Giuliani: Building His Campaign on the Backs of the Homeless

In his continuing war on the poor, Rudy Giuliani is reviving an old idea: People in homeless shelters need to work to keep their beds. If not, they're out in the street, and if they are parents, their children can be taken away and put in foster care. This policy is set to go into effect just in time for winter. Charles Dickens became famous exposing the horrors of the workhouse in his novels of 19th century England. As we are entering the 21st century, New York City appears to be heading back to Dickens' time.

Getting Tough with People
Who Can't Fight Back

Some 5,000 families with 9,000 children are threatened by this new edict. Most are headed by a single mother and -- surprise -- are overwhelmingly Black and Hispanic. Does that point to why the Mayor is so vigorous in "punishing" them? Most able-bodied adults in homeless shelters receive welfare benefits, which means they are enrolled in WEP. They can lose their cash assistance by not complying with WEP rules. Now Giuliani also wants to thrown them out into the street.

According to the Human Resources Administration, at any one time, approximately 20% of the families are not in compliance with WEP rules. Does this mean that if 20% of shelter families fail to comply with this new decree, 1,000 families è- mostly children -è will be thrown into the streets? The city's record in closing public assistance cases is notoriously bad: about 75% are reversed in fair hearings.

The threat of taking away children by the Administration for Children's Services to be placed in foster care is a sick joke. New York City does a terrible job of protecting children in its foster care facilities. And it has completely failed to prepare foster care youth to leave the system and lead healthy, productive adult lives. Many of the homeless are "graduates" of the city's foster care system.

Affordable Housing Cut

If the Giuliani administration was serious about wanting to help the homeless, it would revive the construction of affordable housing in the city. People coming off of welfare and into minimum wage jobs cannot afford unsubsidized housing in New York City. This is the real reason for most homelessness.

If Giuliani wants to help people make the transition from welfare to work è- not just get them off the rolls è- then he should ensure that transitional benefits like Medicaid, food stamps, and day care are available for those leaving public assistance. Instead, his "job centers" inappropriately close cases, turning away thousands who would qualify for these benefits, making it tougher for them to get and hold a job. These actions prompted a lawsuit and two federal investigations before the city grudgingly agreed to follow the law.

Fortunately, the city has backed off a threat to evict single adults from shelters for noncompliance of work rules. A court hearing on this issue is scheduled for January 7. Families are still in jeopardy, although a 1989 court decision ruled that children cannot be taken into foster care simply because their families are homeless. Nevertheless, this administration has shown itself to be without conscience when dealing with the poor. It acts without thought of the consequences.

Political Ploy

The real reason for this benighted policy is Giuliani's political aspiration. He needs ways to convince far right voters that he is one of them, not a New York City liberal. Of course, he is doing this by getting tough with vulnerable people who can't fight back, but that's vintage Giuliani. His tough guy demeanor masks a tendency to fold before a real fight. Witness the way he's caved in to Governor Pataki's budgets over the years, which have had a devastating effect on New York City.

Nostalgia for old bromides seems to be catching among politicians. Remember Newt Gingrich's idea that the problem of children living in poverty could be dealt with by simply opening more orphanages?

This political ploy must be stopped. The homeless are already in the most desperate situation imaginable. To push them over the abyss for a few upstate votes is indefensible. City officials themselves have voiced the fear that mistakes will be made -è as they were in turning away public assistance applicants earlier this year è- and families will be evicted by error. For years, Giuliani has built his budgets on the backs of the poor. We cannot allow him to build his Senate campaign on the backs of the homeless.

From the New York Amsterdam News
November 4 - 10, 1999