Position:

Catholic social teaching emphasizes the dignity of the human person and the protection of poor and vulnerable persons whose human dignity is most at risk. We support welfare reform that protects children, strengthens families and helps able-bodied parents to work at living wages.

Should the Church help implement welfare reform?

Yes, we need to continue our tradition of walking with the poor, but we must not compromise our preferential option for the poor or take on tasks that fall to government as promoter of the common good. In short, we should cooperate without being coopted. There are many ways that Catholic parishes can help parents move from welfare to work, including: 

• mentoring welfare recipients and helping them to develop job readiness attitudes and skills; 
• providing low-cost, high-quality daycare for children;
• assisting with transportation to jobs until they are able to afford a car; and 
• providing emergency assistance when they encounter special needs. 


There needs to be dialogue between state government and the religious community regarding welfare reform implementation. Too often state Government seems to be telling churches what they need to do with welfare reform. Dialogue might take place at the local level between the local Department of Social Services and area parishes.

Does Church involvement in implementing welfare reform mean that we support all of its provisions?

No. One reason for the Church to walk with the poor during welfare reform implementation is to gain first hand experience of which policies work and which don't. This will give the Church credibility in seeking to improve aspects of the welfare system that do not serve the needs of the poor. What does the Church support and oppose (or have concerns about) in Virginia's welfare reform?

The Church Supports:

• the goal of moving people from welfare to work.
• providing transitional child care and health care (Medicaid) benefits after employment is secured (These services are essential to employment.);
• increasing the earned income disregard allowing employed recipients to keep benefits if their employment leaves them below the poverty line;
• allowing recipients to retain savings for education and housing and a reliable automobile;
• emergency assistance to divert families experienc-ing short term crises from going on welfare;
• promoting reasonable efforts to establish paternity and to collect child support payments from the non-custodial parent; and
• providing welfare benefits to two-parent families on the same basis as one-parent families.

The Church Opposes (or is concerned about):

• forcing people out of educational programs so that they can go to work within 90 days;
• the one-year limit on transitional child care and health care which might leave parents unable to work (The Church favors a gradual phase out of these subsidies as income rises.);
• poverty level wages and supports adopting a State Earned Income Tax Credit to subsidize poverty level wages after welfare benefits cease;
• requiring families to give up 6 months of welfare eligibility to receive emergency assistance equal to 4 months of benefits;
• inflexible paternity establishment requirements that cut off benefits when a recipient is making a good faith effort to comply;
• absolute time limits on benefits that do not allow for exceptions if a person cannot find a job; and
• denying benefits to children conceived after a family is receiving welfare (The family cap punishes children for the actions of their parents and increases abortions.).