Social Welfare Law Commons^™

Pro Bono Publico Representation Of The Poor: The Good As Enemy Of The Best, Rob Atkinson

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

The Pro Bono Priority: The University Of Michigan's Approach To Instilling Public Service, Robert E. Precht, Suellyn Scarnecchia

Articles

The Pro Bono Priority is a two-part feature on pro bono service in Michigan law schools. in Crossing the Bar, the column of the Legal Education Committee, Dolores M. Coulter discusses how Michigan law schools measure up to the recommendations made in Learning to Serve, the report of the Commission on Pro Bono and Public Service Opportunities from the Association of American Law Schools. In the Access to Justice column, Robert E. Precht and Suellyn Scarnecchia focus specifically on the University of MichiHgan's unique approach to pro bono service.

Continuity And Contradiction In The Theory And Discourse Of Dependence, Brigid Kennedy-Pfister

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The terms “dependence” and “independence” have historically been used as status makers in social and political discourse in the United States. As various groups and individuals have pursued particular political goals, they have used and defined those terms in diverse ways and attached different meanings and connotations to them. The category of “dependent” in particular has been transformed from a term that at one time marked a natural condition in which certain groups existed, to a term that today defines a social problem. This article describes the content of, and the reasons for this transformation. The author concentrates upon dependency …

Beyond Economically Targeted Investments: Redefining The Legal Framework Of Pension Fund Investments In Low-To-Moderate Income Residential Real Estate, Alec Sauchik

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note first presents the socioeconomic theory underlying the concept of ETIs and outlines the scope of trustees' fiduciary obligations to plan participants when making investments in residential real estate. It also analyzes relevant case law pertaining to fiduciary duties of pension fund trustees. Next, it compares two conflicting views on the legality of economically targeted investments. Finally, it argues that although the legal framework applicable to the fiduciary obligations of pension fund trustees is inadequate to fully address all challenges to the legality of ETIs, pension fund investments in low-to-moderate income residential real estate can be reconciled with the …

Unemployment Insurance And Wealth Redistribution, Gillian Lester

Faculty Scholarship

This Article evaluates the merit of liberalizing unemployment insurance eligibility as a means to achieve progressive wealth redistribution-an idea that has recently gained popularity among policymakers and legal scholars. Unemployment insurance (UI) provides temporary, partial wage replacement to workers who suffer unexpected job loss, but it tends to exclude workers who have very low wages or hours of work, or who quit for reasons considered "personal" (for example, to accommodate family demands). Professor Lester argues that while redistribution to workers who are poor or who have caregiving obligations is a desirable goal, expanding UI is a poor way to do …

Bonus Impacts On Receipt Of Unemployment Insurance, Paul T. Decker, Christopher J. O'Leary, Stephen A. Woodbury

Upjohn Press Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Child Care For Families Leaving Temporary Assistance For Needy Families, Rebecca L. Scharf, Sujatha Jagadeesh Branch, Cynthia Godsoe, Sherry Leiwant, Roslyn Powell, Cary Lacheen

Scholarly Works

Since Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program in 1996, the welfare rolls have decreased by more than 40 percent. While unemployment and poverty rates have declined, families who leave welfare generally earn low wages and remain below the poverty level. Because families leaving welfare are mostly single mothers with young children, child care is critical to their ability to work outside the home. Low-income parents trying to make ends meet, as well as employers of low-wage workers, emphasize the importance of appropriate, affordable child care in enabling women who leave welfare …

The Market For Medical Ethics, Maxwell Gregg Bloche

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

At the core of Kenneth Arrow’s classic 1963 essay on medical uncertainty is a claim that has failed to carry the day among economists. This claim—that physician adherence to an anti-competitive ethic of fidelity to patients and suppression of pecuniary influences on clinical judgment pushes medical markets toward social optimality—has won Arrow near-iconic status among medical ethicists (and many physicians). Yet conventional wisdom among health economists, including several participants in this symposium, holds that this claim is either naïve or outdated. Health economists admire Arrow’s article for its path-breaking analysis of market failures resulting from information asymmetry, uncertainty, and moral …

A Conversation On Federalism And The States: The Balancing Act Of Devolution, Peter B. Edelman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

If you consider whether there might be a national definition of benefit levels in welfare, you might well ask whether there is a state-by-state difference in people's needs. There are some regional differences in cost of living, but, otherwise, you eat, you need shelter, and so on. The history of disability policy is very interesting in this regard because from 1935 until 1972 (apart from the addition of social security disability in the 1950s), disability was handled as a welfare category. There were separate welfare programs for the aged, blind, and the disabled, and they were structured the way Aid …

Poverty And Welfare Policy In The Post-Clinton Era, Peter B. Edelman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This is an important time to talk about people in need. There have been major changes recently in public policy toward those in need, and we have seen enough of their effect to be able to discuss the next steps. We have a new President and Congress. A recession is looking more probable by the day. And the 1996 welfare law is coming up for reauthorization in 2002. So this is a good time to look at how we are doing and what we need to do.

Welfare, Children And Families: The Impact Of Welfare Reform In The New Economy, Georgetown University Law Center

Philip A. Hart Memorial Lecture

In 2001, University Professor, William Julius Wilson of Harvard University, delivered the Georgetown Law Center’s twenty-first Annual Philip A. Hart Memorial Lecture: "Welfare, Children and Families: The Impact of Welfare Reform in the New Economy."

William Julius Wilson is Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University. He is one of only 20 University Professors, the highest professional distinction for a Harvard faculty member. After receiving the Ph.D. from Washington State University in 1966, Wilson taught sociology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, before joining the University of Chicago faculty in 1972. In 1990 he was …

The Road From Welfare To Work: Informal Transportation And The Urban Poor, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Journal Articles

Individuals struggling to move from welfare to work face numerous obstacles. This Article addresses one of those obstacles: lack of transportation. Without reliable transportation, many welfare recipients are unable to find and maintain jobs located out of the reach of traditional forms of public transportation. Professor Garnett argues that lawmakers should remove restrictions on informal van or jitney services, allowing entrepreneurs to provide low-cost transportation to their communities. This reform would not only help people get to work, but it could also provide jobs for low-income people.

The Current Life Insurance Crisis: How The Law Should Respond, Kyle D. Logue

Articles

This article explores some of the issues raised by the new evidence of underinsurance. Part I explores the initial theoretical question: why do people buy life insurance? Put differently, what function does life insurance serve? Part II provides some background on the life insurance market as it currently exists. Thus, Part II summarizes the major types of life insurance that are currently offered and summarizes the main elements of the current regulatory regime for life insurance companies. Part III then provides support for the claim that households tend to drastically underconsume life insurance. Section A of that Part summarizes the …

Taking Care, Katherine M. Franke

Faculty Scholarship

Care must be taken when human needs are expressed in the odd dialect of legal rights. This delicate act of translation – from private need to public obligation – demands acute sensitivity to the ways in which public responsibility inaugurates a new and complex encounter with a broad array of public preferences that deprive dependent subjects of primary stewardship over the ways in which their needs are met. Both Martha Fineman and Joan Williams have taken on the difficult project of making the ethical and political case for transforming dependency and care – from private or domestic need to public …