Welfare advocates
oppose new sanctions

If approved by Gov. Cayetano,
entire families will lose their
welfare benefits if one member
is in noncompliance

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Waianae High School student Joshua Sena warns that "people will be fighting for territory and space," becoming squatters along Leeward Oahu beaches when stiffer welfare rules become law next month.

"Welfare recipients cannot be forced to work when Hawaii is in an economic slump," said Cecilia Keawe Kaokai, a volunteer for the Honolulu Community Action Program's Waianae office.

The two were among several dozen social service advocates and recipients who testified against the new rules at a state Department of Human Services public hearing yesterday.

Gov. Ben Cayetano is expected to approve the changes in the coming weeks despite overwhelming testimony against them.

Up to 6,000 Hawaii families could lose their welfare checks under the proposed "full family sanctions."

The state now takes away benefits from an individual in noncompliance of welfare rules. The proposed rules would allow the Department of Human Services to take away the benefits from all other family members as well.

Under the proposals:

Recipients in the state's First to Work program would need to meet a requirement of 32 hours of "work activity" a month by July 31 to avoid sanctions against their families beginning Sept. 1.
Recipients who have been receiving welfare benefits for 24 straight months would need at least four hours of work activity to avoid sanctions.

Sanctioned families would still be eligible for food stamps and medical assistance.

Federal requirements now bar anyone from receiving welfare benefits for more than five years throughout a lifetime.

Human Services Director Susan Chandler said the state wants to get people off welfare as soon as they can so they have something to fall back in case times get bad again later.

"The adult sanction has not been enough," Chandler said, noting many adults simply cash the welfare checks of their children to keep them going even after their own eligibility runs out.

Chandler said that one conservative think tank rated Hawaii as the most lax state in the country when it comes to penalizing those who are in noncompliance.

Notices have been sent since April warning recipients about the impending changes, and special effort will be made to monitor up to 2,000 families with Child Protective Service cases to ensure they won't lose their benefits.

Chandler said it wouldn't be difficult for the requirements to be met.

"They can go to a school and do four hours. They can go to a church and do four hours. They can go to a soup kitchen and do four hours."

Patricia McManaman, executive director for the Immigrant Rights and Public Interest Legal Center at Palama Settlement, fears immigrants will be most vulnerable under the new rules.

Even if interpreters can be found to translate the information to immigrants on welfare, "all too frequently, something is lost in translation," McManaman said.

Testifying yesterday, April Kaukani, 46, a single mother raising four children, said she's meeting her requirements as a packer for a snack manufacturer, a job she attained with help from a temporary employment agency. But she's been looking for a permanent job since January and estimated that she's filled out as many 100 applications -- all without success.

"I'm afraid that if I lose my job for a few months, and if they sanction everybody, I'm going to be one of them because I might not make the hours."