Summer 2000                                               OCR UPdate - 10

OCR Plays Active Role in Welfare to Work Issues

One of the emerging civil rights challenges of the new millennium is ensuring that welfare reform is imple- mented in a manner consistent with federal civil rights laws. This past year, OCR has been engaged in a host of activities on the welfare-to-work front. Last August, OCR and the Administration for Children and Families issued a two-part guidance to help states, counties and other entities comply with federal civil rights laws as they implement their welfare reform programs and create new programs. These materials, titled Civil Rights Laws and Welfare Reform_an Overview and Technical Assistance for Caseworkers on Civil Rights Law and Welfare Reform, explain how federal civil rights laws apply in welfare programs. A number of federal agencies collaborated in the development of this guidance.

The guidance will assist officials involved in welfare programs to identify potential civil rights issues and help them to prevent discrimination from occurring. OCR offices nationwide launched a series of training and technical assistance programs to educate case workers and other welfare service providers. For instance, training sessions have been conducted for case workers in the entire State of Delaware and the Middle Peninsula Region of Virginia.

Earlier this year, advocates and federal government agencies came together to discuss challenges in the welfare to work setting. OCR Director Tom Perez hosted the telephone conference from OCR Headquarters, and welcomed participants from as far away as Alaska. The ten OCR Regional Offices hosted advocates at their respective sites. In addition to the DHHS, federal participants included the Departments of: Agriculture, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Justice and Labor, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The goal of the meeting was two-fold: First, to educate advocates about the respective jurisdictions of the eight participating federal agencies in the welfare to work context; and second, for advocates to bring their concerns to the attention of the proper federal agencies. A number of concerns were brought to the attention of the federal agencies, including the need for individual assessments of persons with disabilities; allegations of potential steering of minorities and people with disabilities into dead-end jobs; persons of color not being informed of the array of supports that are available, such as transportation vouchers or child care; immigration issues; and the lack of meaningful access to programs for persons with limited English proficiency. OCR has a number of pending complaint investigations and compliance reviews that focus on one or more of these allegations.

Welfare to Work National Conference, January 10, 2000, headed by Thomas Perez (third from right).

In addition to identifying areas of concern, OCR is working hard to identify promising practices or programs in the welfare to work setting. For example, the State of Washington has taken substantial steps to ensure that individuals who have language difficulties are achieving access to all components of welfare to work programs in the state. In Pathways (a special program), case workers refer clients with limited English proficiency to specific contractors who have staff interpreters available to speak with clients in their primary language and who are equipped to make the appropriate referrals. (Read more about the Washington State interpreter/translator system under Promising Practices.) Overall, OCR, through investigations, education and technical assistance, will continue to play an active role in the welfare to work setting.

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