- Welfare: Well-meaning, well-funded, well-done?, By John Richardson, October 17, 2010, Portland Press Herald: “Wherever the candidates for governor go in Maine, they say, one question is likely to follow them. What are you going to do about welfare? ‘I have never seen anger this intense about anything, with the possible exception of the Vietnam War,’ said Eliot Cutler, one of three independent candidates on the ballot. The face of welfare in Maine might be a mother buying cigarettes with her state-issued debit card. It might be an elderly neighbor on the edge of becoming homeless. Both pictures are accurate — and that’s one of the reasons that Maine’s complex system of aid to the poor creates starkly different views of welfare and the people who receive it. With a gubernatorial election coming in between a deep recession and a billion-dollar budget crisis, the topic of public assistance for the poor may be the most emotionally charged issue in the Nov. 2 election. Advocates and critics of the system both throw out statistics to support their views, but it is clear that Maine’s system is facing historic pressures…”
- Maine welfare system data proves hard to get, By John Richardson, October 17, 2010, Portland Press Herald: “There is nearly universal agreement on one criticism of Maine’s welfare system: Getting detailed information on what the state spends and who gets the money can be a tall order…”
- Poll shows Mainers dissatisfied with, mistrustful of assistance programs, By John Richardson, October 17, 2010, Portland Press Herald: “Maine voters are frustrated and skeptical about the state’s public assistance programs, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage has tapped into that anger far more than his rivals, according to a poll by MaineToday Media…”
- From Welfare to Work: For many Mainers, there’s no free lunch, By John Richardson, October 18, 2010, Portland Press Herald: “It’s 7:30 a.m., and Portland’s General Assistance office is filled with men and women who need help paying their rent or some other basic expense. But they’re here for the day’s job assignments. One by one, they are sent off to clean the city’s homeless shelter, do laundry at the Barron Center, clean up a park or do clerical work at City Hall, among other tasks. These days, for thousands of Mainers, welfare is work. And people on the receiving end say they like it that way…”
- Candidates tackle welfare: State’s assistance programs face a political reality check, By John Richardson, October 19, 2010, Portland Press Herald: “From a business executive who grew up in poverty to a longtime legislator who defends public assistance programs, the candidates for governor have widely differing perspectives on welfare in Maine. Whoever wins Nov. 2 is sure to oversee changes in Maine’s welfare system…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty