Study: Many Va. households lack financial security, By Zinie Chen Sampson, March 1, 2011, Washington Post: “A significant number of households across the state lack enough income and assets to cover basic needs and unplanned expenses, and the federal poverty level inadequately measures how much it costs to be economically self-sufficient, according to a University of Virginia study. The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service report said the average two-adult, two-child family in Virginia needs about $44,000, or twice the federal poverty level, to pay for their monthly living expenses. The study shows that 24.2 percent of Virginia’s families earn below $44,000…”
Tag: Virginia
Foster Care System and Program Eligibility – Virginia
Va. Tech helps with foster care, By Kafia A. Hosh, January 10, 2011, Washington Post: “In the 1990s, Fairfax County experienced a surge in the number of foster care cases, mirroring a national increase. Yet the county’s budget was stretched thin, and busy social workers and other county employees had little time to navigate a maze of external government programs from which certain clients could benefit. Facing an overwhelming case-load, the county teamed up with Virginia Tech to launch a pilot program that checked whether a child was eligible for federal and state funding. ‘It was tough for [social workers] to have these responsibilities and work with the families,’ said Melony A. Price-Rhodes, a principal investigator and the program’s director with Virginia Tech. Since then, the program, which officials say is the first and most extensive of its kind in the United States, has saved Fairfax millions of dollars. It has been a model for similar programs in Hawaii and California. The annual contract, valued at about $500,000, saved Fairfax $4.63 million in fiscal 2010, county officials said – for every $1 the county spent on the program, it got back $8…”
Uninsured Adults and Dental Care – Virginia
Uninsured Virginians may lose free dental care, By Phillip Lucas, July 6, 2010, Washington Post: “Advocates for uninsured Virginians say slow action from state and federal officials means that thousands of residents who could have received free dental care this summer will go unserved unless Congress intervenes. Virginia received authorization from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to use money from the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families fund to provide dental care to uninsured residents. The emergency fund is a federal block grant established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and it is supposed to serve as a safety net for families looking for employment opportunities and other types of assistance. Virginia requested permission to use some of the money for dental care for uninsured adults…”