Gautreaux at 40: Race, Class, Housing Mobility, and Neighborhood Revitalization
 
Ten Years After Welfare Reform: Making Work Pay  
 

The Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy
Second Annual Symposium

Friday, April 4, 2008
Northwestern University School of Law
375 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago IL

Ten Years After Welfare Reform: Making Work Pay

We are excited to announce our Spring 2008 symposium, "Ten Years After Welfare Reform: Making Work Pay", which will take place Friday, April 4, at Northwestern University School of Law.

While much of welfare reform in the 1990s focused on moving people off of the welfare rolls and into work, many of those who have entered the work force are still struggling to survive. These individuals are often working multiple jobs, yet are still unable to support their families. The symposium explores the many components, beyond just finding a job, that are necessary in order for individuals to truly become self-sufficient.

One of the issues we will explore is the work supports needed by low-wage workers in order to rise out of poverty, including health insurance, child-care, and stable housing as well as how to improve awareness of and access to these critical programs.

We will also explore ways to enhance the income of low-wage workers through mechanisms like the Earned Income Tax Credit, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, living wage laws, and government funded savings programs. Additionally, our authors will suggest how low-wage workers can avoid high cost financial services and the “credit addiction.”

Finally, we will explore the history of the welfare reform movement, by examining its political and legal origins and by evaluating current and alternative methods of reform.

Thus, in order to encourage people to enter the work force and become independent, society must provide support in order to truly make work pay.

Schedule of the Day’s Events

8:30-9:00 a.m. Light Breakfast Reception

9:00-9:20 a.m. Welcome & Introduction

• David Van Zandt, Dean, Northwestern University School of Law
• David King, Symposium Editor, Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy

9:20-10:20 a.m Improving Income Supports

• Richard K. Caputo, Ph.D., Director, Doctoral Program at Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University (New York)
• Dory Rand, Supervising Attorney, Community Investment Unit, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
• Audra Wilson, Director of Diversity Education and Outreach, Northwestern University School of Law
• Michael van Zalingen, Director of Homeownership Services, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago

Moderator: Michael Sherraden, Ph.D., Director, Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Social Work

10:20-10:30 a.m. Break

10:30-11:30 a.m. Improving Work Supports

• John Bouman, President, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
• Greg J. Duncan, Ph.D., Professor, Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University
• Liz Schott, Senior Fellow, Welfare Reform and Income Support Division, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Moderator: Amy Rynell, Director, Mid-American Institute on Poverty

11:30-12:00 p.m. Tour of Law School and Bluhm Legal Clinic

12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00-1:30 p.m. Keynote Address

• Introduction: Thomas Geraghty, Director, Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law

• Speaker: Julie Nice, Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
"Forty Years of Experimentalism: No Acres and No Mule"

1:30-3:00 p.m. The Past, Present, and Future of Welfare Reform

• Peter B. Edelman, Professor, Georgetown University Law Center
• Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
• Felicia Kornbluh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, History, Duke University
• Julie Nice, Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Moderator: Diana White, Executive Director, Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago

3:00-3:30 p.m. Closing Remarks

• Michael Sherraden, Ph.D., Director, Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Social Work
• Allison Miles-Lee, Editor-in-Chief, 2007-08, Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy
• Sarah Hoffman, Editor-in-Chief, 2007-08, Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy

More Information
Click here to download a biography on our panelists. For more information, please send an email to welfaretowork@law.northwestern.edu.

The papers presented at the Symposium will be published in a special symposium issue of the Journal, forthcoming this fall.

Funding Generously Provided By:
Bluhm Legal Clinic
The Tax Program at Northwestern Law

Funding Also Provided By:
Black Law Students Association
Asian Pacific American Law Students Association
OUTLaw
South Asian Law Students Association
Law School Democrats
Women's Leadership Coalition

Special Thanks to:
Callie Alley, Kris Aziza, Melissa Eubanks, Jessica Higgins, David King, David Lin, Claire Lux, Allison Miles-Lee, Heather Scheiwe, Tina Shang, Sarah Terman, Lynda Tricarico, Hayley Upshaw, Margaret Wakelin, Alicia Weberand the members of the Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy.

Thanks also to:
Tim Jacobs, Faculty Assistant to Len Rubinowitz
Len Rubinowitz, Faculty Advisor, Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy