Report says Virginia not doing enough for poor
POVERTY IN VIRGINIA: Has the state's safety net failed?
Even during the good times, Virginia isn't doing enough to meet the needs of its poorest residents.
That's the message from the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, which released a report yesterday suggesting that more needs to be done to help those who live in poverty.
The report found that despite a 122 percent increase in unemployment between December 2007 and February 2009, the number of people seeking food stamps rose just 18 percent during that time, and those seeking Temporary Assistance to Needy Families went up by 9.8 percent.
The report pointed out that in 2007, the number of children enrolled in the TANF program was more than 50,000. Yet more than 233,000 children were then living at or below the federal poverty level, which is defined as a household income of $21,000 for a family of four.
Those are "key signals that our safety net programs are not responding as they should," said Michael Cassidy, executive director of the Commonwealth Institute.
The report will likely be part of the discussion today at Virginia's Summit on Poverty and Economic Opportunity at the Omni Hotel in Richmond. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will deliver opening remarks to nearly 100 businesses, community and nonprofit leaders, as well as legislators and state agency representatives, who have convened to create and implement a sustainable plan to fight poverty in Virginia.
The institute's report says the state's strict eligibility requirements for programs like TANF or Medicaid are barriers for many people.
The report suggests that the state should take advantage of stimulus money to create new initiatives and improve insurance assistance for unemployed Virginians.
Virginia could increase the minimum wage, the report says, and expand public health insurance for working parents. The report said currently parents earning more than $6,000 a year likely don't qualify for Medicaid coverage.
Another suggestion was to eliminate unnecessary asset tests, and raise the income test, for those seeking food stamps. Other options called for making the state's earned income tax credit refundable, and overall, doing a better job of reaching out to individuals and families so they're aware of the services available to them.
Contact Holly Prestidge at (804) 649-6945 or
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Before assigning objectivity and absolute accuracy to the report, one must consider that the Commonwealth Institute is a social advocacy group, not part of State Government, and not part of a University. The organization’s title is misleading.
As is almost universally the case when advocates address components of “the safety net”, the report does not address the issue of fraud and abuse which siphons thousands from those legitimately needing and deserving help.
It is probably true that we never can do all that is necessary to help the disadvantaged, but the questions are (1) are we doing all we can afford, and (2) is every possible effort being made to ascertain that we deliver the assistance as efficiently and cost effective as possible (this includes eliminating fraud and abuse and prosecuting those who engage in it). I suspect that if measures were enacted to assure that government employees administering social services worked efficiently and fraud and abuse were dramatically reduced, one would find that a great deal more assistance would be available to those who need and deserve it. Somehow income-redistributionists, who are increasingly vocal and strident, would rather have us believe we are failing in our responsibilities and more tax increases are necessary.
Is it possible this latest report of the Commonwealth Institute might have been motivated by anger that over the General Assembly’s prudent decision to reject unemployment expansion stimulus payments because the Federal Government insisted that the expanded benefits continue after federal funding ceased?
One wonders about the potential involvement of the DNC Chairman in orchestrating this report.
Maybe the poor should do more to help themselves. They could sell their houses (46% of families in “poverty” own one), cars (75% of families in “poverty” own one and 30% of those own more than one), TV’s (97% own one, 50% of those have more than one), microwaves (73% own one), DVD players (78% own one), and get rid of their cable (62% have cable or satellite TV).
The average “poor” family is supported by only 800 hours of work a year (16 hours of work per week).
But what’s the incentive to work when you’re getting all this free money from the government and you still get to watch your TV and drive your car?
to XXXX, The Commonwealth does plenty,
judging by the groceries I see paid for with the food stamp cards, the free or reduced price housing and the number of immigrants (legal and illegal) working jobs that some citizens felt were beneath them.
Go throught he public housing sometime, you will see cars ranging in price from 20K to 40K. Generations of families live there, at some point you would think they would exercise some initiative and try to get out. I have sympathy for the poor, but, I have also seen the system manipulated, twisted and outright cheated by people who have more or less accepted a way of life where the “government” takes care of them from cradle to grave. While this is sad it has become a way of life since the “great society” envisioned by LBJ.
Where to begin? The “Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis” is deceptively misnamed; probably intentionally so. It is, in fact, an emo-advocacy group. The conclusion that Michael Cassidy, executive director, comes to, that there are “key signals that our safety net programs are not responding as they should,“ is only one possible conclusion. Some others might be that people don’t know about those programs, or that some people intentionally avoiding them for what could be a variety of reasons. Similarly, XXXX’s conclusion is not supported by the facts.
I think that its a good thing that the state has strict eligibility test for benefits. Why should people who are making enough money to support their families get state benefits? Some of the other solutions cited in the article, e.g. increase the minimum wage, eliminate asset tests and pre-reimburse the “earned income tax credit,“ are typical left-wing emo pablum. Finally, when the TD cites statistics, it needs to start providing source information, including survey instruments; not to mention links to cited documents that work.
This isn’t a surprise. The Commonwealth doesn’t care about any of it’s citizens except the rich and powerful.
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