Pennsylvania General Assistance program ends today, By Clara Ritger, August 1, 2012, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “With Gerald Ragin’s state cash assistance set to end today, the 46-year-old McKeesport resident will be spending the day with a caseworker, filling out an application for federal disability benefits. Welfare advocates say that he may be waiting a long time for help, because his main option for replacing his monthly state General Assistance checks could take at least a year to enroll. In the meantime, he and 61,000 other Pennsylvanians will no longer receive approximately $200 in monthly benefits due to state budget cuts. Those who qualified for aid through the General Assistance program included disabled or sick unemployed adults without dependent children, domestic violence survivors and adults participating in drug and alcohol treatment programs…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty