Cassandra Barham was our People’s Empowerment Coalition of Ohio representative to the national Welfare Research Conference held in Washington, D.C. June 1 – June 3, 2011. She joined with other former and current public assistance mothers to speak out on how America’s threadbare economic safety net for families should be improved in our country. We are proud she had this chance to tell her story to policymakers. The trip was funded through the generosity of Common Counsel Foundation.
Cassandra is a mother of seven and has worked as an advocate for years. Cassandra stated, “I was able to complete my G.E.D. while on public assistnce. Having that income help was essential for me at the time. While on public assistance I was able to participate in a vocational training program to learn a construction trade. Due to a disability, I was unable to further my career goals in the building trades although I would have been paid well doing the same work as men take for granted in the construction work world. Women should have equal opportunities there too and my training proves we can and must continue to break down sexist barriers! Women can be plumbers and carpenters and roofers, too! And we must demand equal pay with men!”
At the conference other women shared similar stories. All the women urged that Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policy be changed to include allowing education (G.E.D., college and vocational training) to count as the full work requirement for as long as it takes for recipients to successfully complete their degrees.
The current TANF policy is very short sighted, putting severe restrictions on how many hours education can count as the work requirement for welfare. Yet if mothers (and fathers) are truly going to leave welfare-and more important poverty- for good it is essential to learn skills and get an education.
Contact Center and the People’s Empowerment Coalition of Ohio are resurrecting an old campaign whose time has come again: WAGES or “Work After Good Education is Success”. A good education and quality job training never go out of style or out of usefulness. “We need jobs that require skills and an education if we are truly going to get out of poverty,” states Cassandra.
