March 2005 Volume 11, Issue 1 TANF Reauthorization is finally moving! In Congress, the Senate Finance Committee has approved a b-partisan TANF reauthorization bill (both parties crafted and agreed to the final bill). Although both parties agreed on it, its basis was Sen. Grassley’s (R-IL) PRIDE bill from last year. Last year child care was a major issue, and an amendment to add $6 million in child care funds passed the Committee but never left the floor. This year child care is still a key issue. Senate leaders have found a way to add money for child care but it is at the risk of another low-income program—the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC would be changed to deny the benefits to some immigrant children and families. Advocates across the nation have expressed outrage about this, so the Senators are supposedly working on an alternative to offset the child care funding. Now that there is movement on the bill, advocates have put pressure on the Senate to ensure that TANF not be included in the budget reconciliation. There has been some indication that the Senate will oblige. If TANF is included in as part of a budget-cutting reconciliation bill, TANF and related programs will likely be targeted for deep cuts. What kind of changes to TANF are in the bill? Well, among the improvements was the mandatory increase in child care funding (which was a bi-partisan compromise), access to post-secondary education (will count toward the work requirement) and expanded access to barrier reduction activities (drug & alcohol, domestic violence counseling, literacy, etc.). The bill will also increase the work hours to 34 hours a week (of which 24 must be in “core work” activities) and increase the work participation requirements for states. There is still opportunity for more improvements to the bill! Thanks to hard scrabble work done by dozens of grassroots groups, largely coordinated by the Welfare Engine and national allies, the Senate Bill (though far from perfect) reflects a number of concerns raise by low-income constituents. The House Republican leadership re-introduced H.R. 4 as H.R. 240 (it’s the same bill that was passed in 2003 and 2004). The House Ways and Means Committee has not announced their schedule for considering the reauthorization bill, but they did hold a TANF hearing on February 10th. House Democrats also introduced a TANF reauthorization bill, H.R. 751. Because it will be virtually impossible for the reauthorization process to be completed by the deadline (the current TANF extension runs out on March 31), another extension is needed. The U.S. House granted a 3-month extension (through June 30th) on March 14th, the Senate is expected to unanimously consent as well. Federal/State Budget Proposals Would Hurt Vulnerable People The budget Congress is currently debating is a political document not a real budget document. It offers no deficit reduction but large cuts in basic services. Big ticket items --- the war, homeland security, massive tax cuts for the rich, and Social Security—are not even on the table! Forty-eight percent of the increase in the federal deficit since 2001 is because of these tax cuts! Call your Congressperson and US Senators. Tell them to oppose any final budgets that cut basic services or set rigid caps. In Harrisburg, Gov. Rendell has proposed sweeping changes to the Medical Assistance Program and a 14% cut to the State Food Purchase Program. For people on medical assistance, new service caps, increased co-payments, restricted eligibility and some new premiums will affect the most vulnerable. The General Assembly must pass the budget by June 30. Call your state Representative and Senator. Tell them not to cut medicaid services or food for hungry people. Join us at the W. PA Welfare Coalition meeting Tuesday, April 5th @ 11:00, at Just Harvest We will be discussing TANF Reauthorization, DPW’s Education & Training policy and planning for an upcoming meeting with Allegheny County DPW executives to discuss education & training. Call us @ 412-431-8960to RSVP. We need your input! What’s New? EBT- Improvements to EBT are on the way!! DPW has contracted with J.P. Morgan for the EBT operation. Here’s what that means to consumers: Consumers can have EBT cards mailed to them. PIN’s will be able to be done by phone rather than in the office by fall 2005. Customer call-in center will be located in Chicago, instead of India (where the center is now) -changed because of political pressure. There is more cash access; more ATM’s with the Quest logo are available. If you have Internet access you can go online and check your account balance, check your account activity for the last 6 months, change your PIN, and e-mail customer service for problems. The website is www.ebtaccount.jpmorgan.com. SPOC- If a TANF consumer entering the SPOC program has had any type of education & training in the past, they will not be referred for any additional training. An exception can be made for training that is out of date. If you have been denied education & training on the basis that you were already trained, but you don’t feel that you are adequately trained to find employment, contact Rochelle at Just Harvest. LIHEAP EXTENDED!! The LIHEAP Program (Cash & Crisis) has been extended! Pennsylvania received an additional $3,373,857 for LIHEAP. The program will now end on April 8th, 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. More TANF Consumers Going to School!! You may know that DPW adopted a set of “Good Cause” policies in December 2003 to make education and training more accessible to consumers and to encourage more of them to participate. They have tracked the number of clients engaged in education and training in 2004. The numbers look pretty good; the policy has clearly helped more people go to school. The total number of consumers participating in education & training in 2004 went from 309 in January 2004 to 3274 in December 2004! Although these numbers show that more parents are pursuing education & training, they are still very low in the bigger scheme of things. The Welfare Justice Project surveyed over 100 TANF consumers and conducted three focus groups. Our results indicate that consumers are still uninformed about DPW’s education & training opportunities. Consumers need to know that education & training is more accessible now than before and that it is still an option for them!! We need advocates and service providers to continue encouraging TANF consumers to pursue education & training. The policy is no good if consumers don’t know it exists. Very soon we will have a series of brochures to help consumers with the decision to go to school, including one that will explain DPW’s policy - STAY TUNED. In the meantime, if you’d like some information about the policy, refer to our Welfare Rights Handbook or call Rochelle to have some materials mailed to you. DPW Clarifies Sanction Policy Sanctions were included as a part of TANF (welfare reform) to motivate consumers to comply with the requirements of the program. They were designed to be a last resort for non-compliance. But sanctioning quickly became the first resort rather than the last. It grew completely out of control, resulting in thousands of families losing their benefits regardless of whether or not they had good cause not to comply. Advocates across the state repeatedly brought the issue up with DPW and as a result there have been some changes. DPW now closely monitors consumers who are being sanctioned, verifying whether or not there was good cause. As a result, the number of sanctions have significantly decreased. DPW issued a policy in January 2005 that re-iterated to caseworkers that sanctioning is still a last, least-desirable step—the very last resort. Caseworkers are instructed to pursue all appropriate and available intervention avenues. Here is a summary of the procedure for non-compliance: The caseworker is required to try to contact the consumer either by phone or mail, at least three times. If client cannot be reached, a referral must be made to a CCI contractor (Community Connections Initiative, contracted to work with consumers in non-compliance). If the CCI contractor finds that the consumer refuses to comply, the caseworker must follow up to ensure that domestic violence isn’t an issue. Before any decision is made to sanction, the case must be reviewed by a supervisor. If you feel that you or anyone you know has been unjustly sanctioned, it’s not too late. Chances are you had good cause! Contact your caseworker to find out what you need to do to comply, or call Rochelle at Just Harvest for help with finding out your rights. 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! Last Chance for 2001 Tax Refunds There’s still time to file your taxes and get your refund before April 15th! If you worked any time during 2004, full-time or part-time and earned less than $35,000 you might be eligible for a tax refund from the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, or Pennsylvania Tax Back! If you already filed your 2004 taxes but didn’t file during any of the previous three years (2001, 2002 or 2003) or didn’t get the tax credits you earned, there is still time to get those refunds. You have three years to claim refunds from previous years. The last day to claim refunds from 2001 is April 15, 2005. Just Harvest will prepare simple tax returns free of charge for low-income working families and individuals at our office until April 15th. Call 412-431-8964 to set up an appointment. Day, evening and weekend times are available. Your tax refund will not affect TANF, Food Stamps, housing, CHIP, Medicaid or SSI. If you still have some of the refund left after 2 months, the money may be counted as a resource for TANF, SSI or Food Stamps unless you are saving it through the Family Savings Account Program. Call Terri Balogh at the YWCA, 412-371-2712 for more info about FSA’s that earn 100% interest! Our Statement of Purpose The Welfare Justice Project (WJP) empowers those affected by the Welfare System. It is open to any person interested in economic justice: welfare consumers, advocates and decision-makers to create positive change in the welfare system. WJP: advocates for just public policies with rallies, legislative visits, hearings and actions does one-on-one advocacy for welfare consumers who need that extra voice educates and empowers our members to demand justice and changes in the welfare system at the national, state and local level creates opportunities for grassroots leadership through our organizing campaigns.