By Robin Riscica

Today, Yvette Katen (not her real name) works as a temporary receptionist. Next month, she will be on the job market, armed with her fresh-minted Hunter degree in political science and economics.

A routine story, perhaps, except that Katen is a domestic violence survivor who simultaneously raised three children on a $174 monthly welfare check and battled Workfare requirements while she earned her precious diploma.

The 36-year-old mother of three says she would like to be a social worker, concentrating on child welfare. She is interested in dealing with aspects of foster care and in being an advocate for mothers whose children are removed from their care.

To stay in school, Katen made an extraordinarily difficult decision.

She enrolled in Hunter in 1993 and had been receiving $187 every two weeks in welfare benefits to pay for utilities, transportation, day care and other expenses. By the spring of 1997, she was a junior, seeing the end in sight. However, just three weeks before the end of classes, she received a letter that she was now required to work 20 hours each week at a Workfare site. She tried to appeal, asking for it to be delayed just long enough to finish her classes.

She was denied the postponement and warned she would be sanctioned, meaning her family's benefits would be significantly reduced. Fearful, she was tempted to quit school. However, a friend talked her into staying.

Her monthly income was cut by more than half, down to $87 semimonthly. In addition, her 20-hour requirement was then increased to 32 hours. She says that if she hadn't been living with her mother, who suffers from a degenerative illness, she would have dropped out.

Now nearing graduation, Katen is on the verge of financial independence after a series of missteps. When she first became a mother at age 23, Katen was working at odd jobs. She did not marry the child's father, but five years later, she married Andrew (not his real name), although her family had reservations about him. She had two more children before she came to her own realization about Andrew. He began being physically abusive and, after five years, Katen knew that she had to get away from him.

She moved back in with her mother. Back to square one.

No one in her family had ever been on welfare and immediately after the separation she did not consider applying for assistance. Although she hadn't worked while she was married, she felt that she would be able to take care of her children working as a telephone operator.

A friend talked her into going to college. For a short time, she both worked and attended classes full-time. However, with three children, she realized that she was spreading herself too thin. While she knew that she could probably give up school and manage, she did not want to. She wanted to get her degree.

Considering it shameful to be on welfare, she was hesitant to apply.

"It took me three times before I could even go through the door," says Katen about going to apply for welfare. "I was embarrassed,'' she says. ``I didn't even tell my brothers and sisters until after I was out of school."

When her mother was not able to watch the children, she paid for day care at Hunter College. However, there were times when she had to bring her children to class with her. She jokes that she and her children, who are now 15, 8, and 7, all earned the degree together.

After she was sanctioned, Katen enrolled in the Welfare Rights Initiative class. She learned that she was not alone in her struggle. She also learned more about how the welfare system works including the fact that she could have received free day care and transportation had she gone to a two-year school instead of a four-year school.

Ultimately, the class helped her get over the some of the shame she felt from being a mother who was on welfare. With her temporary job, she does not receive welfare checks any longer. However, her children are covered by federal health insurance and the family receives food stamps. Her mother now lives in a nursing home and Katen and her children live in federally subsidized housing.

She had enough credits to fulfill the graduation requirement in the spring of 1998, but she still has two incompletes to satisfy before she can receive her degree in political science and economics.

With relief and pride she said that she has just handed in the final assignments needed for the degree.

``The next battle I have is to find a job," she says with a mixture of fatigue and excitement.