Bill Berkowitz

As a result of the 1996 welfare reform law, tough federal rules have put pressure on states to reduce their welfare rolls and place recipients in jobs. With the goal of increasing efficiency, many states have chosen to hire private contractors to run segments of their welfare programs, such as skills training and job placement. Bill Berkowitz argues in the following viewpoint that contractors are withholding welfare recipients’ access to child care, transportation subsidies, and other services to which they are legally entitled. In addition, these private companies are failing to provide adequate job training or place people in permanent jobs, squandering taxpayer money without public accountability. Berkowitz is an Oakland, California–based writer covering the religious right and related conservative issues.

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