The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1952-04-04
Questions ACCESSIBILITY of
Rep. Workings Proposal On
Publishing Names of Aged
To the Editors, ROMAN PIONEER,


the statements, Park county'S Rep
Paul working has urged that relief
rolls be made public" and "the measure
he will introduce in the 1853 Legislature
deserves full support.
Such a practice is intended to stop
"chiseling'' and the proof" is given in
Illinois and Indiana figures indicating
drops of and 14.5% in relief rolls af-
ter the latter were no longer secret
do not challenge the percentages, but
there are usually numerous factors
contributing to such a decrease-a
broadened Old Age and Survivors In
surance (Social Security; more en-
ployment for the able bodied, for two
examples.
To go back a bit. The Federal Social
Security Act has provided federal help
to states in their administration of
various programs of public assistance
Aid to Dependent Children, Old Age
Assistance, Blind Aid, and now the tot
ally disabled-proVided those states
met certain minimum standards. One
of these required that the receivers of
aid not be public spectacles. Any state
abusing recipients right to privacy
lost the help of federal funds. This
actually happened in Indiana last year.
Then came the Federal Revenue Act
of 1851 and the now famous Jenner
Amendments since enacted into law
it's own legislation, without giving up
federal funds, may publish names and
addresses of all persons receiving pub
lie assistance together with the
amounts they receive, just so this in
formation is not put to political or
commercial USE.
AS former social worker, as men,
Der of a tax-paying family since Co
lonial days, and as a direct taxpayer,
income and real estate, for years too
numerous-to mention, 1 should like to
point up some facts and attitudes not
indicated in the editorial.
Who are the people receiving pub
lie assistance ''reIief", the term
so often used contemptuOusIy.
They are families of fathers dead, in
capacitated physically or mentally, or |
deserted with mothers at home caring |
for the children as in the average |
American home.
They are the elderly, those past the |
economically productive age, who have
made their contribution to society and
who have been unable to save enough |
after embarrassing, depression, etc, to
carry them independently throughout
these non-productive years.
They are the children whose natural
families are unable to bring them up,
and no matter what the reason for
this, the children must not be allowed
to suffer unnecessarily. A foster
home usually, an institution sometimes,
is our present answer to these children
deprived of the care of natural par
ents.
They are the totally blind, the total
" sabled. Can or should we expect
these helpless, be they old, very young,
blind or crippled to join the ranks of
the full time employed?
Then there are those receiving gem
eral assistance, the group where more
may be found. When en-
ployment is high, the rolls and amounts
go down. But in this group may be
those persons so whipped by life, per-
sonal and economic, those persons with
skills born in them" that
they cannot stand up in our highly
society and make an am
pie living. Their problems are often
and very complicated. Shall
American children, in these
families suffer still greater humilia-
ton because of liabilities in their par
ents and inadequacies in this highly
society? ,
Another small-town newspaper, this
i'm the middle west, defines the above ,
people with understanding and SYM
pathy CT quote from Arthur j. Alt
meyer, who himself quotes in an article
in the January 1852 SOCIAL WORK 5
JOURNAL. Mr.. Altmeyer is Commits
sioner for Social Security in the Fed
eral Security Agency
''They are not an isolated people. l
They are of us. of our neighbOrhOOds, '
of our churches, Of our schools. They |
are not statistics on n state welfare I
department. report They are
peOpIe-iust good, just as bad, just
as weak, Just strong, just as hon
est, and just as dishonest as people
are at every economic, political and
social level"
AS said before these efforts to make
'elief rolls public are said to reduce n
Undoubtedly there are S
rom time to time some cases of fraud. Il
Welfare administrations do their best, is
With the small-sized staffs you allow 0
hem, to administer funds according to L
aw But state by state the percent il
lges are very low-less than %. Has t
stopped any other kind of W
rhine or msdemeanor? Shall SO or SO L
antilles be humiliated because 1 or 2 n
antilles aren't absolutely truthful d
bout resources? Undoubtedly many t
'ersons in real need would be kept n
rom applying for help if the whole h
own had access to their financial af- W
airs. W
The Bulletin of the Child Welfare b
league of America (Feb. 1852 points n
ut that making names, addresses and r.
Individual money payments matter a
f public knowledge is to invade one a