The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996: Implications for Hispanic Migrant Farmworkers’ Access to Federal and State Benefits
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Authors
Lacar, Marvi S.
Issue Date
1997
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
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Abstract
My interest in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) grew out of my summer volunteer work
with Kip Adrian for the Bangor Intercare clinic. In line with my Health Science
major and Spanish minor, I initially intended my Senior Individualized Project
(SIP) to be a study of the problems of access to health care services among
Hispanic migrant farmworkers. However, by helping Kip in conducting EPSDTs
(Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment) at the migrant
daycare centers in Southwest Michigan, I became more interested in the issue
of welfare reforms and the concerns of the migrant workers with regard to the
curtailment of their federal benefits.
My interest in photography arose from opportunities opened by foreign
study and internship programs, which allowed me to capture other “worlds”
beyond the confines of the academe. The photographs accompanying this
report portray various aspects of the migrants’ living conditions during their
transient stay here in Michigan. I share them with the readers in hopes that
they will raise the public’s awareness of the migrants’ concerns. Given,
however, the apprehensions of some respondents in this study, I was limited
to certain boundaries and subjects for these photographs. While a few images
do portray some of the ill conditions at the camps, most are of Lalo (6), Nono
(8), Sha-Sha (2), Janie (15) and Debbie (14)—children with whom I became
friends and who were willing to show me around the camp and the farm.
Migrant workers still remain a disenfranchised group in the American political
system, but ironically, political rhetoric is not yet a concern to these children.
A crew leader once commented that regardless of the grade that I would
get on this paper. . . “ella va pa’rriba, mientras nosotros seguimos así.”* This
paper may never change the welfare system nor enlighten lawmakers;
considering that several studies have already been conducted by various
government agencies, migrant advocates, and other political actors regarding
the implications of the PRWORA. Lawmakers, therefore, are not in the dark on
this issue. Nevertheless, it is my goal to relate the harsh provisions of this Act
with faces, names and stories of people who are adversely affected by the law.
While I may never know how far their stories will go, I hope you as readers will
comprehend the consequences of the Act. Although we may remain aware of
our individual limits, I hope we also begin to acknowledge the potential
strengths that may be gained from combined efforts to mobilize for change.
Description
72 leaves
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