Benefits Shut Off for 41,000 Michigan Welfare Recipients

(repost from Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Fri, Sep 30, 2011)

On Saturday, Oct. 1, 41,000 Michigan welfare recipients will lose cash benefits in the amount of approximately $515 each. Gov. Rick Snyder capped maximum welfare payments at 48 months. Several Michigan recipients filed a class action lawsuit to overturn the four-year cap. 

Five years was the original cap on cash assistance for welfare. In some cases, extensions were available for those in need. The lawsuit says that the welfare cap violates the due process clause of the 14th amendment. They claim that the cutoff notices were vague and generic. The plaintiffs are asking a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order against the cap. 

Exemptions are available for those with disabilities that make them unable to work. Those over 65, caring for a disabled spouse or child, who don't qualify for social security or who receive low benefit payments may also get an extension. 

There is some concern among taxpayers about what qualifies a person as unable to work. Chronic alcoholism, drug addicts and obesity are three problematic disabilities. These don't qualify specifically as handicaps, but some of the resulting health conditions do qualify them. There is also concern about how welfare payments, especially food stamps, are spent. 

Welfare cash assistance cuts aren't the only economic issue plaguing Michigan. Cuts are happening everywhere. In August, 11.2 percent of Michiganders were unemployed. Let's look at Michigan's deteriorating economy, by the numbers.

• 2.5 million: People in Michigan who receive one or more form of welfare benefits.

• 220,000 thousand: People in Michigan who receive cash benefits. The four-year cap would reduce it to 180,000 people.

• 21,000-25,000: The number of welfare recipients in Detroit alone (Michigan's largest city) who had their cash benefits cut.

• 30,000: The number of children in Michigan who will lose welfare benefits. 

Read the rest of this article at Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben | Yahoo! Contributor Network. 

Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes about people, places, events and issues in "Pure Michigan."

Screen shot from Michigan League for Human Services.

Sacrificing Children to Enrich Corporations and Politicians

Our good friends at the Sierra Club in Detroit have been following up on the public assistance cuts to families signed by Michigan Governor Snyder and have learned several more distressing facts:

1. As of October 1, 2011: 11,000 people will be cut off from welfare benefits, and that will continue through until 40,000 people are eliminated from the system. 75% THOSE PEOPLE WILL BE CHILDREN WITH THE AVERAGE AGE OF 7 YEARS OLD.
2. Unemployment insurance was cut from a 24 weeks to 20 by the state.
3. The Low Income Energy Efficiency Fund which gave DHS, THAW and Salvation Army energy assistance funding every year -- adding to $575million in help for the poor since 2002 -- has been completely eliminated by ABATE and the Attorney General and the Michigan Court of Appeals; although federal money is still available, it is not enough to cover the gap.
4. College students are no longer eligible for food aid, a much needed subsidy.
5. There is now a lifelong cap of 48 months for those who receive assistance.
6. Most of the assistance cuts will be to renters, disproportionately effecting women.
7. These cuts have a secondary effect of increasing domestic violence.
8. If utility service is cut from the home, children must be removed by law from the family and home. And, yes, the foster care system is hiring.
9. NO ONE IS EXEMPT: Persons with mental disabilities are not exempt from the cuts, recent mothers are exempt for only 2 months after birth, victims of domestic violence exempt for 3 months and caretakers of persons with disabilities for 12 months.
10. THE STATE OF MICHIGAN WILL SAVE $68 MILLION IN TAX DOLLARS FROM STARVING CHILDREN. 

MEANWHILE, corporations will receive $1.8 billion in tax breaks to ensure major profits keep flowing in -- while putting an end to Michigan’s practice of not taxing retirement income and seeking to increase taxes on Michigan's working poor! (download pdf)

"Currently, someone in the poorest 20 percent of Michigan taxpayers pays a tax rate of 8.9 percent, while someone in the richest one percent pays 5.3 percent. In addition to trying to make an unfair tax system even more problematic for Michigan’s low-income residents, Snyder has also asked that the state be given the power to dismiss local government and appoint emergency 'town managers' who could break contracts and 'strip powers from elected officials.'"

When we can no longer count on government to stand up for the weakest and sickest among us, we must determine --at all costs -- how to ensure that our children, elders and the infirmed are protected. What are you prepared to do?

Sources: Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, NAACP-Detroit, Wayne County Social Services, Coalition to Keep Michigan Warm, and Michigan League of Human Services.

Children's Press Conference Postponed till Sep 15

The MWRO Press Conference, Don't Throw 25,000 Children Off Welfare and Into the Streets, scheduled for Thursday, September 8 has been POSTPONED until Thursday, September 15 at Noon. It will still be held at Cadillac Place, 3044 W. Grand Blvd (between Cass and Second).

Several community organizations and elected officials have contacted us to appear. Please join us!

What Have Poor People Done to Deserve Such Hatred?

The foundation on which society rests has been permanently altered. The question is this: What Have Poor People Done To Deserve Such Hatred?

The State House of Michigan has passed House Bill #4409 to separate welfare families from cash assistance if they have reached their lifetime cap of 48 months, retroactively. In the worst job market, the worst housing market, the worst spike in violence in decades, and the worst spike up in suicides as well, is this the time to kick poor people off? They will no longer be able to pay for rent, mortgages, lights, gas and water.

Yesterday, yet another dagger was pushed into the frail bodies of these low income families, also supported by a gang of demonic public officials. As these families are identified as no longer eligible for cash, their Social Security numbers will be sent to the State Police so they can cross-checked with existing open warrants.

If a family member has an outstanding warrant for jay walking, child support, a moving traffic violation that has not been addressed, they can expect to found and arrested and held until that court matter is settled. That person's component of the family Food Stamps will be removed and will not be retroactively restored when and if the court case is settled.

As the foundation of society is crumbling, workers must work harder to understand these new dynamics that will forever more control our lives. There is no middle class -- the middle of what? There is one working class, some earn this much while others earn that much and some earn no money at all, but we are all still one class.

Technology that used to enhance labor now replaces it. Think about the U.S. Post Office, self-check out counters at grocery stores, ATM cards that replaced our visits with tellers inside banks, etc. Think of the new "zip rental car" that has streamlined the process of renting cars without agents to manage that task. Enterprise, Avis, Hertz, Dollar employees and the rest will soon feel the sting of
mass layoffs as soon as these mega-agencies perfect this procedure and install this newest technology in place of human beings.

People-workers have to envision what kind of new world we want to see, who it should care for, how it should care for us, and make certain that we put steps in place to "make it so." The needs of the many must always outweigh the needs of the few!

The June 30th, 2012, March To Washington will underscore that theme: One Class,
One Cause! We are organizing across the country for this mega-event that will be the beginning of eliminating poverty. You only have 298 days left to get involved. Do something today!! http://www.end-poverty.org/ Email: endpoverty2012@gmail.com, or call: (313) 964-0618.

Image screen shot from Media Voices for Children

Press Release: Don't Throw 25,000 Children Off Welfare and Into the Streets

Michigan Welfare Rights invites the public to join us at this Press Conference on September 8, 2011 at noon (press release below)  to denounce the upcoming welfare cuts against children. You are also invited to speak up about about other major state issues that your family is facing due to cutbacks by politicians and this wretched economy.

 

Local organizations and elected officials who oppose the cuts are invited to participate in this press conference, too.

Download Press Release

Contact Maureen Taylor, State Chair, MWRO for more information (313) 964-0618.

Coddle the Rich, Mistreat the Poor

This Sunday, The New York Times printed an opinion piece by Warren Buffet penned, "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich." The billionaire investor took the extraordinary step of outing fellow billionaires by openly acknowledging that his filthy rich class of friends receive such extraordinary tax breaks from the federal government -- many of which they didn't ask for and don't need -- that they think its time to give some back, pay a little more. He candidly states:

"These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places."

Nice friends, indeed.

Meanwhile, a recent study on the effects of the recession and national foreclosure crisis on the well-being of children found that their financial insecurity is resulting in long-term health consequences. Researchers concluded that "low-income children will likely suffer academically, economically and socially long after their parents have recovered," in part, due to unstable environments and often changing schools.

It's a travesty how services and assistance for low-income families continue to be slashed while mega-rich billionaires rake in tax breaks that they don't need or want. Sadly, the poor will always be scapegoats for greedy, postulating politicians looking to fill their own pockets.

We agree that Warren Buffet and his billionaire friends have been coddled long enough and they should pay their fair share of taxes. But theirs is no crisis of conscience. They know history and the consequences that ensue when poor people continue to be mistreated, suffer and grow desperate. London knows this well, too.

Image from janinsanfran, Creative Commons

Why We March June 2012: Welfare Recipients Are Expendable

The foundation on which society rests has been changed forever.

Picture Leonardo DiCaprio perched on the balcony of the Titanic, holding on to Rose's hand as the ship which has broken in half, stands straight up just before it goes into the the icy waters.  He yells out, "THIS IS IT!!"

Today, the State of Michigan shouted out the same thing: Letters went out across the State alerting all Family Independence Program (FIP) recipients that they may have reached the limit of welfare support.  A second letter will go out at a later date to select which families will be culled out of cash assistance forever -- along with a second note informing them where to go for the limited help they still may qualify for.

Governor Rick Snyder has determined that $64m dollars can be saved if MI stops caring for poor families. The death warrant was signed by the Governor on August 9th, 2011, shoving some 14,000 poor families -- all with minor children -- into some kind of "hell" where they will be killed off a little at a time.

These first 14,000 will be followed by more and more until all the poor families who have been on welfare assistance for 4 years are kicked out. They are on a train headed toward the concentration camps of wont:

First stop, Public Shelter Avenue where some get off and seek living arrangements in local shelters.  Girls go to the left, boys go to the right...train keeps moving toward its final destination.

Next stop, Foster Care Junction where some of the children are taken away from mostly mothers too poor to care for them any longer.

Third stop, Suicide Canyon where some moms so stressed, saddened and crushed by the loss of their home, their property, their support, will decide they are "bad" parents and the children would be better off without them. Or, some of the older children in these stressed families -- separated from friends, separated from school activities, can't go to the Prom -- will consider suicide-pacts as a viable option.
 
Fourth Stop, Murderer's Cave where some will resort to inward violence like we are witnessing on Channel 2,4, and 7 daily -- shootings, knifings, clubbings, killing in every shape and form committed by people already on the edge.

Final stop, the Burning Fields where the message is clear: it costs too much money to keep your family alive. Governors across the nation are examining this strategy that saves State dollars. 
 
The ASSEMBLY TO END POVERTY has called for a National MARCH ON WASHINGTON, June 30th 2011. Get involved asap. Email endpoverty2012@gmail.com, or call: (313) 964-0618.  There are 323 days left. Do Something!!! 

Image from State of Michigan

Starved for a Brighter Future

Reposted from comrades at the Welfare Rights Initiative at Hunter College-CUNY

Krsytle Cruz, the mother of a bright 4 year old girl, recently graduated from the Hunter College Nursing program. She received welfare while she earned her degree. The welfare agency in New York City told her she had to complete 35 hours of workfare each week. For four year college, New York welfare law only counts work-study and internships—not academic classes.

This doesn’t make any sense. Almost 90% of women receiving welfare who graduate college are lifted out of poverty. The ripple effect on kids attaining higher education is well-documented, too. Fortunately, Assemblyman Keith Wright has introduced a bill that would bring New York state welfare policy in line with federal policy and recognize the indisputable connection between educational opportunity and economic opportunity.

Through the Welfare Right Initiative at Hunter College, Krystle was able to complete 35 hours of internships and work-study each week while raising a family, attending classes and studying. It was a struggle that not all students can tackle. She was able to stay in school in part because of considerable advocacy on her own behalf. On average, Krystle was called into the welfare office twice a month and sent notices that she and her little girl would be cut off from food stamps or Medicaid. Even though she fully documented all her activity, she was still told that her hard work to acquire a college degree—work that gives her and her daughter opportunities for a better life—didn’t count.

When I last spoke to Krystle, she said: "In my own experience with women receiving public assistance, I have observed how their strong desire to go to school is crushed by caseworkers telling them that they cannot. Instead, women are sent to dead-end workfare assignments. The family remains starved for money, and starved for a brighter future."

A recent New York Times article reported that low-wage workers who move from welfare to employment often fail to advance because they need advanced skills and higher education. But Krystle was able to realize her dream and break out of this cycle. Her caretaking of sick family members led her to pursue nursing. Her family's pride in her accomplishment is shared by her college president, fellow students, and others who today receive public assistance. Better welfare policy would create more stories like hers.

(Image courtesy of Welfare Rights Initiative)

Homelessness: "America's Youngest Outcasts"

Yesterday's national story reporting that 1 in 50 children in America are homeless raises, again, our concerns about how much the current financial bailout plans will help low-income and poor families. “Children without homes are on the frontline of the nation’s economic crisis. These numbers will grow as home foreclosures continue to rise,” said Ellen L. Bassuk, M.D., president of the National Center on Family Homelessness.

The report concludes that states with the highest number of homeless children are: TX, CA, LA, GA, and FL. When the numbers are examined along with children's health problems, the worst performing states are: TX, GA, AR, NM, and LA. Moreover, one-third of the nation's homeless population are families with children. It's also believed that "the current home foreclosure crisis will be adding a new demographic to these statistics: middle-class blacks and Latinos" who were previously stable until pieces of their life--jobs, health, home--continued to break away.

In this report, Michigan ranks 29th overall among America's Youngest Outcasts for (1) Extent of Child Homelessness, (2) Child Well-being, (3) Risk for Child Homelessness, and (4) State Policy and Planning Efforts. However, it ranks 36th for Risk for Child Homelessness, and 38th for Child Well-Being (with 1 being best, 50 being worst).

In the first half of 2006, the Baseline Data Report on the state of Michigan’s Homeless (pdf) found that 56% of homeless persons in families were children, most under the age of 10. Poverty continues to be the greatest cause of homelessness for families.

President Obama has allocated $1.5 billion in stimulus funds to help with homeless prevention funds. Through state governments, families and individuals will be able to apply for short-term mortgage and rental assistance, including help with security deposits and utilities. This is helpful but it's not enough!

The Michigan economy is the worst in the nation! Homeless individuals and poor families are on the edge of survival. With massive housing foreclosures and evictions, large social service cuts, and no job prospects in Michigan, we must do more as a people to help our most vulnerable members of society. Push your elected officials and business leaders to allocate more funding to low-income and poor people's needs. "Bail out the people, not the banks!"

(Image from National Center of Family Homelessness)