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Reforming welfare can restore opportunity and renew hope

Opportunity.

For many, this word inspires hope for the future. Unfortunately, for others–including some of the nearly 10,000 families living below the poverty line in Luzerne County–it’s a word that can seem too good to be true.

This is an unacceptable tragedy.

As a longtime employer in the recruiting and staffing industry in Northeast Pennsylvania– and having led the OneSource Companies, an HR solutions provider, for 27 years–I’m passionate about seeing people find meaningful work. I’ve watched countless individuals improve their lives by moving from unemployment or underemployment to fulfilling careers. Sadly, I’ve also seen far too many job opportunities go unfilled–while thousands of people desperately want to work.

What’s the problem?

Instead of helping Pennsylvanians rise from poverty, many well-intentioned government programs trap people in cycles of dependency, robbing them of opportunity–and, worse, of hope. While individuals crave the dignity and self-reliance that come with work, the system discourages them, often slashing help at the first signs of independence and leaving many wondering if a better life is only a pipe dream.

Our friends and neighbors deserve better.

Through my work at OneSource and now at i2M, a manufacturing company in Mountain Top, I’ve come firmly to believe the best recipe for reducing poverty is a robust economy combined with a welfare support system that rewards work.

This belief is rooted in results not theory.

We must first recognize the current system isn’t working.

Although 40 cents, of every tax dollar sent to Harrisburg funds human services, this money is not used efficiently or helping those who need it most. In fact, our poverty problem is worsening. In 2015, 23,000 more Pennsylvania families fell below the poverty line compared with 2010. Instead of providing a path out of poverty, our system is trapping Pennsylvanians in a debilitating cycle that deprives individuals of opportunity and their dignity.

Yet, history clearly shows we really help welfare participants more by prioritizing work than by discouraging it.

The “work-first” state welfare reforms of the 1990s helped millions of people move into the labor force and dramatically reduced the number of children living in poverty. Its little wonder these reforms earned widespread praise and they worked – unlike today’s approach.

More recently, states have begun launching a new wave of work-first welfare efforts, with dramatic results. Just look at Kansas, which improved its food stamp program by strengthening work requirements for able-bodied adults. As a result, Welfare recipients’ incomes rose quickly. The facts show, on average, individuals gained $3,000 in income with an offset of only $2,000 in lost benefits–a significant net increase. What’s more, 60 percent of those leaving food stamps found employment within the first year, and overall use of food stamps dropped by 75 percent.

As state lawmakers and our Governor evaluate ways to reimagine our welfare system, they should embrace similar reforms. I think we all realize the true measure of success of any welfare system is not by the number of people dependent on the system but by the number of people who use the assistance as a bridge from dependency to self-sufficiency.

For too long, I’ve seen our broken system trap too many people in cycles of poverty. For too long, I’ve seen jobs go unfilled because of a system that discourages work. But I’ve also seen the renewed hope and optimism people experience when they take pride in their work.

In 2010, our state’s poverty rate was 12.4 percent. By 2015, it had risen to 13.5 percent. It’s time to reverse this trend. Opportunity does not have to be a pipe dream. It can become reality for thousands of Pennsylvanians who want a true path out of poverty. Indeed, it’s time for Pennsylvania to make it a reality.

Hackett, a Shavertown resident, is the president of The OneSource Companies.

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