Evening star., 1944-04-02
Low Payments
ToCut Relief
Ro||sCharged
Welfare Group Uses
Pressure on Clients
D'Alesondro Hears

Chairman D'Alesandro of the
House District subcommittee in
vestigating the municipal welfare
setup made public last night a serie.
of complaints filed with his groul
which included charge that the
public assistance payments are made
inadequate" to induce recipients to
leave the relief rolls.
Along with this was a complaint
that the Board of Public Welfare
had "pressured" its staff to get q
14-year-old child and "even mothers
of young children" to find jobs SO
as to remove them from the rolls.
District Welfare Director Ray
Huff denied the welfare board had
adopted such practices and said he
had no knowledge of any pressure
to get eligible persons off the relief
rolls though he said the welfare
staff sought to aid relief clients
to reach a self-sustaining basis
when conditions permitted.
Source Not Revealed.
The source of the complaints was
not revealed but Mr.. D'Alesandro
said he would 60 further into the
subject when hearings resume after
the Easter recess, on the bill to
transfer the administrative powers
of the welfare board to the Com
missioners.
Among complaints was one that
though Congress last year removed
the ceilings" on the amounts of
relief that might be given per case,
the District first adopted a policy
which "nullified" congressional in
tent and was slow in resembling that
policy even after the Social Security
Board had rejected it.
Director Huff said it was the pol
icy of the Welfare Board and ad-
ministrative staff to meet the es-
sential needs" of all on the assist
ance rolls and keep families together
in their own homes whenever pos
sible.
Two Hardship Cases."
He stressed that while an "aver-
age grant" had been calculated as
budget guide, provision also was
made for care of hardship" cases
where there was no stated limit. In
the first five months of this plan,
he said, there had been only two
Hardship cases."
Quoting from the complaints he
had received Mr.. D'Alesandro said
THE history of the District Wei
fare Agency shows that the indi-
vidual worker has been held re-
sponsible when policies are misin-
terpreted or inadequately carried
out, or none provided"
AS a result, the statement con-
tinued, there appears to be an
emphasis on proving applicants and
recipients ineligible in order to get
people of the relief rolls and to
show the least expenditure possible
OF the monies appropriated for the
feWest number possible.
This negative attitude toward
care and assistance of the needy
is expressed in the restrictions in
excess of the requirements Of the
Social Security Act, imposed by the
Commissioners and the Board of
Public Welfare as regards condi-
tions of eligibility and amount of
payment"
st. Louis, Washington Compared.
Statistical data supplied the
DAlesandro Subcommittee by the
Bureau of Public Assistance, Social
Security Board, included special
comparisons of Washington and St
Louis, since both were Southern
cities Of approximately the same
population.
Annual expenditure per capita
for old age assistance in st. Louis
was placed at $449 as compared
with $1.53 here; for aid to depend
ent children, $113 in st. Louis as
against 81 cents here; and for the
general assistance program. St.
Louis expenditures per capita were
found to be more than twice those
for the District.
For old age assistance, Washing
ton, with "a recipients per 1000
population, stood at the bottom of
the 16 cities listed, which include
New York and other large centers.
st. Louis had 1913 per 1000. Here.
1t was explained that the Federal
retirement system no doubt COW
cred some of the aged in the Dis
trict, but data on such numbers
continuing to live here was lacking
For general assistance cases, the
rate for Washington was placed at
1872 per 100000 population the low
est OF the l6 cities. The st. Louis
rate was 274.