Wisconsin Puts Welfare Reform To Work State’s Plan Guarantees A Job For Everyone

Wisconsin announced a revolutionary plan Thursday to guarantee an immediate job to everyone who applies for welfare - and require them to take it.

The plan, announced by Gov. Tommy Thompson, represents the biggest break from the traditional welfare system proposed anywhere in the United States.

It also offers a vivid example of the kind of approaches to welfare that states are likely to take if they are freed from federal restrictions, as they would be under the welfare reforms scheduled for final debate in the Senate beginning Saturday.

In Wisconsin, which has virtually no unemployment, the state would place recipients in private-sector positions if possible and furnish state-subsidized jobs for the rest. But the new system would have none of the customary exceptions for hardships. For example, recipients would have to work even if they have small children, or lack a high school diploma or job training.

“The automatic welfare check is history,” Thompson said.

While some welfare experts said they expect the plan to be very expensive, state officials said they hope costs will not rise because the number of people needing assistance will decline.

But the plan, which is expected to win approval of the state legislature, jolted advocates for the poor and some public policy specialists. They said the new plan could be devastating for troubled, uneducated or untrained mothers who are not ready to go to work, and they raised warning flags about the cost of creating jobs for tens of thousands of parents and providing child care for their children - as provided for under the plan.

While virtually all elected officials and welfare specialists agree that the current system fails taxpayers as well as the people who receive aid, some questioned whether the nation is ready for a leap of this magnitude.

“It goes far beyond any of the experiments that we’ve seen in Wisconsin or other states to date,” said Michael Wiseman, a professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin. “It really is ending welfare - not just ending welfare as we know it, but ending welfare period.”

The proposal would do away with the main welfare program - Aid to Families with Dependent Children, which guarantees basic cash assistance to poor American families.

Instead, the state would place recipients in full-time jobs. For those applicants who cannot be placed in private-sector jobs, the state would offer state-funded community service positions and subsidized jobs with private companies. Even parents with disabilities or serious substance abuse problems would be required to work in group settings according to their abilities and, in some cases, attend rehabilitation clinics.