COMMITTEE OKS BILL ALLOWING SOME DRUG FELONS TO RECEIVE AID

Certain drug felons in rehabilitation programs would be permitted to
receive food stamps and welfare payments under legislation unanimously
approved by a Senate committee yesterday.

''There are women who have made mistakes - and they are now out trying to
make a better life for their children,'' Sen. Thelma Harper, D-Nashville,
told the Senate General Welfare Committee.

An estimated 80 people, most of them women, would be eligible for the
federal payments.

The bill will be scheduled for a Senate vote. It was approved in House
committees last year, and sponsor Rep. Rob Briley, D-Nashville, said he
planned to ask for a full House vote soon.

Sponsors said the legislation would permit parents trying to get over their
addictions to receive financial assistance in raising their children. They
would have to be in treatment, actively seeking treatment or have completed
treatment to qualify.

Under federal law, people who have been convicted of felony drug charges
are ineligible for food stamps or the state's welfare program, called
Families First. States are permitted to opt out of the federal prohibition,
and 29 states have done so.

''There is no other assistance for these mothers,'' said the Rev. Mary K.
Friskics-Warren, director of Renewal House, a Nashville residential drug
rehabilitation center that is backing the bill. ''Mothers who are in
treatment and their children need to eat.''

To be eligible for Families First, the mothers will have to sign personal
responsibility contracts that spell out their treatment, job training and
other requirements, like immunizing their children.

A Senate amendment to the bill excludes A-level drug felons, those involved
in the most severe drug crimes.

''This is a bill about promoting treatment and promoting family health vs.
being soft on crime,'' Friskics-Warren said.