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Houston Welfare Rights Organization

In the state of Texas, which has taken a lead on welfare privatization and anti-fraud measures, the Houston Welfare Rights Organization (HWRO) has its hands full advocating, educating, and lobbying on behalf of welfare recipients. Fortunately the membership organization has a long history of activism upon which to draw, since it was founded during the 1960s by Osie B. Johnson.

At first, the HWRO was open only to welfare recipients. Today, however, it welcomes not only recipients, but also other individuals with low incomes and any welfare rights supporters. Veronica Jefferson, the HWRO's President, believes that the expanded membership allows the group to draw on the more varied backgrounds and resources of participants.

The organization has recently expanded to include three separate neighborhood chapters. The decentralized structure allows for more effective outreach and offers more opportunities for leadership development.

The group's primary focus is on providing support to welfare recipients. Members accompany individuals applying for welfare for the first time or those attending meetings with case workers. Ms. Jefferson even represents individuals at fair hearings. The HWRO makes referrals for services it cannot provide. For example, Carolyn Oliver, President of the East Houston chapter, assists those who need help paying their utility bills by referring them to social service agencies.

In addition to providing individual support, the HWRO strives to educate its members and the broader community on the rights of welfare recipients. Plans are underway for its next annual Back-to-School Conference, with workshops on various types of benefits and rights, where the HWRO will distribute its resource handbook that provides guidance to recipients on how to navigate the welfare system. The HWRO also regularly organizes guest speakers to ensure that its members know their own rights and are equipped to be effective advocates. In addition, Ms. Jefferson independently produces a television program on the public access channel that regularly features educational segments on welfare and other issues of concern to low income communities.

The HWRO has also undertaken lobbying efforts designed to shape welfare policy so that it will be more favorable to recipients and the group is a visible representative of low income people before the state legislature. Members have presented testimony at legislative hearings and meet individually with members of Congress and the state legislature. The group has focused on obtaining judicial review of hearing decisions, opposing fingerprinting of recipients, and mitigating the impact of the state's three year time limit on benefits.

The HWRO's advocacy on proposed welfare regulations have led to improvements. Last year the HWRO collected signatures to petition the welfare agency to hold a public hearing under the Administrative Procedures Act. The hearing on fingerprinting requirements was the first such public hearing held by the welfare agency. More recently, the organization appeared at a welfare department public hearing on the hardship exception to time limits. Mary Loving, President of the Sunnyside chapter, leads the organization's efforts to mobilize low income communities to advocate on behalf of welfare recipients by signing petitions, attending events, and giving testimony. The HWRO also backed a proposed law that would have allowed for judicial review of Department of Human Services hearing decisions. The bill passed the State Senate Chamber but lost in the House of Representatives. Texas is currently the only state that does not allow judicial review of welfare fair hearing decisions.

The organization won significant other legislative victories that will make a difference for many recipients. For example, the HWRO won an exception for teens in violent homes to the rule that teenage mothers must live with their parents. It also won access to office space and materials for those engaging in a job search.

Ms. Jefferson is especially concerned about what she views as a return to the "man-in-the-house" days recently evidenced by intrusive and unannounced home visits by case workers. The group plans to focus in the future on opposing practices that are disrespectful and intrude upon the privacy of recipients.

The report on Houston Welfare Rights Organization was prepared by Zoe Neuberger, a law student volunteer at the Center.

-- from the July 1997 issue of Welfare News