This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas
http://dolearchives.ku.edu
MEMORANDUM
Date:
To:
From:
Re:
Decem ber 9, 1994
Sena tor DoleA... I
Alec Vacho n IQ"
11
WELFARE REFORM 11 /CONTRACT WITH AMERICA: WHAT
FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN WITH DISAB ILITI ES?
For reaso ns descr ibed below , welfa re reform or other
y fail
restr uctur ing of socia l welfa re progr ams will likel
or
ed
ogniz
unrec
often
the
if
ress
even if passe d by Cong
in
dered
consi
icitly
expl
not
is
r"
hidde n "disa bility facto
y
simpl
r
longe
no
is
bility
Disa
.
osals
fashi oning reform prop
r
a matte r of chari ty, or even civil right s, but a facto
ether
y--wh
polic
re
welfa
l
socia
drivi ng healt h care and
policy make rs reali ze it or not.
*
DISABILITY INTEREST IN WELFARE REFORM
descr ibe
The phras e "welf are reform " is incre asing ly used to
*
AFDC.
d
a broad restr uctur ing in the "safe ty net" beyon
s,
Targe ts inclu de both entit leme nts-- e.g., SSI, Food Stamp
ams-progr
and Medi caid- -and discr etion ary "soci al welfa re"
e .g., housi ng, nutri tion, etc.
*
ams-Altho ugh not alway s appre ciate d, many of these progr
ilitie s
disab
inclu ding AFDC --are heavi ly used bv peopl e with
ams.
ility progr
--in fact, sever al are essen tially disab
1
:
point
this
trate
illus
ples
Three exam
--SSI :
76% of recip ients are disab led or blind (4.6
milli on perso ns), who recei ve 84% of bene fits
($22 billio n) . The numbe r of disab led SSI
recip ients has grown 44% since 1988.
--MED ICAID :
Altho ugh only 14% of adult s (unde r 65) and
child ren enrol led in Medi caid are disab led
(5.5 milli on), 37% of Medi caid dolla rs are
spent on these indiv idual s ($46 billio n) .
sever e
--FOO D STAMPS: 9.5% of recip ients quali fy becau se of
7% of
ve
recei
disab ility (2.6 milli on)-- they
is a
this
ver,
bene fits ($1.6 billio n). Howe
in
ns
perso
led
conse rvativ e estim ate of disab
led
disab
are
ients
this progra m--19 % of recip
enoug h to be exemp t from work requi reme nts.
Only SSI and Medi caid ident ify recip ients by disab ility
estim ates.
statu s; other progr am numb ers are the best avail able
-
1
-
Page 1 of 3
c021_001_002_023_A1b.pdf
This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas
http://dolearchives.ku.edu
r of
Even "trad itiona l welfar e"--AF DC--s erves a sizab le numbe
2
led.
disab
being
t
repor
rs
mothe
19% of AFDC
disab led.
Among all AFDC mothe rs, 13% have a disab led child, 23%
anoth er family membe r w/dis abilit y.
*
Signi ficanc e: 0nder both curren t work rules for AFDC
recip ients and most reform propo sals (Repu blican and
Democ rat) , disab led women and those with a disab led family
In total, this
membe r are exemp t from work requir ement s.
-shar ply
ientsrecip
AFDC
group might compr ise 35% of
s.
limiti ng the impac t of reform
IMPAC T ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
First, as you know, people with disab ilitie s are among the
*
poore st Ameri cans, depend heavi ly on govern ment assist ance,
and would almos t certai nly be affect ed by cuts. As you
noted in your 25th anniv ersary floor statem ent on April
14th, "Acco rding to a 1992 GAO study, 45% of famil ies headed
by a person with a disab ility, and 65% of single paren ts or
single person s with a disab ility, live in pover ty."
But at the same time, reform s mav offer somet hing to peopl e
w/dis abilit ies--a nd to flatly exemp t them from reform s might
For examp le, some
exclud e them from impor tant new servic es.
oppor tuniti es.
aining
ent/tr
placem
job
new
propo sals create
statem ent:
ersary
anniv
25th
your
in
As you also stated
--"The re is no caree r ladde r for Socia l Secur ity recip ients.
The lesson here is simple : for people with disab ilitie s, as
for most Ameri cans, workin g is essen tial to a decen t incom e.
We need to help people get off the disab ility check and onto
a paych eck."
--"Bo th Repub lican and Democ ratic welfa re propo sals
gener ally exemp t [the disabl ed] from reform s. We mean well,
I know, but I fear we are doing these indivi duals no favor. "
IMPAC T ON THE STATES
There are many unkno wns--b ut may create big new costs for
*
the States .
*
For examp le, CONTRACT WITH AMERICA'S Person al Respo nsibil ity
Act places tight caps on SSI growth and makes SSI spend ing
50% of SSI
discre tionar y rathe r than an entitl emen t.
If
retard ed.
lly
menta
or
ill
disab led are eithe r menta lly
N.B. Self-r eport by AFDC mothe rs (not physi cal exam) .
Howev er, if disab ilitie s were severe , it might be expec ted these
r
indivi duals would apply for SSI--s ince SSI payme nts are highe
ed.
requir
is
match
no
than AFDC, and States like SSI becau se
2
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Page 2 of 3
c021_001_002_023_A1b.pdf
This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas
http://dolearchives.ku.edu
l SS! cut s (rat her than
pas sag e of this Act resu lted in rea
to mak e up the cos ts for
cut s in grow th) , Sta tes mig ht hav e
the deb acle tha t
this hig hly vul ner able gro up- -or face
-fis ted revi ews led to
occ urre d in the ear ly 198 0's whe n ham
ped from the Soc ial
hun dred s of thou sand s of pers ons drop
retu rne d und er cou rt
Sec urit y dis abi lity roll s--a nd then
e une xpe cted
Eve n cap s on prog ram grow th cou ld hav wit h
ord ers.
ple
mov e peo
eff ect s--e .g., dela y Sta te plan s to to sma ller , com mun itys
tion
titu
ins
e
larg
dis abi liti es from
bas ed resi den ces .
NEX T STEPS
s of var iou s
I am pre par ing a mor e det aile d ana lysi the 10 bil ls of the
*
p;
pro pos als- -inc lud ing Kas seba um' s swa atio ns of the
Con trac t with Am eric a; and reco mm end
men ts and Tax Refo rm.
Ker ry/D anfo rth Com miss ion on Ent itle
For exam ple, is
nee d to dev elop orig ina l pro pos als.
also
We
*
eral resp ons ibil ity? If
SS! mor e pro per ly a Sta te than a Fed
oth er prog ram s?
so, mig ht this mak e a bet ter swa p than num ber of
the
Con side r tha t betw een 1985 and 1993
ing onto the SS! role s
ind ivid ual s with men tal diso rde rs com mil lion per son s. The
1
grew by 150 per cen t, or by mor e than
abi liti es on SS!
dis
larg e num ber of pers ons with men tal
a lon gsta ndi ng
been
had
ref lec ts a Fed era liza tion cf wha t
sta te res pon sib ilit y.
nee ds atte ntio n, ple ase
If the re is any spe cifi c issu e tha t
*
let me know .
cc:
She ila Bur ke
Nel son Roc kef elle r
Dav id Tay lor
Mik e Tor rey
ee.
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c021_001_002_023_A1b.pdf