Wednesday, May 15, 1996

Sharp Unveils Private, Public Effort to End Welfare

By JUAN B. ELIZONDO
Associated Press

AUSTIN - State Comptroller John Sharp on Tuesday unveiled the Family Pathfinder program, saying the government could do more for people on welfare by working with civic, church and business organizations.

Sharp named 47 members of an advisory committee, which will direct the program.
He said participating organizations, including the Lions Club, various religious congregations and the Rotary Club, will adopt families on Aid to Families with Dependent Children. He said they will pledge to do whatever possible to get them off public assistance.

"Too often, the sole responsibility for welfare reform is left to governments," Sharp said.
"Family Pathfinders places civic clubs, congregations and businesses on the front lines of welfare reform and complements the work these organizations already do by helping them target specific families with the kind of one-on-one personalized assistance no government can provide."

Sharp said few state dollars would go into the program. He said one person from his office will be paid to work on the project and some other money will come from his political action committee.
There were 748,178 Texas families on AFDC in the last fiscal year, according to the Department of Human Services. None would be required to participate in the program.

Lucy Todd, the program director, said the advisory group will meet next month and will begin training volunteers this summer. She said the first family could be adopted before the end of the summer.

"I would visualize that the Lions Club adopts a family. Somebody in that Lions Club is a dentist who says I want to help out," Sharp said. "I think what we're talking about is the endless possibilities of networks and the kinds of folks that are in these civic organizations, in these clubs and in these businesses."

Sue Thornton, executive director of Texas Impact, a network of Protestant, Greek Orthodox and Jewish churches, said in church groups, there will be no church and state separation problems.

"Most folks who are committed to trying to help poor people who are involved in some church activity realize that the way you begin to address their spiritual needs is to take care of their physical needs first. Then they have the choice at a later point in time about how they may want to participate in that or not," she said.

Bishop John McCarthy, of the Catholic Diocese of Austin, added that churches are not the only groups joining the effort.

"We're talking about the totality of the community," he said. "We're trying to get as many existing, well-established entities as possible involved and concerned about this specific person."

Sharp's announcement comes nearly two weeks after Gov. George W. Bush announced a task force to study how faith-based community services could help the state help Texans in need.

Sharp said the issue has been studied enough. "We have studied welfare reform intensively .... We think it is time to act," he said.