Methods of Examination in the CalWORKS Program

TRACES OF EXAMINATION: ANGEL INTERVIEWS SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY EMPLOYEE

Angel: Are CalWORKS recipients assigned a social worker?

ESC (eligibility support clerk): No. They are assigned an Eligibility Worker. There is a difference. Social workers go out into the homes of welfare recipients whereas eligibility workers do all their work from the office via paperwork, mail, telephone...things like that.

Angel: What does this Eligibility Worker do exactly?

ESC: Well, the Eligibility Worker is responsible for a number of things. First and foremost they are to process all CalWORKS cases that come in. That is, they determine whether the applicant is eligible for CalWORKS or not based on family size, whether the applicant is a single parent, income (if the person has a job), and age. If the person is under 18 and indeed is eligible for CalWORKS they have to have a guardian to receive aid on his or her behalf.

Angel: I heard you mention that the Eligibility Worker is responsible for processing CalWORKS cases. What does this case have in it?

ESC: Well, first and foremost it takes thirty to forty five days to process a CalWORKS case. In the duration of the thirty to forty five days, the Eligibility Worker sends out what we call a "Need Letter" or a "Notice of Action," if the applicant is eligible, to ensure that the applicant has submitted all necessary documentation to the agency. The documentation is basically what makes up the case that we keep on the applicant.

Foucault: "The examination, surrounded by all its documentary techniques, makes each individual a 'case.'" (191)

Angel: What kind of documentation?

ESC: Well, we need their original social security cards and birth certificates (and their child's as well if they are a parent), eventually we will make copies but we want to make sure that they have official identification materials. We also need immunization records, bank statements, car registration, landlord statements, school verifications, etc amongst other things. And we also keep what we call a QR7 form in their case files. It's basically a form that the recipient must fill out every three months in order to continue to receive cash aid and/or food stamps. Essentially, its a quarterly report in which the workers use to revise the budget of the recipient if there have been any changes in income or family size or what have you. It's just to keep track of where our recipients are, its a tracking report.

Foucault: "The examination also introduces individuality in a field of documentation...The examination that places individuals in a field of surveillance also situates them in a network of writing; it engages them in a whole mass of documents that capture and fix them." (189)

Angel: What happens if a CalWORKS recipient doesn't comply with the requirements of the program?

ESC: First of all, if a recipient's QR7 is late or any other forms are late, their benefits will be late. If a recipient fails to comply with the requirements of the program after ninety days they will be deemed "discontinued" and will no longer receive aid. They will also have to reapply to the program. A recipient's case can also be "discontinued" if they fail to report honestly on their QR7 forms.

Angel: So there aren't just requirements for entrance into the program, there are also conditions by which one must follow in order to stay active in the program.

ESC: Exactly.

REFLECTIONS:

In terms of power, and the exercise of power i feel that Foucault's idea that examination "transforms visibility into power" (187) fails as it relates to the CalWORKS Program. It is the only part to his three part theory of examination that was left out of the framework for the CalWORKS Program. It is not the physical visibility that is for instance provided by a window in a classroom that creates power, it is the close tracking mechanisms of the program that is transformed into a form of power. The program's system of checking can continue or discontinue a case which makes people comply with the requirements if they wish to receive aid. The visibility or surveillance that Foucault presents is acted out in a different way for the CalWORKS Program, the recipients are being watched but not by the natural eye alone.

Angel's Question

For Durkheim, formal equality enables people to realize their natural talents in the division of labor with the elimination of the external inequalities of birth and opportunity. For Foucault, it allows normalization. How so?

Angel's Comment on Livier's Question of Suicide

Very interesting question, Livier. We know that one of the alternatives to the DL for Durkheim is suicide along w/ genocide, colonization, etc. It would be interesting to find out what Foucault would say about each of these alternatives that Durkheim presents.