Efforts to increase access to higher education for needy families — as a means to break out of poverty — are gaining momentum in the Oregon Legislature.
The Oregon House of Representatives unanimously approved House Bill 2450 last week, an effort that would allow welfare-to-work participants to count college as work, helping to fulfill labor conditions under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
The TANF program, an arm of welfare reform implemented in 1996, provides money to low-income families as parents work to become self-sufficient. According to the Oregon Department of Human Services, the objective of the program is to “reduce the number of families in poverty through employment and other community resources.”
Rep. Deborah Kafoury, D-Portland, who helped spearhead efforts in the House, said in a press release that the 1996 TANF reform hurt Oregon’s welfare-to-work participants by halting assistance to those who became involved with long-term education and training programs. This reform, coupled with requirements that TANF recipients must work 40 hours per week to receive funds, reduced the number of welfare-to-work participants in school.
“When the federal government ended the option, many needy TANF recipients found that they couldn’t possibly work 40 hours a week in low-paying jobs and still finish their degrees,” she said in the release. “Consequently, they were forced to quit college, meaning that they could no longer hope to acquire the skills and credentials required for better jobs.”
Before the TANF reform, 44.4 percent of welfare-to-work participants were in education or training programs. After the reform, 27.5 percent of those participants dropped out of the program, according to the Oregon Students of Color Coalition, which has led major lobbying efforts on behalf of the bill.
But with the new “Parents as Scholars” bill, a full-time class schedule would count toward the 40-hour work requirement.
OSCC co-chairwoman Brenda Sifuentez said the bill is important because it will help needy families attend school while working part-time — and they will still qualify for TANF assistance.
“It would increase the access to education for family members,” she said. “If this didn’t pass, what could happen is those parents wouldn’t be able to attend the University, and they’d get stuck with a low-paying job.”
Oregon Student Association spokeswoman Amelie Welden said if the bill passes it would affect about 1 percent of TANF recipients, or 187 families. Of these families, Welden said the bill would mostly give a second chance to many TANF recipients who have been forced out of school after the 40-hour work week requirement.
“It’s more about allowing people to go to school,” she said.
Lonn Hoklin, spokesman for Kafoury, said the bipartisan bill is expected to do well in the Senate, which is its next destination in the lawmaking process.
“We’re very hopeful that the Senate will look at it very favorably,” he said.
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