance will be given to such individuals and what will be required of them and from them.
These recent legislative and administrative actions alter the nature of welfare assistance. However, it is not yet clear what consequences these action will have on recipients of welfare assistance, on charitable organizations whose case load will no doubt intensify and on those whose public tax money is used to fund the assistance.
Therefore, the debate about the purpose and extent of welfare reform will continue to take place. Churches, faith communities and concerned individuals must engage in this public discourse. The New Mexico Conference of Churches' Board of Directors feels a sense of responsibility to participate in shaping public policies which will directly impact the lives of so many persons and will also reveal what kind of communities and society we are choosing to become. This "Public Policy statement" outlines the chief concerns of the Board as it urges the member churches of the NMCC and the partners in public policy advocacy coalitions, in which the NMCC participates, to continue this important discourse. Out of such continuing discourse healthy, sustainable and beneficial public policies can emerge.
Our Fundamental Framework
Representing both the historical traditions of our member churches as well as the rich fruits of almost 100 years of ecumenical cooperation in ethical discernment, the NMCC places this position statement within the following framework:
We believe that we are called to stand with and seek justice for people who are in poverty. We feel compelled in this belief by the teachings of both Old Testament and New Testament, perhaps illustrated adequately in the admonition of Proverbs 31.8-9 "You must defend those who are helpless and have no hope. Be fair and give justice to the poor and homeless." We therefore join with a much larger circle of religious leaders who have said collectively, "We share a conviction, therefore, that welfare reform must not focus on eliminating programs but eliminating poverty, and especially the damage poverty inflicts on children (who are 2/3 of all welfare recipients)." Each of the member denominations of the NMCC have stated this commitment in one way or another in their most authoritative statements; perhaps the US Catholic Bishops 1986 pastoral letter captures this consensus when it states, "Dealing with poverty is not a luxury to which our nation can attend when it finds the time and resources. Rather, it is a moral imperative of the highest order."
We also believe that people are more important than the sum of their economic activities. Again, as the national consensus statement states "successful welfare reform demands more than economic incentives and disincentives. It depends on overcoming biased assumptions about race, gender, class that feed hostile social stereotypes about people living in poverty and suspicions that people with perspectives other than our own are either indifferent or insincere. Successful welfare reform will depend ultimately upon finding not only common ground of policies but a common spirit about the need to preserve them for all."
Policy Issues
Based on these two beliefs, the NM Conference of Churches will advocate for proposals about welfare reform which includes the following elements:
- Policies which build hope and lead to self-sufficiency, eliminating the root causes of poverty for children, adults and families. The New Mexico Conference of Churches supports abolishing stated and implied policies which sustain the current levels of poverty in the U.S. and in New Mexico.
- Insistence that individuals and all sectors of society share in the responsibility for reducing poverty. All must be a part of the effort to transform the conditions which require public assistance for some. It is not enough for individuals, faith communities, the state, the business community each to say "It's someone else's responsibility."
- Assurance that especially children already victimized will not be further penalized by any changes in welfare policies.
- Insistence that there are societal responsibilities for the vulnerable within our communities, those who are elderly, physically and mentally disabled, the incapacitated, victims of domestic violence, parents with the special needs of dependent care, and caregivers of incapacitated family members. These persons should be supported by the necessary assistance to provide for decent housing, Health care, nutritious food while assisting in developing a family sustaining income.
- Assurance that the state of New Mexico, not just the welfare recipient, and the business community share responsibilities for job development, training and assistance in returning persons to independent living.
- Continuing the due process rights of individuals to fair and impartial hearings concerning access to benefits.
- Stabilizing the rights of legal immigrants to access resources without stigma or stereotyping.
- Eliminating arbitrary time limits and generalized program requirements which prevent individual situations to be carefully analyzed so that a long-range program for independence can be developed.
- Recognizes the benefits to recipients and providers when every effort is made to reduce complicated admission procedures, duplication of application and monitoring processes, and establishes a community-based relationship between recipients and state agencies.
