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New York City’s Welfare Rights Initiative Develops Student Activists

The Welfare Rights Initiative (WRI), located at Hunter College, which is part of the City University of New York (CUNY), describes itself as a grassroots student activist organization. WRI's primary goal is to promote increased access to higher education for low income students. Ninety percent of students who attend CUNY and receive public assistance are women. WRI was created to engage and serve this population which, as a result of welfare "reform" has steadily decreased. In 1995 there were 28,000 student recipients enrolled in CUNY. Currently, there are 15,000 recipients remaining and that number is declining daily. WRI's educational, legal, social service, and advocacy programs help to inform students about anti-poverty, social welfare, and higher education policies. WRI provides students with the opportunity to participate in organizing and leadership development activities, for college credits.

WRI was conceptualized in 1995 by Dr. Janet E. Poppendieck, Director of Hunter College's Center for the Study of Family Policy, Dr. Mimi Abramovitz, Professor of Social Policy at Hunter College School of Social Work, and WRI's Director Melinda Lackey. According to Lackey, the project grew out of three troubling aspects in the debates over welfare reform: the absent voice of welfare recipients; the negative stereotypes of poor women that dominate decision making; and the failure to envision humane reforms that realistically reflect the needs of welfare recipients.

Public assistance recipients at CUNY are referred to WRI through public education, outreach, word of mouth, or their affiliations with other college-based programs for students, such as College Discovery, Seek, and the Career Opportunity to Prepare for Employment (COPE) program. Students’ initial involvement with WRI is almost always related to their need for advocacy assistance - they come to WRI's offices often in tears, seeking help to remain in school. Welfare reform has made life increasingly difficult for student recipients, who, in addition to the added stress of full course loads must also tackle the daily pressures of poverty, eviction notices, welfare case closings, workfare assignments, and countless other threats to their continued education.

Members of WRI believe it is necessary for those who have firsthand experience of poverty to be included in the planning and design of a better welfare system. Consequently, WRI has developed a Community Leadership program. All WRI programs extend from this two-semester leadership seminar. The first semester includes an introduction to social welfare policy and a skills-building component which entails meeting planning and facilitation, active listening, public speaking, coalition building, and fund-raising. The second semester, a four-month internship, offer students the opportunity to practice campus organizing. Students participate in working groups on media, special events, legislative action, and public education. They also receive basic training in public speaking, client intake, outreach and recruitment, and conflict mediation. The seminar is aimed at fostering leadership and developing an effective student organization. WRI encourages the participation of all CUNY students on welfare.

A second component of WRI, the Speakers Bureau, serves to prepare student leaders to testify at hearings and to participate in panels and Speak-Outs to share information about policy and debates. WRI student representatives recently served as panelists with attorneys, activists, CUNY faculty, and students who oppose New York City's attempt to end its policy of open admission to economically and educationally disadvantaged New Yorkers. Invitations to speaking engagements continue to pour in and according to Director Lackey, "The Speakers Bureau is extremely active. We cannot meet nearly all requests for student leaders to conduct presentations and forums."

WRI also works closely with the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies' Welfare Reform Network (WRN) to coordinate statewide campaigns for increased communication with Albany legislators. In May of 1997 WRI participants and other CUNY students traveled to the state capital to protest a proposed hike in CUNY tuition and to encourage and support advancement through access to education and training. In June of 1997 WRI collaborated with the University Student Senate to plan a follow-up protest. WRI's student recipients and six hundred other student activists participated. Student leaders continue to meet with New York legislators locally and in Albany to advocate that education and training "count" as a work activity. Working in conjunction with WRN, the Welfare Rights Initiative also sponsors a Client Empowerment Committee. The committee meets monthly and serves as an information sharing forum for welfare recipients and advocates. Meetings are facilitated by Maureen Lane, a graduate of WRI's Community Leadership Seminar and member of WRI's staff.

WRI opposes the practice of forcing students to abandon their pursuit of higher education and their dream of economic self support to participate in New York City's Work Experience Program (WEP). To date, the state's dead-end workfare program has resulted in jobs for fewer than 5% of its participants. WRI is urging that all welfare recipients have the option of enrolling in education and training or participating in workfare. In addition, in response to the increasing number of CUNY students being illegally forced to abandon their studies to participate in New York City's workfare program, WRI has formed a partnership with CUNY Law School. This partnership has enlisted the aid of thirty law students who have been specially trained to advocate for CUNY students who receive public assistance. Trained WRI student leaders and law students have advised some four hundred and fifty students and have ensured continued attendance for many.

WRI has become a visible force on Hunter campus and has helped many student-recipients in the transformation from victim to leader. Director Melinda Lackey adds, "Welfare Rights Initiative is developing an articulate client voice and injecting it into federal, state and local debates over welfare reform." By offering college credits, connecting participants to exciting opportunities, and providing critical resources like subway tokens to attend meetings, WRI makes it feasible for women to shed the shame of being on welfare, gain economic independence, and become activists and politically effective citizens and community organizers.

For further information contact Melinda K. Lackey, Welfare Rights Initiative, Hunter College Center for The Study of Family Policy, 650 Park Avenue, Room E 1031, tel. (212) 772-4076; e-mail mklackey@concentric.net.

This profile was prepared by Angela Bradford, the Welfare Law Center’s Liaison to Low Income Organizations.

- From the April '98 issue of Welfare News