FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 1999
Contacts: Vicky Selkowe (414) 384-9094 or (414) 291-9821
Karen Royster (414) 384-9094 or (414) 963-8936
Milwaukee, Wis.—A new study released today by the Institute for Wisconsin's Future (IWF), has found that most Hmong immigrants participating in the state's Wisconsin Works (W-2) program have not gained the job skills, basic education or language ability needed to gain employment. These refugee families are also facing greater hardship under W-2 due to reduced financial assistance. Entitled, The Impact of Welfare Reform on Wisconsin's Hmong Aid Recipients, the study concludes that Hmong families continue to face major obstacles to achieving self-sufficiency (the primary goal of W-2) and calls for W-2 reforms to ensure that the system more adequately meets the needs of this vulnerable population.
"There is a tremendous urgency to these findings because many Hmong W-2 participants will soon hit W-2's two-year cut-off in their benefits but have not gained the skills they need to sustain employment," said Vicky Selkowe, co-author of the study. "Unless the time-limits are extended, these families could be left with no way to support themselves."
The study, based on survey interviews conducted by a Hmong interpreter, reveal that these Hmong W-2 participants face significant barriers to employment. More than 90% read little or no English and 60% have no formal education. Nearly 95% do not have job skills in any of W-2’s targeted employment areas, yet less than 10% of the Hmong W-2 participants surveyed were engaged in skills training or basic education classes through W-2 that might help them overcome these skill deficits. Nine out of ten Hmong participants in W-2 were placed in the program’s subsidized job placement categories. Most were assigned to light assembly or cleaning activities involving little or no skill development.
"If you can't read or write English and the only job preparation you've had through W-2 is make-work assignments, your chances of coping in the marketplace are not very good," Selkowe stated. "The state has failed to provide these participants with the skills needed to achieve the W-2 program's goal of self sufficiency."
Language barriers also limit the ability of Hmong participants to follow W-2 guidelines and succeed in the program. Only 17% of respondents were assigned caseworkers who spoke Hmong, and the overwhelming majority (88%) found the English language materials they received from the W-2 agency difficult to understand. Furthermore, 67% of respondents indicated that they could not reach their caseworker by phone.
"Whether it was the language barrier or an inability to reach W-2 caseworkers by phone, Hmong participants found it very difficult to communicate with W-2 workers," Selkowe noted. "This factor may help explain why there's been such a high drop-out of Hmong participants in the program. Of some 1,200 who started in W-2, only 300 are left."
Federal law, Selkowe notes, requires that any agency receiving federal financial assistance, such as the W-2 program, must take reasonable steps to provide information and services in languages other than English.
Many of the Hmong families surveyed were not able to meet their basic subsistence needs and four out of five respondents feel W-2 has made their family’s life worse. The study notes that 75% of those interviewed indicate that they have less income than under the old AFDC program. More than 50% of Hmong respondents have five or more children under the age of 18, and received at least $766 per month under AFDC. Their income dropped significantly under W-2, which pays all families (regardless of family size) a maximum of $673 in monthly cash benefits. This reduction in income has had a serious impact on Hmong families. One-third of Hmong respondents said they had run out of food in the last three months and 89% said that they did not have enough money to buy the clothing their family needs.
This situation will worsen when they reach W-2's two-year cutoff point. "They're already hurting because their benefits were reduced under W-2," stated Pa Vang of Milwaukee's Hmong American Friendship Association. "And now they're about to see their benefits cut off altogether."
According to Vang, the Hmong population presents special problems for state policymakers. Some 70% of Hmong participants interviewed actually have little or no literacy in their own language (the Hmong were a pre-literate society until the 1950s, when a written form of the language was first created). "It is precisely by studying this population, which may present the greatest challenge for state policymakers, that we can see most clearly the problems with W-2," Vang noted. "Enforcing a two-year cut-off for participants who haven't received the literacy or job training they need simply doesn't make sense."
"Having been forced from their homeland because they supported the United States during the Vietnam War, these are people that should not be shunted aside," Selkowe said. "They are mostly large, two-parent families who want to work."
IWF recommends several changes in W-2 to ensure that it meets the needs of Wisconsin's Hmong population, including:
Offering language assistance through more bilingual staff and interpreters to ensure that Hmong W-2 participants understand program guidelines and can effectively communicate with W-2 caseworkers.
Evaluating the language proficiency of all applicants to ensure that Hmong participants’ W-2 activities include English language assistance;
Expanding educational and technical training opportunities to help Hmong families overcome their significant skill and education deficits;
Extending the two year time limit on W-2 employment placements;
Increasing W-2 cash grant levels for larger families.
The Institute for Wisconsin's Future is a statewide policy research and community education center. IWF was established in 1994 by a coalition of concerned academics, community and religious leaders, labor organizations and business professionals to produce and disseminate analyses of key public policy issues to help citizens make informed decisions in public policy debates.
To receive a copy of the full report, please call IWF at (414) 384-9094.
A summary version of the report and the full report can be obtained on IWF's website, www.wisconsinsfuture.org.
###
» Back to Working Families Press Releases
» Back to Working Families Publications
Home | About IWF | Projects | Publications | News | Contact Us | Links | Search