Almost 30 years ago the Illinois General Assembly passed a law barring government agencies from forcing parents to work if employment meant neglecting their child.

Today advocates for public housing residents are questioning whether work requirements the Chicago Housing Authority plans to impose on its tenants violate this same law.

The 1980 Wrongs to Children Act is "a Pandora's box that raises a whole bunch of issues," says Robert Whitfield, an attorney for the Central Advisory Council, which represents  CHA residents.

The law states: "No agency of the state or unit of local government shall require a single parent … of any child under the age of 6 to accept employment that would unreasonably interfere with such responsibilities to the child."

But starting this fall, the CHA, as part of its $1.6 billion Plan for Transformation, will require most residents to start work or attend school 15 hours a week, increasing to 20 hours in 2010. Exemptions exist for several groups, including the disabled, the retired and parents with children younger than 1.

The work requirements kick in after the child's first birthday, and it's at that point the CHA's requirements appear to conflict with the law. The council doesn't object to the work requirements, but members would like to see the exemption for parents expanded, Whitfield says.

The CHA doesn't believe the law will affect its plan. Attorneys both inside and outside the organization examined the statute, says CHA spokesman Bryan Zises, and they didn't believe the requirements constituted "unreasonable" interference.

"I don't think it applies," Zises says. "Having a 15-hour-a -week job isn't unreasonable."

Without any court rulings on the issue, the council isn't sure whether the statute applies to these circumstances, Whitfield says, and the CHA shouldn't be sure it knows either.

The council wants to meet with CHA officials to hammer out a compromise. They have no plans to sue, but if a compromise can't be reached, they will consider asking the Illinois Attorney General to clarify whether the work requirements conflict with the statute.

The CHA says it is helping CHA residents find child care services, lessening the burden placed on parents.

Illinois Action for Children won a contract from the agency to provide enhanced day care referrals to CHA residents. Staffers will meet individually with residents to determine their child care needs, then search the organization's database for appropriate daycare facilities. The organization also administers the state subsidized child care program.

Illinois Action for Children helps about 40,000 families each month pay for child care, says spokesman Peter Gray. They've never had a waiting list, indicating they've always been able to meet the needs of families who sought assistance.

But to focus on daycare is to miss the point, says Richard Wheelock, supervisory attorney for the Housing Law Project of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. The heart of the statute is that parents have the right to decide what is in their child's best interest: working or staying home.

"For CHA to say, 'We'll provide daycare,' doesn't answer the question of whether they're violating the statute," he says.

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