VOL. 23, NO. 24	JUNE 12, 1998

ig cities are at a serious disadvantage under federal welfare reform and the resulting new, unbalanced federalism, according to a new study by Professors Alfred J. Kahn and Sheila B. Kamerman of the School of Social Work.

  The study found that, of the six big cities surveyed, no two were alike in coping with the demands of the new federal policies and revised programs. In every case, the state defined a city’s mission and its taxing capacities. Some cities had an impact on state actions and implementation plans; others did not. Where city and county concerns were ignored by states, efforts at job creation, child care provision, and mobilization of community supports faced major blockage or resource lacks.

  Funded by the Ford Foundation, the report “Big Cities in the Welfare Transition” consists of case studies of six American cities (New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Boston and L.A. County) compiled by a roundtable of city hall personnel, social welfare and health professionals, community development and urban experts, representatives of major national intergovernmental associations and others. The study was conducted during a 2-year period following the 1996 legislative enactments loosely defined as “welfare reform.”

  Unless states deliberately act with the interests of big cities in mind and avoid passing on unfunded mandates, welfare reform will have reinforced a system that may breed further hopelessness, according to the authors. Although the federal legislation has been justified as providing a route for the welfare-poor to autonomy, the reality may be the reverse.

  The report urges major efforts to establish new protections for cities in the “newest” federalism that has resulted from changed policies and the devolution of public assistance programs from Washington to the states in the new legislation. The authors urge:

• protections for cities in terms of how states do or do not mandate responsibilities for which the cities are not supplied funding streams;

• mandated city inclusion in state welfare planning when federal funds are involved;

• a fair sharing of child care resources and funds for job creation when federal funds are involved, and

• mandated state sharing of data about caseloads, clients, and programs for cities when service delivery is state controlled.

  Alfred J. Kahn is professor emeritus and special lecturer, and Sheila B. Kamerman is the Compton Foundation Centennial Professor for the Prevention of Children’s and Youth Problems, at the School of Social Work. They are co-directors of the Cross-National Studies Research Program, a research center that conducts studies of social policies and programs in advanced industrialized nations.