State’s food stamp cash-out policy no longer the best option for many aid recipients, By Alexandra Zavis, July 5, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “Leaning on a cane, Donjean Gardner eases open her fridge and surveys the contents: half a Subway sandwich, several boxes of tangerine juice, a jar of pickles and half a jar of salsa. Her one good meal a day comes from Meals on Wheels. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in her 30s, Gardner traveled the world for 20 more years working in television production. But the disease caught up with her eventually. Now 70, she is mostly confined to the metal bed that dominates her cramped apartment in Echo Park. Her only income is $845 a month in cash assistance for impoverished elderly or disabled people, most of which is spent on rent. She thought she might qualify for food stamps. To her dismay, the answer was no. California is the only state that does not allow its 1.2 million recipients of federal Supplemental Security Income to apply for the benefit. The state decided in 1974 to increase its matching grant – known as the State Supplementary Payment – by $10 a month in place of administering food stamps for them. This additional amount has not changed in more than three decades…”
Tag: Supplemental Security Income
State Budget Cuts to Social Services – California, Missouri
- Schwarzenegger’s plan could cut deep for those who depend on state stipends, By Susan Ferriss, February 1, 2010, Sacramento Bee: “For Capitol insiders, it’s easy to chalk it up as a bluff when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes terminating welfare-to-work and in-home care for the disabled if California doesn’t get billions in federal money he’s requested. But it’s no chess game for a welfare-to-work mother seriously trying to find a job, or a person in a wheelchair whose living stipend has already been slashed twice in one year. Social services spending is a big chunk of the state budget and is often cited as a prime example of runaway spending. Indeed, national comparisons show California is home to nearly a third of all welfare-to-work recipients. The typical $694 monthly welfare-to-work grant a mother and two children receive in California trails only Alaska and New York. The $845 monthly grant for low-income elderly or disabled individuals under the SSI/SSP program likewise is third-highest in the nation. But numbers also show that California’s safety net is getting less generous all the time…”
- Missouri governor’s budget proposal would trim into social safety net, By Jason Noble, January 31, 2010, Kansas City Star: “About $1.4 million in state funds reaches 844 teen parents and at-risk youths in nine sites across Missouri, connecting them with mentors and delivering parenting tips and life skills. Come July 1, however, state aid may drop to zero dollars under the budget proposal released earlier this month by Gov. Jay Nixon. ‘This is tragic what’s happening right now in the state,’ said Amy Beechner-McCarthy, executive director of the Community Partnership in Rolla. ‘And, unfortunately, it’s those with the least voice that are hurting the most.’ In his budget, Nixon strived to make $253 million in cuts with scissor snips rather than machete swipes. The effort was lauded by many in the social services arena, who feared deep cuts to education and aid to the poor. But even the smallest cuts will have real effects on the state’s social safety net, service providers said. The cuts, if carried through by the General Assembly, will cause populations in difficult circumstances to lose services. Advocates worry it also may end up costing the state more in the long run…”
State Cuts to Social Services – California, Maine
- Governor warns of deep fiscal crisis as he unveils California budget plan, By Evan Halper and Shane Goldmacher, January 9, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned Friday that the state remained deep in fiscal crisis and proposed steep reductions in almost every major government program, but many lawmakers quickly dismissed his ideas as stale and vowed to push for alternatives such as tax hikes. His proposal, aimed at closing a $19.9-billion gap, and the response to it foreshadow another year of paralysis in Sacramento as the governor and lawmakers struggle with the latest crippling shortfall. The new budget blueprint — the governor’s last before term limits force him from office — comes after the state’s epic financial problems have already become a target of ridicule around the world. Even after $60 billion in program cuts, tax increases and federal stimulus money over the last year, California’s books are so far out of balance that the state is once again in danger of having to issue IOUs…”
- Budget proposal ‘disaster’ for the poor, By Troy Anderson, January 12, 2010, Los Angeles Daily News: “The governor’s proposed state budget could mean a record loss of nearly $4 billion for Los Angeles County, putting hundreds of thousands of needy residents at risk of losing welfare checks, in-home care, health care and other services, officials said Tuesday. ‘It’s very stressful for us when we hear the state budget has a $20 billion shortfall,’ said Gloria Molina, who chairs the Board of Supervisors. ‘We know there is going to be an awful lot of cuts made for many of our services… That is terrifying to all of us.’ Under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget, Molina said, nearly 400,000 county welfare recipients could lose $1 billion in benefits…”
- Social services cuts worry Bangor, Portland, By Glenn Adams (AP), January 12, 2010, Bangor Daily News: “Lawmakers expressed horror over proposed cuts in the state program that helps some of the most desperate Mainers on Monday as they began reviewing potential social service cuts recommended by Gov. John Baldacci’s administration. The program is called general assistance and it serves as a last resort for the homeless, the hungry and ‘those out on the street,’ Sen. Joseph Brannigan said during a hearing before two committees assessing numerous cuts. The cuts in Baldacci’s supplemental two-year budget seek to address a $438 million gap between revenues and expenses…”