With Marion County on board, Indiana’s welfare system is now fully ‘hybrid’, By Mary Beth Schneider, February 20, 2012, Indianapolis Star: “Marion County today becomes the final county in the state to move to the so-called ‘hybrid’ welfare eligibility system. The change represents the final and perhaps biggest challenge for the state’s Family and Social Services Administration since the new system was implemented in January 2010. The number of people receiving benefits in Marion County is 20 percent of all welfare cases in the state. About 125,000 people in Marion County receive various services, including Medicaid and other health programs, food stamps and job training. Starting today, they’ll not only be able to visit the welfare offices as they are accustomed to doing — though some are in new locations — they also will be able to access records online and call a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week toll-free number to check benefits or report changes to their status. People now will be able to enroll online or walk into an office, without an appointment, to get help…”
Day: February 20, 2012
Unemployment Benefit Cards – Rhode Island
RI’s unemployment card fees questioned, By David Klepper (AP), February 20, 2012, Boston Globe: “Rhonda Taylor had never been on unemployment until she was laid off from her information technology job in 2008. When she received the debit card she’d use to access her unemployment benefits from the state, she assumed it worked like any other bank card. But after a month using the card, the North Providence resident noticed she was being charged a fee every time she checked her balance at an ATM. Every time she used her PIN to make a purchase. Every time she tried to withdraw cash. A dollar here, $1.50 there. The fees added up. Twenty dollars a month matters, she said, when you’re unemployed and relying on the state. The fees come from JPMorgan Chase, which the state selected in 2007 to operate Rhode Island’s debit card system. The state Senate voted last week to ask Gov. Lincoln Chafee to review the fees…”
State Budget Cuts and Disability
- NH joins Idaho in new welfare limits for disabled, By Norma Love (AP), February 19, 2012, Idaho Statesman: “Legally blind since she was 9, Chrissy Fairbanks just got word she’s losing the $363 state welfare check she got each month from New Hampshire because she gets federal assistance due to her disability. The 31-year-old Keene resident says her girls, ages 11 and 12, are taking the news well that their clothes will come from the clearance rack and there will be no more trips to the ice skating rink. ‘I already sat down with the girls and told them we were going to have a budget cut. The grabbing something to eat when we go out walking isn’t going to happen,’ she said. Of the 5,600 New Hampshire families that receive state welfare assistance, Fairbanks is among 1,136 families who will lose that aid because the state is counting Supplemental Security Income for residents too disabled to work in calculating their welfare grant. Another 420 people will receive reduced welfare benefits as a result, said state Family Assistance Director Terry Smith…”
- Lawmakers urged to revoke 20 percent pay cut on personal care assistants, By Elizabeth Dunbar, February 17, 2012, Minnesota Public Radio: ” Some personal care assistants in Minnesota are urging lawmakers to revoke a new law that cuts their pay by 20 percent. More than 17,000 Minnesotans with disabilities rely on personal care assistants to help them with everyday tasks like eating and getting dressed. In about a third of the cases, family members are paid to provide this care to their adult relatives. To help balance the state’s budget last year, the Legislature reduced personal care assistant wages paid to family members. A judge has temporarily blocked the cut. But personal care assistants say lawmakers still need to find a permanent fix…”