A Substitute For Welfare? -- Family Network Illustrates Charity System Envisioned By Conservatives

OLYMPIA - When conservatives picture a better system than welfare, they envision the kind of charity that helped Dorothy Sanders.

Christmas was approaching last year, and Sanders had no money for gifts. A single parent new to the area, Sanders also had no family to turn to.

"I felt alone," she said.

But when neighbors involved in a volunteer network heard of her plight, they showed up at her door. They brought radios for her four teenagers. And when she was alone on Christmas Eve, they called.

"It was like they adopted me into their family," Sanders said.

The help came from an organization called the Family Support Network. Started by Bothell resident Cheryl Honey, the group operates on an old-fashioned principle: neighbors helping neighbors.

About 75 families in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties have signed up with the network, pledging whatever they can offer, whether it be child care, car repair or simply a compassionate ear.

In return, they can tap into the network whenever they need a hand.

"It's a means for families to connect with each other," Honey said.

The group is nonpolitical. But to conservatives, the network illustrates their vision of how social services should operate: minimal government involvement, families helping other families.

The idea has made its way into the welfare-reform proposal pushed by Republicans in the House of Representatives. The plan authored by Rep. Suzette Cooke, R-Kent, would dramatically curtail government aid to the poor, cutting families off welfare after they've been on public assistance for four years.

Critics have called the proposal coldhearted, and the four-year limit is one of the major stumbling blocks separating House and Senate negotiators trying to reach a compromise welfare bill.

Senate Democrats insist that families be allowed to stay on welfare for five years. Gov. Mike Lowry has threatened to veto a time limit, saying that cutting off aid would hurt children in the families.

But Cooke says her plan would set off a social revolution of sorts, ending government's six-decade commitment to help any impoverished family, while spurring communities to do more for the poor.

More families would be involved in their community, Cooke argues, had the welfare system not made them complacent.

"Many people think it's government's responsibility to help people," Cooke said. "They think their role ends when they write out their check for their taxes."

If government aid were curtailed, not only would families fill the gap, but also their help would be more compassionate than government handouts, she believes.

"Having people in your own community extend a hand means so much more than some state worker sitting in an office and writing out a check," Cooke said.

Republicans say a strict time limit would also bring about a second, and they say, nearly as revolutionary, a change. "It would send the clear message we expect people on welfare to become self-sufficient," Cooke said.

Dorothy Sanders says she knows how impersonal government-run programs can be. At a potluck in the suburban home of a member of the network, Sanders talked with the others about taking a sledding trip.

That's something she never did with welfare caseworkers, Sanders said.

"They were like computers," Sanders said, "They're not programmed to hear the human side. If you want to talk to them, you have to take a number and sit in the waiting room for an hour." Being on a part of the network, she said, feels better. She doesn't feel inferior, and she has the opportunity to give back.

"I don't feel like I'm only taking," she said.

Critics of the House welfare plan say that's all well and good. People should get more involved in local charities, they say, but it's a stretch to think charities could pick up the slack if thousands of families were thrown off welfare.

"Where their idea falls down is when you hear the major charities saying they're already bursting at the seams," said Sen. Kevin Quigley, D-Lake Stevens.

Indeed, the House plan is opposed by social services and such religious organizations as the Washington State Catholic Conference. They warn that these services cannot possibly help all those who would need help.

Honey, however, is more optimistic. She believes there are enough families willing to help each other to meet the needs once welfare is gone.

--------------------------------------------------.

Latest on welfare reform:

With less than a week left in their session, legislators remain sharply divided over proposals to limit welfare benefits. The House and Senate scheduled a negotiating session this afternoon on a welfare-reform bill.

Gov. Mike Lowry has threatened to veto any bill he considers harsh for welfare recipients. To avoid a veto, House leaders have talked of placing the question before voters as a referendum in November.

----------------------------------------------------.

To reach the Family Support Network:

Web site: http://www.familynetwork.org/wecare/

E-Mail: wecare@familynetwork.org

Phone: 487-4009