The Public and the Welfare Reform Debate

What's New about the New Public Management? Administrative Change in the Human Services

“…Second, like the broader inherited system of public administration, changing conditions have created new performance challenges for human services agencies. Voters and elected officials of both major political parties now expect most recipients of human services to work or move toward self-sufficiency in exchange for receiving public assistance (Blendon et al 1995). The problems associated with disadvantaged families have become more concentrated and isolated in specific communities in recent decades, increasing the need to coordinate the delivery of separate programs that address closely related human needs (Halpern 1995;Wilson 1996).…”

Poverty and procreation among women An anthropologic study with implications for health care providers

“…For decades, high fertility rates among the poor have baffled social scientists, clinicians, policymakers, and world leaders. A common misconception is that by having children, the poor create their own poverty (1,2). In developing countries, hunger, environmental destruction, economic stagnation, political instability, and even moral decay are attributed to increased fertility and rapid population growth (3).…”

Welfare Reform: Loss of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for Children With Disabilities

“…In fiscal year 1996, the United States spent more than $344 billion in interest on the national debt, an amount equal to 11 times the federal education budget (Simon, 1997). The largely Republican 104th Congress represented the increasing number of voters with conservative views who believed federal spending ought to be reduced by cutting entitlement programs for the poor (Blendon et al, 1995). A core value of many conservative legislators is that of rugged individualism, which results in the expectation that all people have the ability to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.…”

“…Some members of Congress and others alleged that the entire SSI program had become the federal government's fourth most expensive entitlement, exceeded by Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (MacDonald, 1995;Wright, 1995) and a sigruficant factor in skyrocketing federal budgetary expenditures. Many of the same stereotypes and value judgments that precipitated the elimination of AFDCsuch as poor people lack appropriate family values and are poor because of character flaws, many undeserving individuals are on the government's financial rolls, and government assistance discourages individuals from workforce participation (Bane & Ellwood, 1994;Blendon et al, 1995;Handler & Hasenfeld, 1991;Henly & Danziger, 1996;Katz, 1989) -were used to argue for downsizing children's SSI. Additionally, the program had fallen victim to negative publicity.…”