Lack of skills, education dim success

Work requirements, low pay force some through revolving door of dead-end jobs

By Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News

    SOUTHFIELD — Demetrius Gaskin aspires to succeed on welfare. But like thousands of others, so far he has fallen short.

    Gaskin, 38, of Southfield, is “a cycler” — a person who enters, leaves and re-enters welfare programs, like the state’s Family Independence Program. One study shows as many as 40 percent of recipients nationally are cyclers.

    Gaskin is making his third or fourth attempt in the state’s Family Independence Agency welfare program. He said his big problem has been the lack of work at wages good enough to support him and his 9-year-old daughter, Vanquez.

    “I need something better than the jobs I’ve been able to get (through the program). You can’t get by.”

    Despite the successes of welfare reform amid an expanding economy, some people still fail because of the barriers to employment that have traditionally kept the poor from better lives.

    A low education level and a lack of training have stopped some. Disabilities make it difficult for others. National estimates indicate that 60 percent of welfare recipients have disabilities.

    And behavioral problems continue to play a major role, especially a simple lack of motivation and substance abuse.

    Since October 1994, the welfare cases of 7,360 Michigan residents have been closed because they failed to meet the program’s work requirements, such as working 30 hours a week or attending orientation sessions.

    “As the caseloads get smaller, these are the people who are really struggling,” said Joanne Werdel, a policy analyst for the Center for Civil Justice, a nonprofit law firm in Saginaw. “Many of them cycle through the program, some as often as seven or eight times. They have very low skills and very high needs. But they are forced to work before they get the training and education.

    “And then you have the folks who disappear, who drop out of the program completely,” Werdel said. “They have the most limited skills, they are confused about how the program works and they are frustrated enough to walk away.”

    Werdel said that in welfare offices in Midland and Saginaw, 30 percent of the cases involve people who have cycled through the program six or more times.

    As Congress faces a September deadline for extending the national welfare reform program, much of the debate will likely focus on what can be done to improve it. Critics say more training and education would keep some from failing, and help more of those who succeed to emerge from poverty.

    Employers who hire welfare recipients want good workers with skills who are free of behavioral problems.

    “A lot of our employers say: Do they have the work skills? Do they have the work ethic? Are they drug free?” said Eleanor Josaitis, executive director of Focus:HOPE. “I don’t want to put a label on anybody, but drugs are a problem, for some.”

    Gaskin says he is trying hard not to fail.

    Through a temporary employment service in Detroit, Gaskin recently had some jobs that paid $7 and $8 an hour, sometimes a bit more. But the work was not always available. He says he’s had trouble filling the 30-hour work requirement of the state program, let alone earning enough for a single father.

    And, beginning in January, the state will require 40 hours of work to qualify for cash assistance.

    “It’s an issue. The work hasn’t been regular,” Gaskin says. “I need training. FIA pushes you to get a job as soon as possible, whereas I need a real job.”

    Gaskin is not alone in his struggle. According to a state survey of former recipients who participated in welfare’s Work First employment program, it functions better at locating jobs than either improving job skills or helping recipients find a better-paying job.

    “I want to be a responsible individual, and work,” Gaskin said. “But the opportunities are so difficult.”