Homeless in New York
Giuliani's ascent
Well thought-out TANF reform makes good social and fiscal sense, but Mayor Rudy Giuliani's policy announced yesterday (see below AP story) of disqualifying those who fail to comply with welfare-to-work activities, apparently irrespective (at least according to some published accounts) of whether such failure is due to mental illness, addiction, or other barriers, seems to me inhumane and possibly unconstitutional. I'm no lawyer, but the meaning of the following seems fairly plain:

New York State Constitution
Bill of Rights
Section 1. No member of this state shall be disfranchised, or deprived of any of the rights or privileges secured to any citizen thereof, unless by the law of the land, or the judgment of his peers * * * http://assembly.state.ny.us/cgi-bin/const/
With the city seeming to take this step unilaterally, and out of sync with surrounding and upstate jurisdictions like Sullivan County, isn't it likely that we in adjacent areas may see a sudden and rapid influx of the extremely hard to employ? Are news accounts incomplete? Am I missing something?

Does anyone foresee the possibility of a significant consequence to this apparent deprivation by a nearby metropolis of the same protection to its citizenry that upstate counties in New York must and do provide, whether at institutional shelters or by providing emergency shelter to homeless people more expensively in motels? Even if Giuliani's move is eventually overturned by courts as unlawful disparate treatment, in the short run should we expect mid-Hudson counties to soon host a wave of welfare recipients who would otherwise have been content to remain at "home" in the city?

Any who are interested in completing a web-based opinion survey on the subject of attitudes toward welfare and welfare recipients is invited to do so, commencing by clicking on the icon above.

Thanks.


NYC Makes Homeless Work for Shelter

By Chelsea J. Carter
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, February 20, 1999; 6:13 p.m. EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- Homeless people who sleep in city shelters will have to work at city jobs or be expelled, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Saturday.
Critics of making workfare a condition to sleep in shelters say the move would force thousands into the streets.
Under workfare, those who receive public aid are required to work at city jobs, including cleaning parks and performing clerical tasks, in exchange for their benefits.
The workfare condition would require city-funded homeless shelters to expel any homeless adult or family cut from public assistance for failing to comply, and as a result require officials to report any child to child protective services in jeopardy of ending up on the street.
Giuliani said officials try to reincorporate homeless people into the work force. ``Maybe that will do more for them ultimately than all the fancy government programs that were keeping people dependent for 30, 40 and 50 years,'' he said.
About 4,600 families and 7,100 single adults use the city's homeless shelters at any given time.
Although the mayor has not set a date to implement the plan, critics blasted the plan, saying it would destroy families and the little stability that homeless people have.
"It's sick. The thought that because you are cut off public assistance, you would then lose your place to sleep too is sick," said Mike Polenberg of the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City.

© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
-- Posted for nonprofit, educational discussion, as fair use. --



End of rant.