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LAW CONFERENCE LOOKS AT IMPACT OF WELFARE REFORM ON CHILDREN

   COLUMBUS -- While adults are the focus of most discussions on welfare reform, the 1997 law also is changing life for millions of children who are welfare recipients. Experts from around the country will discuss “The Implications of Welfare Reform for Children” March 12-13 at The Ohio State University College of Law, 55 W. 12th Ave.

   The two-day symposium will “focus on those most directly affected by welfare reform but often excluded from the political debate -- children,” according to Katherine Hunt Federle, associate professor of law and director of the Justice for Children Project at the College of Law. “Our goal with this conference is to bring children’s issues back to the public policy debate on welfare reform.”

   For example, the law calls for financial sanctions when the case worker feels the parent isn’t doing enough to find a job. “That penalty can have a significant impact on the child,” says Federle, a conference organizer.

   Federle expects most of the research presented at the conference to show that children have been negatively affected by welfare reform. She says economic consequences for children are most severe in cities with sluggish economies. She is among three Ohio State professors scheduled to speak at the conference.

   Speakers will examine the legal, medical, economic, health and policy ramifications of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (the Welfare Reform Act). Most speakers will be available to reporters after their presentations. A symposium schedule is on the back of this release.

   The Justice for Children Project, an educational and interdisciplinary research initiative at The Ohio State University College of Law, and the Ohio State Law Journal are organizing the symposium.

CONTACT: Liz Cutler Gates, College of Law, 614-292-0283

Conference Schedule:
The Implications of Welfare Reform on Children

Friday, March 12

1:30 Welcome: Conference Editor, Katherine Hunt Federle
1:40 Introduction: Gregory H. Williams, One Boy’s View of the Welfare System

2:00 Panel I: Political and Structural Consequences of Welfare Reform for Children
Thomas Gais, The New Management Systems for Welfare – And Their Implications for Children
Charles Adams and Miriam Wilson, Welfare Reform and the Devolution Revolution in Ohio
Peter Edelman, Welfare Reform: Can We Get It Right Before the Crunch Comes?

3:45 Panel II: Welfare Reform and the Juvenile Courts
Katherine Hunt Federle, Dependency, Delinquency, and Child Welfare
Catherine Ross, From Indenture to Adoption: Sources of Confusion About the Meaning of the Foster Family
Susan Mangold, Protection and Privatization: The Role of For- Profit Providers in the Child Welfare System
Naomi Cahn, Reunification versus Adoption: Dissolving the Dichotomy for Poor Children in the Abuse and Neglect System

Saturday, March 13

9:00 Panel III: The Welfare of Children After Welfare Reform
Sara Rosenbaum, Reassessing Medicaid After Welfare Reform
Lauren Rich, The Economic Boom, Welfare Reform and Child Welfare: Does a Rising Tide Raise All Boats?
Mary Corcoran, Welfare, Children, and Food Insufficiency

10:45 Panel IV: Rethinking Welfare and Reform
Mark Real, Making Welfare Reform Work With a New Governor
Leroy Pelton, Welfare Discrimination and Child Welfare

Symposium Speakers
Charles Adams, Jr., Professor, School of Public Policy and Management, The Ohio State University
Naomi Cahn, Professor, George Washington University Law School
Mary Corcoran, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Michigan
Peter Edelman, Professor, Georgetown University Law Center
Katherine Hunt Federle, Professor and Director, Justice for Children Project, The Ohio State University
Thomas Gais, Professor, Rockefeller Institute of Government and Director, Federalism Research Group, State University of New York at Albany
Susan V. Mangold, Professor, School of Law, State University of New York at Buffalo.
Leroy Pelton, Professor and Director, School of Social Work, Greenspun College of Urban Affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Mark Real, Director, Children’s Defense Fund, Ohio
Sara Rosenbaum, Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy, School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University Medical Center
Catherine Ross, Professor, George Washington University Law School
Gregory H. Williams, Dean and Carter C. Kissel Professor of Law, The Ohio State University College of Law
Miriam S. Wilson, Visiting Professor, School of Political Science, Ohio University