Living on the Edge in Suburbia: From Welfare to Workfare

4. The Business of Welfare

35 4 The Business of Welfare Welfare Governance In New York the business of welfare is primarily conducted within the Department of Social Services (DSS) in the counties. Poor people meet staff to apply for public assistance benefits, deliver requested documentation for eligibility and status changes, recertify for continued benefits, and conduct other related business. At a DSS Service Center (welfare office) a typical scene is of people waiting. Some queue to speak to DSS staff at a counter. Some sit for a long time waiting to meet with a caseworker located in the offices beyond the waiting area. Some wait to speak with someone via a phone installed in the waiting room. People do not wander too far to avoid missing their turn. The welfare offices that I visited in Westchester County varied in their proximity to the commercial district and neighborhoods, and they differed in the waiting room size, ambiance, noise intensity, and comfort level. When I was conducting fieldwork, the Yonkers DSS Service Center was located on an industrial strip along the Hudson River waterfront; it has since moved. Parking was not available close by. A common sight was of mothers walking slowly up or down a long, steep hill with children in tow or in a stroller. The building was located on a county bus line and many people traveled that way, but for some it may not have been ideal. Thus, a steady taxi flow discharged and picked up families and individuals in front—a costly transportation expense for poor people. The large Yonkers welfare office waiting room was flanked by two numbered-window counters that separated DSS staff from the streams of poor people with myriad issues. In the center of the room people sat on wooden, backless benches. About forty-five minutes of sitting on them was my limit 36 Living on the Edge in Suburbia before my back and posterior felt discomfort. The most coveted benches were those against the wall, where people could lean for back support. The recitation of people’s names over the public address system punctuated the incessant radio. A baby’s wailing might compete with these sounds. People filled out multipage applications or milled about. Some conversed; others quietly sat alone or with others. It was not unusual to witness angry people ranting. Most people kept their coats or jackets on as if they would be called any minute. Not so. In DSS offices a security guard surveys the crowd. I concur with Davis ’s (2006) assessment of the spatial design of an upstate New York welfare office. She views the class dichotomy evident in the separation of poor people from frontline workers and the location of an on-site sheriff’s office in terms of a “design of discipline” (69). One summer day I spent over an hour sitting in the Yonkers office; it was lunchtime so there was a sparse crowd, not much movement, and, in the background, an insipid “smooth jazz” commercial radio broadcast blared. A group of women were sitting on the bench along the back wall. They chatted with a husky security guard. Though he looked friendly, the guard appeared to represent authority ready to dispense discipline. Desmond Hughes recollected a time when a multimonth public assistance application process necessitated repeated meetings with caseworkers (described later).1 He had been told by other recipients that “sometimes you have to raise a little hell” to get things done, but he had never done so because it was not his “demeanor.” One day after waiting hours to meet with his caseworker, Desmond witnessed an irate woman proclaiming to DSS staff that she would not leave the window until she saw the person she came to see, even if they called security or the police. She succeeded in meeting with the person she sought. Desmond assessed the situation: I had a mind to do exactly what she did. But I don’t doubt that they would deal with a man a little bit differently. And having just returned from being incarcerated, I don’t doubt that they’d [security] come at me in a more physical manner in a way that I might find a little frustrating and aggravating and that I might find repulsive. And I would respond to in such a way that wouldn’t give me anything. The threat of discipline is a constant presence in the welfare office and beyond (e.g., sanctions). Disciplinary measures are in place to establish compliance...