Jennifer Gonnerman

Under the welfare reform law passed by Congress in 1996, welfare recipients may receive benefits for a limited time before being removed from the benefits rolls. In the following viewpoint, Jennifer Gonnerman argues that battered women, many of whom receive welfare benefits, may need more time to become self-sufficient and get off welfare. She asserts that abusers frequently make it difficult for the women they batter to complete their education or find and maintain employment. Therefore, she contends, it is critical that the states adopt a Family Violence Option, which permits abused women to be exempted from the stringent requirements of the new welfare reform law. Gonnerman is a staff writer at the Village Voice, a weekly alternative newspaper in New York City.

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