WROC helps low-income parents receiving public assistance with
problems involving the system; works to improve their access to education and
job training; and organizes them into
welfare-rights groups that educate leaders as well as the public at
large.
WROC began in 1984 when women in North Seattle met with women in Central and South Seattle to compare how they were being treated at their respective welfare offices. They learned that each was being badly treated and given poor information about the programs and services available to them. They decided to join together for:
Accomplishments
By coming together, WROC members are able to protect their needs in many ways.
They have:
Current programs
WROC has three programs, explained in detail below:
WROC organizes parents to ensure that low income women who use public assistance have a voice in the on-going debate about welfare. They also need to be involved in how agencies implement changes made in law or regulation.
WROC organizes low income parents into welfare rights groups. These groups are located in four areas of King County: Central and West Seattle, East and South King County. Parents come together for the same reasons WROC began: Self help, support and activism. They meet monthly and talk about issues that affect them personally and politically They meet with office administrators and staff from parts of the Department of Social and Health Services, such as Child Support, that affect their families. They also talk about the politics of welfare and what they can do to affect state and national proposals.
WROC uses various outreach methods to involve people in the welfare rights groups. Each group develops its own outreach plan, based on where they live and how they think they can best reach low income parents. Current group members hold information tables at their local welfare offices to inform more people about WROC and the welfare rights groups. They also give out information at food banks in their area. We have found that personal contact is the best outreach tactic.
Welfare rights groups provide support and self help for WROC members as well as the foundation of skill building. They form WROC's base, from which we develop leaders to participate in the organization and constituents to meet with policy makers and testify at hearings.
While WROC has focused its organizing in the Seattle and King County area, recipients in other parts of the state have asked for help in organizing groups in their areas. We have developed a training book, guidelines for groups and share activist strategies with these women. We have also committed phone assistance and one or two visits a year.
Leadership development
Leadership development also occurs in WROC's Policy Committee. WROC's Policy Committee brings together women who want to focus on the policies that affect them. Some are also members of welfare rights groups, others just participate in the Policy Committee. The Policy Committee took the lead on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day events. They organize a phone tree that has four branches with 12 to 16 people each. Most importantly, they educate themselves about how government works, basic economics, welfare policies and how to work with the media. They also hold workshops for the general membership on the same topics. If block grants become a reality, their input is essential into what kind of public assistance system this state will create.
Parents who currently receive public assistance and those who survived the welfare system are the best group to change public opinion about welfare. They know what works and what doesn't. They also know that poverty is the problem, not some moral decay common to low income single families. The Policy Committee can take the lead in creating a plan to educate the general public, who can act as allies when talking with policy makers. They also need to educate current recipients so they donŐt fall into accepting the stereotypes. WROC also plans to develop materials, a speaker's bureau and a presentation that parents can use to affect public opinion.
Graduates leave the program girded with a potent sense of personal empowerment and focus. They have an arsenal of change management tools and a solid commitment to personal and self-sufficiency goals. However, it is also after graduation that these people meet the challenge of sustaining their newly acquired and fragile sense of motivation, without the regular support of their classmates and instructor. Members are encouraged to attend the welfare rights groups for support and information.
At the same time, we want to talk with other welfare rights groups around the country to compare notes about what works and what doesn't. Our social welfare system and our legislators are looking at programs in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and New Jersey. We need to know how these programs are working from the parent point of view. WROC members are participating in various discussions as we develop a strategy to deal with the governor, social welfare agency and legislators. Concurrently, we are working with a statewide effort to make sure that more low income people are registered for next year's election, that they understand their economic interests and that they vote.
Stories of people dealing with the welfare system
Select
here to learn more about the system through the words of people who experience it firsthand.