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click image for full size Other articles in Part 4 A brief history of public policy State agencies lead government efforts State Report Card says we have a long way to go toward prosperity for all Private organizations are important players Related links Oregon Health Plan- Frequently Asked Questions Oregon Department of Human Services Oregon Center for Public Policy Oregon Bluebook on-line, Executive Dept. Oregon On-line

State agencies lead government efforts story by Carol Savonen The Oregon Strategy for Social Support, a program administered through the Governor's Healthcare, Human Services and Labor Office, provides overall policy direction on issues relating to poverty. It requires that education, workforce and social support investments by the state be carefully balanced and coordinated to be most effective in making Oregonians as self sufficient as possible. Many of these state investments support programs that serve families and individuals who are poor, including: Department of Human Services The Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) is the primary state agency that addresses the effects of poverty in the state. It is an "umbrella" agency that manages more than 200 programs to help Oregonians become self-sufficient, healthy and safe. DHS serves Oregonians through public agencies, hospitals and other providers to: provide assistance to the poor find and train people for jobs provide vocational rehabilitation help those with physical or mental disabilities or mental illness provide public health services, including Medicaid, alcohol and drug-abuse treatment and mental health treatment. Examples of DHS programs in action: The Oregon Health Plan supports basic medical, mental and dental health services for low-income Oregonians. Since the Health Plan was enacted in 1989, the percentage of Oregonians with health insurance rose from 83 percent in 1993 to 89 percent in 1997. In addition, uninsured hospital care dropped by 30 percent, reducing cost shifting to other patients, and Oregonians no longer have to sign up for welfare to receive medical coverage, contributing to a drop in welfare case loads. The Oregon Health Plan and other medical assistance programs serve about 350,000 Oregonians. Adult and Family Services Division includes: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), or what people typically think of as "welfare," helps Oregon families become more self-sufficient. It provides temporary cash benefits up to $503 a month for a family of three. Approximately $6.5 million are distributed each month to about 17,000 Oregon families. Less than 12 percent of the poor in Oregon receive TANF, according to Adult and Family Services. Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) is Oregon's "welfare-to-work program." Its purpose is to enable Oregonians receiving TANF to find permanent, self-sustaining employment. JOBS places an average of 1,500 people in jobs each month, at a starting wage of $7.08 per hour. More than 75 percent of the jobs are full-time. A majority of the workers placed in jobs remained off welfare 18 months after finding work and the number is increasing, according to Adult and Family Services. As part of the JOBS Program, teen parents are required to complete their high school education. About 93 percent of Oregon's teen parents return to school to earn high school diplomas or a G.E.D.-the highest rate in the nation. The Food Stamp Program helps supplement food budgets for low income working families, those on public assistance, seniors and people with disabilities. In April 1999, 110,100 households in Oregon received food stamps with an average amount of $150 per household. The Oregon Child Support Program helps families obtain child support payments from non-custodial parents. This program expects to collect $536 million in child support payments in 1999. Other Department of Human Services (DHS) programs and divisions that address poverty-related issues in Oregon include: The Oregon Health Division The Oregon Mental Health Division Services to Children and Families Office of Alcohol and Drug Programs Senior and Disabled Services Division In addition to the DHS programs mentioned above, many other departments and agencies in state government directly address poverty-related issues, including: Department of Housing and Community Services This department works with public and private partnerships to administer programs that provide low income housing, rental subsidies, homeless programs, weatherization, energy assistance and food bank support. The Oregon Department of Education This department includes the federally-funded Head Start Program, Oregon Pre-Kindergarten Migrant Head Start and Early Intervention Programs as well as the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Work Force Development. The Oregon Commission on Children and Families This is the largest umbrella advocacy group for children and families in Oregon. Programs administered include Great Start, Court Appointed Special Advocate, Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Programs, Student Retention Initiative and Oregon Healthy Start for first time families. Other state agencies with poverty-related responsibilities include the Oregon Employment Department, the Criminal Justice Services Division and the Juvenile Correction Education Program. Are state programs effective? "Our biggest success, hands down, is the success that we have had helping people move from welfare to work," said Jim Neely, Deputy Administrator for Oregon's Adult and Family Services Division in Salem. The TANF caseload has dropped nearly 60 percent over the past five years, said Neely. Oregon had the most significant results among 11 welfare-to-work programs studied across the country, he said. "Oregon's program members got better jobs, on average. The Oregon program increased job quality." The Oregon JOBS program stands out as a national success, according to Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, a leading national welfare research corporation. It concluded that Oregon's JOBS program "produced effects on employment, earnings and welfare receipt that were among the largest ever found for large-scale mandatory programs." Has the poverty rate gone down in Oregon "The poverty rate has not really dropped in Oregon during the past decade," said Charles Sheketoff, director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy, a private non-profit group in Silverton that analyzes government welfare policy activity. "There are more poor people in Oregon than ever because our population has gone up and the rate hasn't dropped." The biggest problem with poverty in Oregon, according to Sheketoff, is that there is no one agency responsible for reducing poverty. "The buck doesn't stop anywhere. There's no one group responsible for failure or success. People just shrug their shoulders. No one accepts responsibility," he said. "There isn't even a clearly coordinated effort to reduce poverty, even though Oregon has a benchmark goal to reduce poverty. The failure to reduce poverty is not a failure of state government, argues Clara Pratt, OSU professor of family studies. "There have been successes, but we have a long way to go," said Pratt. "State agencies and policies are important positive influences, but they don't control all the causes of poverty, such as the global economy, changing technologies that displace workers, personal and family choices or circumstances that increase vulnerability, or gender and racial inequity and other factors." "Individuals, communities, businesses, investors, employers, educators, taxpayers, non-profit organizations and government must increase their commitment to reducing the causes of poverty, not just treat the after-effects."   Article 2 of 4 in Part 4   back to top

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