[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 120 (Friday, September 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1705]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SUCCESSFUL WELFARE REFORM IN WELD COUNTY, COLORADO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB SCHAFFER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 11, 1998

  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, during the most recent 
district work period I heard from Walt Speckman, Executive Director of 
the Division of Weld County Human Services about the success of welfare 
reform in Weld County, Colorado. Mr. Speckman believes that in twenty 
years, welfare will be a distant memory. He is optimistic and he and 
his staff are working to eliminate welfare and put people to work. Weld 
County is changing lives by helping people to break out of the cycle of 
dependency and despair. Already, the welfare case load has dropped 43%, 
making Weld County one of the most successful counties in the country.
  Those remaining in the system fall into three different categories: 
children, the temporarily unemployed, and the hard-to-serve. Of the 
children, many are descendants of illegal aliens. As you know, all 
children born in this country, even those born to illegal aliens, enjoy 
American citizenship. The parents are not allowed work and their 
children receive welfare payments. Many of these immigrants do work and 
their children do not need welfare, however they cannot admit as much 
to agency officials and so the checks continue to be processed.
  Of the hard-to-serve clients, most are physically or mentally 
disabled, caring for sick family members, new mothers, or severely 
challenged in some other way. The list is daunting, yet Mr. Speckman 
remains confident that his agency can find employment for these 
individuals or help them receive federal help for their disability. It 
will take a few years and the Welfare Act needs some fine tuning, but 
he is ready for the challenge. While some counties may be content to 
permanently exempt part of their population, Weld County has set out to 
improve the lives of all. Weld County sets an example for the nation.
  Additionally, I would like to thank Walt Speckman and Linda Perez for 
their time and for their commitment to improving the lives of people in 
Weld County.

                          ____________________