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In 1996, Congress passed a welfare bill eliminating the federal entitlement and imposing a host of new requirements for recipients. The danger is that battered women and victims of sexual assault will be unfairly penalized by these new rules. The debate around the country on Welfare Reform did little to address the role that domestic violence plays in causing women and children to become dependent on welfare. Women of all classes and backgrounds face an epidemic of violence in their daily lives, but poor women and children are particularly vulnerable to the harm caused by violence against women. Many are forced to flee their abusers in order to seek safety, giving up financial security and their homes, ultimately relying on welfare as a safety net to keep their children and themselves from starvation and homelessness.
As part of the welfare reform bill, Senators Wellstone and Murray attached an amendment that required states to address the special needs of battered women on welfare. The Wellstone/Murray Family Violence Amendment proposed to increase services and waive requirements in cases of domestic violence and sexual abuse. The Conference Committee converted their amendment to state option.
The amendment recognizes that violence makes and keeps women poor, and that it may be difficult and dangerous for battered women and victims of sexual assault to meet the welfare bill’s new requirements. As documented by research such as the Taylor Institute’s 1996 report, the physical and mental effects of domestic violence, as well as direct efforts by abusers to interfere with their victim’s education and employment, have serious implications for welfare-to-work programs. It is common for abusive partners to feel threatened by a woman'’s efforts to gain job skills which will allow her independence and self-esteem. Their sabotage can take many forms, such as failing to provide needed child care or making harassing visits to classrooms and job sites.
Evidence is mounting that a woman'’s ability to make the transition from welfare to work may be severely limited when she is in a violent or abusive relationship. Arbitrary and inflexible time limits may need to be modified where violence prevents a woman from working. Child support cooperation requirements may subject women to retaliatory abuse. Residency requirements may harm women crossing state lines to flee a dangerous living situation. In cases of physical and sexual violence, a child exclusion ("family cap") provision is a particularly unfair penalty to the woman and the child. (A child exclusion provision is not part of Washington's WorkFirst program.)
The Wellstone/Murray Amendment invites states to develop state plans which incorporate rules to screen applicants for domestic violence while maintaining confidentiality, provide referrals to counseling and supportive services, and make good cause waivers for certain welfare program requirements.
As advocates, we must continue pressure on our state legislature to maintain all of the provisions of the Family Violence Amendment in the state’s plan. Only diligent efforts will ensure that the Family Violence Amendment is implemented properly. These efforts can pay off by increasing the safety and economic self-sufficiency of many recipients.
Call 360-253-7147 for a contact person in your local community.