Advocacy Resources     The Welfare Agitator - Volume 11, No. 3 December 2004 Just Harvest Volunteers Enthusiastic About Voter Campaign When Just Harvest launched a voter registration and Get-Out-the-Vote campaign last August, staff and clients at the agencies we partnered with were very enthusiastic. “We wanted to get our students involved in the political process,” said one teacher at a GED class at Goodwill, “but we didn’t know how.” Bringing together 50 social service agencies and groups, our “Just Vote!” campaign registered new voters and signed up “pledgers” who wanted to be reminded about Election Day. We organized phone banks to call the new voters and pledgers—a total of 6200 people. We told people where their polling places were and educated them about ID requirements, absentee rules and provisional ballots. We developed a Voters’ Guide on poverty and hunger issues and mailed it to 10,000 people. And we registered 90 new voters at the jail and 47 of them voted by absentee. Despite many people’s disappointment with the election results there were some bright spots. Florida and Nevada both held successful referendums to raise their minimum wage, even though both of them went for Bush. There were record turn-outs all over the country, including among young people. Surveys showed that a vast majority of voters oppose the war in Iraq, regardless of how they voted. But what we always knew was confirmed: voting is not enough. To re-instate fairness in our country, and be sure that important programs continue, we need to work all year long. Just Harvest and the Welfare Justice Project continue our work for social and economic justice. Seasons Greetings and happy New Year to you all!! Food for thought: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" - Martin Luther King New Law Trashes Utilities Protections Paying little heed to a broad, vocal statewide coalition, the PA General Assembly passed legislation that reduces 26-year old consumer protections for vulnerable customers. The mis-named “Responsible Utility Consumer Protection Act “ (SB 677) may help Philadelphia Gas Works get out of debt, but it will also force many people across the state to have to chose between heating their homes and buying medicine or food. This measure will gut the Public Utility Commission's ability to protect consumers. Senior citizen and consumer groups’ lobbying throughout the fall, succeeded in removing some of the worst provisions of the original bill. But the final bill, passed in the wee hours of the morning of Nov. 22, will still harm some of our most vulnerable citizens. This bill takes effect immediately. People with incomes above 250% of the poverty level are no longer protected from winter terminations. In addition, utility companies can: Require all customers who apply for utility service to pay an up-front security deposit in full before receiving service if their credit does not meet the utility company’s standard. Impose payment arrangements that may be unaffordable for customers. Prevent low-income CAP (Customer Assistance Program) customers from entering into payment arrangements or from modifying unworkable payment arrangements. Require all applicants to provide the utility company with the names of all adults residing in the home, making innocent adults responsible for the bill. Legal Advocates are considering filing a class-action lawsuit. LIHEAP IS NOW OPEN!! The LIHEAP Program (Cash & Crisis) is now open and is scheduled to close on March 24, 2005. You can apply in your County Assistance Office or at one of the following locations: One Smithfield St. (downtown), 1st fl.; A.V.A.C. at 1913 Freeport Rd., 1st fl.; or at 640 Braddock Ave.. You can also apply online at www.compass.state.pa.us. For more information, call 412-565-0330 or 412-880-0964. TANF Still Not Reauthorized? Since our last newsletter, TANF was extended yet another time to March 31, 2005. There were no changes to the policy or loss of money. However, TANF Reauthorization seems to be a nightmare that never ends! Since its extension, there hasn’t been much work done on TANF. But welfare activists and advocates across the nation, who we are in coalition with, predict that harsh changes to TANF will be done not through reauthorization, but through either a Budget Resolution or through capping the amount of money for the program (reducing the amount needed to run the program as is). Unfortunately, not only TANF is at risk of being cut. Many programs that benefit low-income families could be cut through this process; programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, Food Stamps, Housing, School lunch/child nutrition programs and Social Services. A national coalition called the Welfare Engine recently convened groups from around the country. The outcome of the gathering was a plan to strategize on ways to stop the Budget Resolution from going through. In order for our efforts to be successful, it is crucial that we join with other advocacy groups/coalitions that are affected by the potential budget cuts and work together to prevent any of our programs from being cut. We are currently seeking/recruiting groups to join with us in this fight! If you are interested in joining us or would like more information, contact Rochelle at Just Harvest, 412-431-8960. Give Your Paychecks a Boost! It’s tax season and there are valuable benefits are available that could put thousands of dollars back into your pocket. The Earned Income Tax Credit is a federal tax credit to help workers make ends meet. If you worked full or part-time in 2004 and made less than $35,458 you could be eligible for up to $4,300! You must file a federal tax return and attach schedule EIC in order to take advantage of this benefit. The Child Tax Credit is for workers who earned more than $10,750. Eligible workers can get up to $1000 for each dependent child under age 17. Attach form 8812 to your federal tax return to receive the credit. Contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 or visit www.irs.gov to find out more about these and other tax benefits. PA Tax Back also gives tax money back to low-income workers. Workers below a certain income level owe no state income tax or only partial tax. File Schedule SP with your state taxes. Starting January 20 Just Harvest will be preparing simple tax returns free of charge for low-income working families and individuals at our office on the South Side again this tax season. Call 412-431-8964 after January 10th for an appointment. Day, evening, and weekend; appointments are available. NO WALK-INS. DPW Plans to Simplify Reporting Changes to SAR (Semi-Annual Reporting) for cash assistance are projected to take place as of January 2005. They plan to send a client notice to everybody affected by the changes. The changes, intended to make re-certification for programs easier, are as follows: All TANF consumers should be enrolled in SAR - which, eliminates the 6-month face-to-face interview. The SAR form will serve as the 6-month review. Re-determination/re-certification dates for all programs that an individual or family is enrolled in (cash, food stamps & medical assistance) should be aligned– Eliminating the need to re-determine/re-certify for benefits in different months and allows the consumer to complete a re-determination/re-certification for all benefits at the same time. All cash consumers would be required to report changes in income by the 10th of the month following the month of the change - Promote consistency between programs because the reporting policy for cash is the same as the reporting policy for Food Stamps. You should receive an Advance notifying you of all adverse actions, as a result of information received from the SAR form. New Lifeline Telephone Program Also, Lifeline (low cost telephone program for low-income people) consumers may now subscribe to any optional service such as voicemail, caller ID or call waiting (restricted prior to this bill). DPW will provide enrollment information to all of their consumers who are eligible for Lifeline. REMINDER! The Department of Public Welfare has an Emergency Shelter Assistance Program to assist with evictions/foreclosures. Call your caseworker to see if you qualify. Call the DPW Communications Dept. @ 412-565-2146 or Rochelle at Just Harvest, 412-431-8960 for more info. You don’t have to be on Welfare to qualify! Welfare Justice Project Holds Education and Training Discussions The Welfare Justice Project conducted three focus groups in October. The meetings focused on how well DPW caseworkers are doing, informing consumers of their rights and options. The Homewood-Brushton Family Support Center, Northview Heights Family Support Center, and the Duquesne Family Support Center graciously accommodated our meetings. Just Harvest staffer Rochelle Jackson and intern Victor Moore facilitated. A total of 30 welfare consumers participated. When the participants were asked, "Should access to education and training be a priority for DPW"? they all responded with an enthusiastic yes! Preliminary results indicate that a great majority of welfare consumers are still not being fully informed of their education and training rights and options. The final report will be out soon. We intend to use the results to further advocate for DPW to more effectively inform all consumers of their education and training rights and options. We are also preparing some information to help consumers make informed decisions about pursuing education. Contact us if you want to work with us. Read Back issues of The Welfare Agitator The Welfare Agitator - Volume 11, No 2 August 2004