‘Reforming’ the Border:
Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing
Persistent Poverty in the Rio Grande
Valley of Texas
Mark H. Harvey
University of Wisconsin-Madison
This research is supported by the Rural Policy Research
Institute, the USDA-ERS, the Annie E. Casey Foundation,
and the Southern Rural Development Center
"The lady started growling at me there in the Tex'
Force [the Workforce office], saying that this was
'Temporarily needed' [and] it was 'Not to stay on it.'
And I told her, 'I know, 'cause if I was to stay on it I
wouldn't leave a million miles to go and work over
there at Chicago, Illinois to try to get what I can to
my kids. I would stay here, keep on going with
what you give us. And what you give us, we barely
make it  we don’t. We have to look for a way.
How to do it.'"
Starr County TANF Participant
Problem
• Macro-Institutional Change and Household
Survival at the Border
– Households
– Markets
– States
– Civil societies/Third Sector
Key Qualitative Literature
• Edin and Lein (1997)
– Most TANF Participants are already “workers”
• Nelson and Smith (1999)
– “Good” work and good welfare sustain households
• Duncan (1999)
– Third sector is unreliable
• Mead (2004)
– State and local governmental capacity
• Peck (1996)
– Welfare as labor market regulation
In Sum
I. Obstacles
a. States
-- The “TANF Tax Cut”
-- Mismanagement
-- Politics
b. Markets
-- From Manufacturing and Agriculture
to Service and Retail
-- Private Networks vs. Public Programs
-- Informal
II. Opportunities
a. Households
-- Strong workers
-- Strong family supports
b. The “Third Sector”
-- Colonias organizations
-- Community colleges
-- Partnerships
The Rio Grande
Valley
Demographics
Maverick
Population
Starr
Texas
47,297
53,597
21,779,893
Population Percent Change 1990 to 2000
30%
32%
23%
Percent in Rural Areas (Less than 5,000 persons)
12%
21%
18%
Percentage of Population of Hispanic or Latino
Origin
95%
97.50%
32%
Median Age
27.8
26.1
32.3
Percent Foreign Born
37.80%
37%
14%
Percent non-citizens
22.63%
25.13%
10%
Percent Speaking Language Other than English at
Home
90.00%
91%
27%
Percent of Spanish Speakers 18-64 Speaking
English "not well/ not at all"1
31.00%
34%
28%
Poverty
Maverick
Persons below Poverty (1999)
Starr
Texas
34.80%
50.43%
15.40%
15.6
9.1
19.0
61.00%
73.00%
36.20%
8.7
4.1
6.8
Percentage of Married Couple Families where head
Worked full time year round in Poverty
14.71%
29.36%
3.00%
Percentage of Female headed Families worked full
time year round in poverty
24.04%
38.80%
10.43%
Percent of Persons in Deep Poverty
12.67%
21.61%
6.74%
8.87
11.64
1.47
Percentage Point Decline in Poverty 1989 to 1999
Poverty among Single Female Headed Families w/
related Children < 18
Percentage Point Decline in Poverty among Single
Female Headed Families w/ related children < 18
Percentage Point Decline in Deep Poverty 1990 to
2000
Education
Maverick
Percent of Population 25 and older with a Bachelors
degree or higher
Starr
Texas
9.10%
6.9%
23.20%
Percent Of Population 25 and older less than High
School Graduate
57.90%
63.30%
24.00%
Percent of males 25 and older with 9 years of school or
less
44.57%
52.03%
14.89%
Percent of females 25 and older with 9 years of school
or less
48.70%
54.32%
14.56%
Comparative Institutional
Ethnography
• In-Depth Interviews with
– Nonrandom sample of 62 TANF Participants
– 43 Public Sector Representatives
– 39 “Third” Sector Representatives
– 16 Private Sector Representatives
• Participation in/Observation of Community Activities (9
Months)
– Workforce Board Meetings, Commissioners Court,
Economic Development Corporations.
– Food pantry distributions, citizenship classes, other
colonias events
OBSTACLES:
The State(s)
• “Philosophy of Texas State Government”
– Limited and Efficient Government
– Local Control
– Personal Responsibility
– Support for Strong Families
“Be mindful of those who pay the bills.”
» Texas Health and Human Services
Commission, 2001
In Practice
• “TANF Tax Cuts” -- Agency consolidation
and transfer of TANF Block Grant funds to
non-welfare programs
• Intense focus on “error rates” and
detection of fraud
• Cut Texas Department of Human Services
(9,000 FTEs in 1999)
• Extensive privatization of service delivery
TANF Cases
Maverick
Starr
Food Stamps Cases
Medicaid Recipients
Maverick
Maverick
Starr
Starr
Oct-96
1183
1798
5312
7952
8660
11982
Oct-97
955
1980
4416
6997
8196
12340
Oct-98
681
1779
3752
6485
7662
11986
Oct-99
475
1763
3313
6266
7119
12272
Oct-00
474
1724
3102
5838
7093
11528
Oct-01
457
1498
3291
5799
7529
11533
Oct-02
495
1338
4073
6179
8443
12433
Source: Texas Department of Human Services
Impacts on Service Delivery
• "[A]s the time-clocks [are] beginning to expire people are
rushing into the system, they're being mandated to rush
into the system 'cause we're sanctioning their ass. And
we're getting more and more demand on the child care
system while the damn money's going down!...[W]e're
trying to be more creative with what we have because
we know that without child care the TANF person doesn't
have a prayer of breaking the cycle."
-- Middle Rio Grande
Workforce Board
Executive, Spring, 2003
Impacts on Caseworkers and Clients
• “When they're [caseworkers] in a good
mood… they'll do their job and they'll treat
you like a human being. Versus if they're
having a lousy day or if they just woke-up
on the wrong side of the bed that morning
they'll treat you, [pause] like a dog to be
honest.”
» Maverick County TANF Participant
Local “Control”
Source: Texas Workforce Commission
Mismanagement and Politics
• "We didn't understand the new policies and
lacked the staff. The board is still dealing with
issues and going through changes…[There was
a] lack of knowledge of the new system."
» Executive Director, STWB
• In 2001 the South Texas Workforce Board was
sanctioned by the TWC and “de-obligated” $3.5
million dollars.
• In 2002 Starr County transferred to the Lower
Rio Grande Valley Workforce Board
– Starr County had $0 WIA funds from February 2002
through January of 2003.
JTPA/WIA Funding at STCC
$250,000
$200,000
$150,000
$100,000
$50,000
$0
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
Source: South Texas Community College Factbook, 2003-2004
STCC Nontraditional Student Enrollment
600
500
400
300
Single Parents
200
Limited English
100
0
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Source: South Texas Community College Factbook, 2004 Addendum
Impact on Participants
“I don’t have my GED. And before they didn't
ask you for your GED … I started it [GED]
but when they asked me to be volunteer in
the TANF I had to stop ‘cause I had to be
working volunteer… I was gonna go but I
needed my GED and I asked them if I
could make my hours going to classes,
they say no, they need me volunteering,
you know.”
» Maverick County TANF Participant
Labor Markets
Maverick
Starr
Texas
Median Earnings, Males
$15,575
$12,003
$26,690
Median Earnings, Females
$10,094
$8,012
$17,658
LFP among Females 16 and over with own children
42.67%
38.44%
55.14%
10.25
8.64
4.40
22.23%
27.79%
7.77%
-4.84
0.94
-2.83
Percentage Pt Change in LFP
Unemployment among Females 16 and over with own
children
Percentage Pt. Change in Unemployment
Starr Produce Company Labor Report
$7,000,000
US Dollars
$6,000,000
$5,000,000
$4,000,000
US Labor
$3,000,000
Mexico Labor
$2,000,000
$1,000,000
$0
1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Year
Source: Starr Produce Company
Home Health Providers
• “[Providers] average about 25 hours per week and it
ranges anywhere from 10 to 30 or 35 hours a week…
They don’t need to have a high school diploma to
provide [housekeeping] for someone. [Do they need to
speak English?].... Only if their client is English speaking
only.”
• “Moving up is not likely for the provider. We have 40 ‘in
house’ positions [clerical, administrative, Registered
Nurses) and over 1,000 employees so it's very
competitive. We need people who are computer literate
and have at least a high school degree to fill those
positions.”
» Manager, Local Home Health Care Agency
Employer Impressions of Reform
Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
“We hired permanently 10 ….They turned out to
be excellent employees.”
Choices
“I don't like the program… I'm very upset about
this program because it doesn't seem to be
getting the correct message to the people.”
--Starr County Third Sector Employer
The Informal Market
• "Pues [Well], I was working in that
motel… They were paying me [laughs] $2
a room [H]e didn’t wanna pay me check,
he wanted to pay me cash and I told him I
wanted [a] check 'cause I wanted to make
income tax. He said no… 'cause with the
kids you get all your income tax.”
» Maverick County TANF Participant
Informal Work and the Evaluation Dilemma
• “[They’re working in construction] related
industries, electricians, plumbers. I mean, you
can't get a target on those guys…We know it's a
huge demand area, but if you go train someone,
they go out and they get a job with, with ah,
'Pepe's Plumbing,' and they show no income!?
... how do you train in that area when you know
you're not gonna be able to get any follow-up
information…? And if you train it you're gonna
take negatives!?"
» Middle Rio Grande Valley Board Executive
Opportunities:
Households/Networks
Maverick
Starr
Texas
Percent of Families w/ Children Headed by Married
Couples
81.51%
79.01%
74.62%
Percent of Families with children Headed by Single
Females
14.79%
18.28%
19.75%
-0.13
5.51
2.11
17.18%
13.92%
8.19%
2.97%
5.22%
0.05%
% of Grandparent Householders or Spouses living
with own grandchildren under 18 years:
10.84%
9.76%
4.51%
Percentage responsible for own grandchildren
under 18 years:
39.09%
47.55%
55.29%
Percentage Point Change 1989 to 1999
Percentage of Families with Children in Subfamilies
Percentage Point Change 1989 to 1999
Households
• Self Employment
• Someone "always" there in an emergency and in most
cases it was a family member.
– Child Care
– Transportation
– Pay a bill
•
Housing in Colonias
– “For rent? At first we would give, well I would give [my father]
$150 a month, pero [but] that would include bills and stuff But
now it's like I either pay the light or I pay the water depending on
when we get the bill and when I get paid and what I have to pay
that week.”
» Maverick County TANF leaver
The Third Sector: Build on Success
• Colonias Organizations
– “[S]ome of the needs have changed in the
colonias, they might already have the sewer,
the water and the utilities. They're looking at
the next step. They want a job,… they wanna
learn some skills, they wanna be able to be at
least marketable in the labor force so that
they can offer something.”
» Maverick County Administrator
• Community colleges and University-Community
Partnerships
– Seco Mines Community Center
• “I help with all kinds of applications from social security to
citizenship, [food stamps], etc… But what I do most are job
applications. People looking for jobs come in with
applications in English. Either they can't read English or they
don’t know how to read or write. I also read a lot of letters for
them.”
» Director, Seco Mines Community Center, Maverick County
Policy Recommendations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Relax time limits and work requirements
Expand EITC
Increase funding for childcare
Increase funding for WIA and eliminate workfirst
sequencing
Count ABE, GED, and post-secondary education
as a “core” work activities
Network with existing colonias organizations
Exempt severely economically distressed
counties from participation rates
Improve caseworker training
The Root of the Problem
• Politics
• see Valley Interfaith minimum wage campaign
(Osterman 2003).