Issues and Campaigns
These are the current campaigns that the Welfare Justice Project is working on:
Access to Benefits
The issue: Many eligible individuals are denied, delayed, or deterred from receiving the public assistance they need.
Access to Benefits is an ongoing campaign aimed at eliminating these barriers. Currently, we are advocating for the following improvements to the food stamp program:
- Making the food stamp program more accessible, by increasing the asset limit by $1000.
- Excluding retirement accounts from assets counted.
- Exempting all childcare costs, so that families are eligible for more food stamps.
- Increasing the minimum benefit from $10 to $25
- Simplifying the application process
Please contact your congressperson and tell them that food stamps are important, need to be funded, and need to be fair. For more information about legislation that affects Food Stamps, visit our Legislation page.
We are also addressing the growing problem of many individuals and families being cut off from their benefits without receiving notices in the mail. If this affects you, please contact Rochelle at (412) 431-8960.
Access to Benefits works hard to change policies so that caseworkers are required to review applications and determine eligibility quickly. We've also held several public hearings with DPW and advocated for changes in policies in Allegheny County, which included:
- Posting a Client Bill of Rights
- Allow 13 business days to file for an appeal
- Ten days notice for appointments
- Allow consumers to own a reliable car while receiving benefits!
- Allow 5 months of food stamps after cash closes.
- Voicemail in all welfare offices
- Extend office hours
- Replace/Repair ACCESS cards at any time
- Office Choice Policy
All of these policies have been enacted, except for extending office hours. Clients must schedule an appointment with their caseworker to meet with them in the evening.
Education for All
The issue: In 1996, welfare programs were radically changed. AFDC was changed into Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). This is what is known as “welfare reform.” The goal of TANF was to cut people off welfare by limiting benefits to 5 years in a lifetime and by imposing strict work requirements on recipients. The law was also changed so that each state can design their own TANF program (within federal guidelines) as opposed to the old system that was the same throughout the whole country.
Because the goal of welfare reform was to move people off of the welfare rolls, TANF emphasizes “Work First”
- “Work First” means that welfare clients are expected (and sometimes coerced) to take any job they are offered.
- Welfare mothers who are trying to get a college degree are often forced to make the choice to quit school and take a low-paying job.
- Even welfare consumers who are high school drop-outs are usually encouraged to get a job rather than get their GED.
Studies show that education and training dramatically improves job options and the chances for reaching economic self-sufficiency. In other words, the further a person goes in school, the less likely they will need welfare:
- 88% of former welfare recipients who earn an associates’ degree remain economically independent.
- Nearly 100% of former welfare recipients who obtain bachelor’s degrees remain economically independent.
Education for All wants opportunities for education to be available to everyone, including people on welfare. We are advocating at the state and federal level for changes in TANF policies:
- Federal: welfare reform that includes education as a "work activity"
- State: legislation that expands opportunities for TANF recipients to go to school while receiving TANF.
In the past, Education for All advocated for and won a Time Out program, which allows TANF recipients who are enrolled in educational programs to get time off of their TANF clock.
Economic Justice
The issue: The deck is stacked unfairly against poor people. A person can work full-time and barely make ends meet. Poor people lack the resources and opportunities that their middle-income counterparts have access to, and as a result are often charged more for the same services and items.
We work in coalitions with other groups to promote economic justice. We are currently promoting:
- Federal legislation that will increase the minimum wage throughout the country.
- State legislation that will create a state level earned income credit.
More
In 2007, we are also promoting a state utilities bill that will promote fairer treatment towards lower-income utility customers.
