Maybe I missed it when I was poor
What is the magical allure to not having money?
Why is staying home ( or in someone else’s home) a better idea than coming to my office or sticking to the plan that YOU chose?
I don’t get it.
Once a week I check the database to see who went to Job Club ( I swear I didn’t name it ) or who started school, who got a new job or who is making changes in their daily activities that will result in a change of income and life style and eventually leaving their financial dependence on the county. Every week I want to scream. All of the great plans we have made are tossed into the trash by people who could not even call to let me know they changed their minds or decided it wasn’t worth their time.
Once a person broke it down to me: They figured they were “being paid $3.25 an hour” and “that’s not even legal to pay less than minimum wage. That’s slave wages!”.
Ahem, I contend it is not any wage at all. It is “supplemental” funding to keep you alive until you can stay alive under your own power. That is money for toothpaste, deodorant, socks and basic necessities so you stay healthy and look presentable to be hired. There are SNAP or CalFresh, aka Food Stamp funds given to you to feed your family and keep them healthy. Although the Medi-CAL insurance you have is better health insurance than most of the world has, it isn’t super fantastic so maybe you want to dress warmly and eat right so you don’t need to use it.
Being poor is a misery. And being poor should suck. It should make you miserable. And you should have enough self-respect to want to do every legal thing you can to improve your life and the lives depending on you. No one is punishing you for being poor, but you are punishing yourself by perpetuating your situation.
Don’t blame me. I hold you accountable ( as a fully functioning adult who is being given funds for transportation, funds to pay for child care, funds to purchase nice clothing and help making a resume and a job search) for continuing your own financial status
Homeless in LA
Homelessness in LA County
Filed under entitlement …
Wicked Witch of the Welfare Office
Usually I feel pretty good about my job. Today I am disenchanted. I had an imaginary conversation with myself.
I am the evil witch lurking…ahem…working in the welfare office.
My Inner Angry Republican pitches a fit about 50 times a day. And with good reason too. But my out Professional Social Worker tries to seek better solutions and keep it all in check.
| Money for nothing?! | Not really – you have to work (or prepare for work) to be granted cash aid |
| But if the parents don’t work the family still gets money | True – but we choose to believe the parents are not spending any cash aid on themselves and only on their children |
| You are on crack, right? At least tell me you are screening the welfare peeps for drugs. | No. We don’t test the parents – but we do ask them 7 questions to screen them for substance use and abuse |
| Then you take their money away, right? | Of course not. We schedule them for a Clinical Assessment and chose to believe they are not buying beer, weed, crack, coke, schrooms, uppers, downers, etc . We need to believe these drugs are DONATED to them. |
| Why do you believe that? | Because a habit is expensive, if they could afford a strong heavy habit – they don’t need Welfare funds and we would have to cut them off |
| What’s bad about that? | Because we know they are not magically “finding” the money and we sleep better knowing the money has at least made it into a parent’s hands and there is a chance that it is being spent on the family |
| Do you require receipts for how the cash aid money was spent | No |
| Why not? | Too much trouble |
| Don’t you believe that if people were accountable for how the money was spent, they would spend it on toothbrushes and rent etc and not on cat food, veterinary bills, drugs, strip clubs and gambling | Did I tell you about the time I did ask for receipts and the person bought job interview clothes at Caesar’s Palace Shops? |
| Why did you ask for receipts that time? | Well, because GAIN – or Welfare to Work gives money for job clothing, school books etc. |
| Oh, so there is some accountability. How does that work out? | One time a lady bought 7 pairs of shoes as her work clothing. |
| What, was she a stripper? | Many of my clients are strippers or in elicit but legal trades. I give them credit for making the effort. |
| So you encourage this activity? | I encourage work of any kind. They need to do 32-35 hours of work type activity a week. |
| Why only 35? I do at least 40 hours of work and 20 hours of volunteering and have up to 4 kids in my house. | I don’t know. At 32 hours an employer is supposed to be offering benefits like health care so families can leave Medi-Cal Insurance. |
| What if they don’t want to work or train, etc? | Then they can say they have mental health or substance abuse or domestic violence issues or are homeless and the requirement for these hours can be waived temporarily or permanently. |
| Are you serious? | Of course, It is the compassionate thing to do. If someone is so stressed or overwhelmed that they really cannot function in society; I don’t want to set them up for failure |
| So you take their children away, right? | Why would we? We take a licensed professionals word – or sometimes the client tells us – that this person cannot work or go to school or do community service. What does that have to do with parenting? |
| Well, a 40 hour a week job is easier than 24/7 parenting. | Never the less. We trust that these parents are doing what is best for the children. |
| Does Welfare really look out for the WELFARE of kids. | Kinda,. Sorta. We make food funds and cash aid and medical funding available to the family and trust they are being accessed on behalf and for the benefit of the kids. |
| That’s it? | Also, we ask that once a year a report card or immunization card is turned in. See, we care. |
| But there is a time limit on this, right? Bill Clinton put a time limit. | Yes, the Federal Time Limit is 5 years or 60 months of Cash aid per family |
| Whey. At least that is clear and simple | But some people stay on Cash Aid from the 7th month of pregnancy until their child is 18 years old. |
| WTF? | Or until the baby graduated from High School. |
| How can you stay on Welfare for over 18 years | Easy. Say you were in a domestic violence relationship. Or that you are too emotionally disturbed to hold down a job or really benefit from the program. How can we push you out of the nest? |
| OMG | Oh, my goodness indeed. See me? I am saving the world over here. |
| Do you really feel like that? | Of course. |
| You’re sick. | No. no fever, I feel fine. Thanks for the concern. |
| How are you really helping them? | I am not. I make sure they have the resources to help themselves. Poverty sucks. People will move on at their own pace. All I can do is offer options. |
| Like what? | I will pay for child care so they can work, or I pay for books, fees and supplies for vocational training or college. |
| Vocational Training? | Sure – you know, so people can be hair dressers and such |
| Very few hair dressers live far above the poverty line and there are no medical, dental, vision or life benefits with that position usually | Well, then I hope each of them is the next Vidal Sassoon or Jose’ etc. I realy can’t be bothered to make sure it will make them rich or middle class. I just want to say I have “X number of clients participating” and then hope they can keep their heads above water off Welfare. |
| Seriously? | Seriously. |
| Why didn‘t I hear that you pay tuition? Are they required to use their cash aid for tuition? | No. The tuition at a public Community College will be waived and Federal or other financial aid will cover it at other types of schools. |
| When I went to school, I paid Tuition | Well, you should have had a child an not been able to afford it. |
| Speaking of that… when new children come into the family – what happens? | Usually the Medi-Cal and Food stamps increase but not the cash aid. After all – birth control is free on Medi-Cal. |
| Did you say “usually”? | Well yes,. Some children are exempt from the Maximum Family Grant. |
| Meaning they qualify for raising the family cash aid amount | Sure, if they show proof they were on long term birth control like a shot or IUD – or they can say they were raped and then we take their word and cover the baby as well. |
| OMG | I know. Aren’t we nice? And – we have thousands of families leaving welfare each year. |
| How many of them leave before their time limits are up?How many stay on despite the time limits
How many are forced off or “timed out”? |
I don’t know. But aren’t I nice? |
Poverty = Women’s Issue
Not all women are poor, but most of the world’s poor are women. Most of the poor in Los Angeles are women. When you think about Welfare, admit it, your brain says “Welfare Mom”, not Welfare Dad, or Welfare Family.
When I am handed a stack of cases (and lately I could build cities with the files I am handed)I expect them to have the name of a woman on them.
75% of women living below the poverty line do not have children.
Why? We all know why.
Women have unpaid times in their lives to care for our elderly and our young much more often than men do.
Women are more likely to take on the financial obligations of raising children is there is only one custodial parent.
Women who work all year still earn just 77% of what their male counterparts do.
“Women’s Work” aka “Pink Color” jobs are lower paying: school teacher, social worker (tell me about that one!), nurse, caregiver, hairdresser etc. these jobs also leave women with fewer routes to pensions and retirement dollars.
Women drop out of school younger, and have less education than men.
Women who leave marriage often walk right into poverty.
Poverty is a Human Rights issue. Poverty happens to women more than men – at every single age group breakdown. Poverty is a Women’s Rights issue. Women are entitled to Human Rights standards of living.
The more educated women are, the better their human rights are .
I never thought I would be a feminist, or Femi-Nazi . . . but this seems really very wrong.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
♥♥read more http://www.pdhre.org/rights/women_and_poverty.html Poverty among the Elderly Is a Women’s Issue The Straight Facts on Women in PovertyHow I Would Change Welfare
First, a disclaimer:I provide GAIN services to Welfare (CalWORKS) participants. What I am about to tell you is not the opinion of my office, employer, or anyone connected, contracted with or has ever heard of the companies I work for and through. Also, although I am a GAIN services worker, I was also a Welfare Mom and GAIN participant myself.
I look at CalWORKS/Welfare/TANF, GAIN holistically. I know the urgent need to house and feed a child and self. I am also fairly familiar with the services available to the poor who are raising children.
If you want to SAVE the aid programs for the needy and not just cut them right out of the budget, you need to find ways to make the program less expensive. Also, the program needs to be more effective. This is what I would do…
- Public Transportation for everyone. Give every person who is in an eligible aid receiving household a bus pass. That means $75 per adult, $36 per adult student, and $24 a month per child per month. WHAT?! I sound like a politician when I tell you that you can save money by giving it away? Keep reading.
- Currently a person who has to travel more than 2 hours round a trip from their home to school, work, community service, therapy, etc is eligible for MILAGE PAYMENTS to come and go to those activities. No one likes to feel like they live on the bus (except the driver, perhaps), however the recipient of the funds has chosen the location of their activity. They can choose a location closer to home or spend more time on public transportation. This would also include excluding parking fees and car repairs from public assistance funding.
- FROM THE RECIPIENT Point of View: Buses smell bad, they don’t always come on time and the bus schedule may not flow seamlessly into my own. However, I spend less in gasoline and car repairs. Public transportation is available almost everywhere. Currently my children receive a bus pass from the age of 5 until 13. However 13 is the age where my student may need to ride the bus alone and is more likely to drop out f it is hard to get to school. School districts are closing their bus lines, and public transportation is all that remains for many students.
- FROM THE TAXPAYER Point of View: Sometimes we pay over $300.00 a month in mileage to a part-time employee who works 2 days a week and earns about $200.00 a month. The client has more money in transportation payments than in income. (this is an actual case, by the way) There is no way to ensure they are actually driving themselves and not purchasing a $75 bus pass and pocketing the change. Participants Are free to use their cash aid on gas for trips to the store and medical appointments, or they may use their passes to take public transportation every where they go and reduce traffic congestion and smog. Students with bus passes do not have the excuse to drop out of school because it was too far to walk or their parents could not afford to drive them to campus.
- DRUG TESTING for all recipients of Public Funds. Don’t think I am picking on the poor, I want Substance Abuse screenings for Social Security Recipients, Welfare parents, people on General Relief, and everyone receiving services at an agency that is funded by the government. Unlike Florida, I would not charge the applicant for the testing.
- Client Point of View: I already have to disclose all my financial information to the government and prove that I am alive and in need, being subjected to a drug test feels like you suspect me of substance abuse.
- Taxpayer Point of View: I want to help people who need funds to house themselves and feed their families. I don’t want my tax dollars used to subsidize the drug trade in America. I also want to encourage the custodians of minor children to be responsible and not smoke the kid’s lunch money or inject the rent into a major vein. I SEE THIS HAPPEN often.
- OVERSIGHT LAWS Make laws on how and where funds are used. Require public assistance funds be spent on specific items and in the county that funds are issued. Much like the WIC program, where only specific stores and items may be purchased with the funds – specify that the only items public low-income assistance funds be used for are:
- housing
- personal hygiene items (tooth-brush, tooth paste, sanitary needs, soap, deodorant, razor) no hair dye
- clothing (socks, underwear, shoes, slacks, tops, dresses, etc) – no formal wear or jewelry
- medical needs: medical co pay, over the counter pain relievers, band aids
- gasoline and car / bike repair
- school supplies
- Utility bills: water, gas, phone, trash
Not dog food, pet care, ear piercings, body art, casino cash machines, on cruise ships, house ware departments. I would also like all cash aid/food stamp households to have a class in coupon use and money management.
- Client Point of View: I know where I need the money – why should anyone tell me that I need to buy generic shampoo and not be able to purchase earrings. I feel punished by having limits on where I can shop. Why do I have to fit into a mold?
- Taxpayer point of view: Everyone deserves neighbors who are clean, hygienic, and housed. This is what the Social service format was designed to do – to provide the poor with the means to live in dignity and have basic needs met. Cigarettes. Drugs, acrylic nails and other luxury items are not necessary to survive. Many non-aid receiving people go without movie tickets and trips to Disneyland because it does not fit into our budgets – there is no reason we should subsidize those activities for the poor with our tax funds.
- Remove Domestic Violence, U-Visa and VAWA recipients from the Welfare to Work Programs. This people have significant barriers that they must overcome before graduating into the Welfare to Work program.
- Client Point of View: I don’t want to have to do 32/35 hours of GAIN activities when the person sitting next to me does not. I will learn that I can claim DV and avoid the timelines and still receive all the benefits of the program. – on the other hand, if I am DV, VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) or U-Visa – I am simply not prepared to have to do 32/25 hours of activity when I am not stable enough or safe enough to hold down a job. I feel like I may lose my opportunity to participate when I am ready
- Taxpayer Point of View: Welfare to Work should be just that – welfare to WORK. Other people who need special and intense help should be placed in services molded to their needs and not forced to participate in a program that gives extreme pressure. IF the Government is not ready or able to provide the services needed, contract out to community based services. Provide them with Cash aid, but do not require the use of clothing, transportation and child care resources that were funded for WORKERS and Soon-to-be-workers.
Welfare Warriors and Mommy Bloggers
@helpamotherout @jessicagottlieb
Today we are going to explore groups of people who found a way to use their voices to
- 1. Be heard
- 2. Change their corner of the world to make it nicer for everyone.
Let’s start with my favorite combination of these two groups:
http://www.helpamotherout.org/“ It can take an average of $1,100 a year to adequately diaper a baby.”With an initial investment of $100, and primarily using the powerful, and free, social-networking and internet technologies at their disposal—such as Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, Gmail, Google Apps, even Amazon.com—they mounted a campaign that generated over 15,000 diapers for families in need. (I follow them on Twitter, and find them compassionate and witty.) Read their blog roll and find great mothers like http://www.girlsgonechild.net/
http://www.jessicagottlieb.com/ , I am biased as I am an avid addicted Twitter Fan of Jessica’s. I like that she talks about being a real human being and a mommy (sometimes I don’t feel like you CAN be both) and “Social Media”
http://www.mothersonthemove.org/ Mothers on the Move is a social justice community organization. “We are organizing to build a just society where there is equal economic, social and political opportunity for all.”
http://welfarewarriors.org/ “The Welfare Warriors are mothers and children in poverty who have joined together to make our voices heard in all policies affecting families in poverty, the larger community…” They educate mothers and transform them into activists about such welfare issues as denials of benefits and unfair reductions in cash assistance.
http://www.now.org/issues/economic/ National Organization of Women They have not updated their archive of Welfare and NOW issues since, oh, 2003 . . . ”Since its founding in 1966, NOW’s goal has been to take action to bring about equality for all women. NOW works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.”
http://www.cwla.org/ Child Welfare League of America CWLA embraces the principle that families must be at the center of services that prevent and remedy situations leading to child abuse and neglect. The full spectrum of services for children and families must be available, from early intervention programs when it is first determined that a family is at risk, to foster care and other treatment alternatives for those children whose safety and well-being is more significantly threatened.
http://ccwro.org/ Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations CCWRO provides consultation, information, training and representation on issues relating to public benefit programs such as Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) aka CalWORKs/TANF, Refugee Assistance, Medi-Cal, Welfare Employment Programs, Food Stamps, General Assistance, Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) and SSI.
Healthcare or Culture Crisis #fb
What are your thoughts?
“During my last night’s shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with a shiny new gold tooth, multiple elaborate tattoos, a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B; tune for a ring tone.
Glancing over the chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid.
She smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and, somehow, still has money to buy beer. And our President expects me to pay for this woman’s health care?
Our nation’s health care crisis is not a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. It is a crisis of culture – a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on vices while refusing to take care of one’s self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.
A culture that thinks I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me.
Life is really not that hard. Most of us reap what we sow.
Starner Jones, MD Jackson, MS”
☻♥♦☻♥♀☻♥♦♣☻♦☻♥♀☻♦☻♥♀☻♦☻♥♀☻♦☻♥♀☻♦☻♥♀☻
I feel so many ways about this.
YES. ABSOLUTELY I am distressed and to some degree just mad that there always seems to be a level of the population who take no responsibility for themselves but get free housing, medical care, food, clothing and ongoing coddling. I am especially enraged that some have learned to make this a life style choice while wearing name brand items and driving cars equal to two years of my paycheck. That part of me wants to find an uninhabited continent and deliver these people there where they will finally have to fend for themselves or just die. Either way, I don’t have to parent and provide for them anymore. I see abuses of the system on a regular basis and I report what I can and wring my hands over the rest.
but
I also see that we are at fault for continuing to support a supportive system that bends itself to these abuses. Why are we only taking part of an adults cash away when they don’t keep their end of the deal they asked the county for – ie: give me money and I will look for work and attempt to change my situation in ways that are measurable and observable.
If a participant / client doesn’t keep the contract – TAKE IT ALL AWAY.
If an adult enters into this contract for public funds, never give the funds directly to the client. NEVER let cash go directly to the clients.
Give the children’s food stamp allotment to the schools to pay for breakfast and lunch
Pay rent directly to the landlords, create more public housing for the homeless and pay rent directly to the buildings.
give food vouchers for grocery stores ala WIC,
every other month give a clothing voucher for a toothbrush and paste, underwear, pants and a shirt not to exceed a specified amount and not transferable, or of cash value – and if you lose it…then it is gone. Although, in this day of automation, no physical vouchers are needed – it can all be preloaded information onto the EBT card.
BUT ALSO . . .
Who is to know when someone got the tattoos and piercings, and if they are religious or gifts or were paid for in a period of prosperity for the client. Just like when a Limo brings my client to the Welfare office (and it HAS happened) - it is because a friend of her owns a car service and has given her a ride. Should she be punished for the amenities of her friends and family?
And some days…
I am just mad that we have”the great society” at all. I would like to take all the “entitlement” programs away for a year and watch to see what happens. I want US to step up not in the form of government but in the form of charities, religious communities and neighborhoods to support one another. Smaller and more local systems have fewer confusing rules and loop holes and I think that in some communities it would be a better plan than Big Brother giving us money for our pack of smokes so Big Brother can pay fr our Lung Cancer treatment.
WHAT are your thoughts?
——————– read more: ♥♥ http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/starner.asp
Drug Use and Welfare
Do you think that adults should have to pass a drug test in order to receive Cash Aid and Foodstamps and Medical Insurance ?
I came across this quote when reading about texas Food Banks
“Something that they could also implement that will cut down on the number of applicants is subject each and every one of them to a drug test. People have to pass drug tests for their jobs, people should have to pass drug tests to get any kind of government assistance. It seems kinda backwards that people have to pass drug tests to get jobs and pay taxes while people (some, not all) sit back doing drugs and living off of our tax dollars. “
be an adult
“Women are here to serve me. My mom should feed me and let me stay at her place. My woman should work and give me her paycheck. My kids are all maned after me because their other parent aint worth nothing”
No joke: I heard this today from a man who was irate that he has to work or go to school or do community service . (“I’m not giving away my time for nothing”).
He wanted to know why I changed it so his girlfriend. Couldn’t do the hours any more… Ummm, because she and her child are not on welfare and she works! Full time. He and his oldest child are receiving funding. He told me that he didn’t like someone telling him to do something he didn’t ask to do. I said that was okay, I could stop people from telling him to be accountable for his actions, self and children: I would take the money away.
I’m pretty sure I’ll see him sitting with my supervisor tomorrow.
entitlements
I hear a lot of people complain about “Entitlement” programs as the downfall of our economy: that the very tools that are supposed to protect us in the worst cases are in fact bankrupting us and teaching folks to expect to be rescued.
The entitlement, I think, should not belong to the poor: the entitlements belong to society.
Everyone is entitled to have a relatively safe and healthy environment to live in. The SWiNE FLU scare is an example of the importance of medical care for everyone. We should be able to walk down the streets without stepping over homeless fold. We deserve a population that is Educated rather than incarcerated. Entitlement programs for the poor makes life more pleasant and safe for you and I.
