Cash assistance cases still above pre-recession levels, By Claire Withycombe, July 24, 2017, East Oregonian: “The number of Oregonians receiving federal cash assistance remains higher than it was at the start of the Great Recession, but state analysts expect the number to shrink to pre-recession levels by early 2019…”
Category: Assistance Programs
Welfare Reform – Washington, DC
District does an about-face on welfare reform with decision to keep helping long-term recipients, By Paul Duggan, July 24, 2017, Washington Post: “In 2011, long-term welfare recipients in the District had reason to be gravely worried, because the D.C. Council and then-Mayor Vincent C. Gray seemed intent on ending benefits entirely for families that had been on the rolls for longer than 60 months. The cutoff date, dubbed ‘the cliff,’ was set for October of this year, after which about 6,000 impoverished adults with roughly 12,000 children would be left to fend for themselves financially…”
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
- If SNAP benefits are cut, who hurts the most?, By Laura Santhanam, July 19, 2017, PBS Newshour: “Three years ago, Debbie Byrd scanned her barren kitchen and then burst into tears. A single mother, Byrd worked full-time but still didn’t earn enough to feed herself and her three young daughters. The next day, she applied for food stamps…”
- Pilot program helps food stamp recipients find jobs that pay better or offer better benefits, By Martha Stoddard, July 18, 2017, Omaha World-Herald: “Two state agencies have joined forces to help some Grand Island residents get new and better jobs and reduce their need for public benefits…”