| What If...A Day In the Live of the Safety Net |
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December 10, 2007 Clearly we don't have the services and programs necessary to help families in need. But what if we did? What life might be like... PLAN lobbyist Jan Gilbert blogs on what a true and fully funded safety met would mean to those in need.
December 10, 2007 Since 1996, the critical “safety net” for low income Americans has been snipped, sliced and diced by the White House and Congress to the point where many, especially those most vulnerable in our society – poor children – no longer have access to essential services. What if instead we supported everyone, with all the services they need to succeed in life, from morning to night, from cradle to grave? What would a caring and compassionate society look like?The steady attack on the poor has often been disguised as an effort to “reform” programs. One of those that has been targeted for such reform was the venerable Aid for Dependent Children, a federal program that successfully helped children for more than 60 years. Now called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF is called welfare, and as such has been an easy scapegoat. The program now has so many mandates, restrictions and impossible-to-meet requirements from the federal government that it is unable to help those who need it most. Requiring clients to work and receive substance-abuse treatment is not helpful if the jobs and treatment programs are not available. But what if, when we woke up in the morning, every family in America had clothes to put on that aren’t worn to threads and a table and chairs to sit at as a family — regardless of what kind of work we did, but simply because we’re all human beings with basic needs? Another program that assists low-income families is the food stamp program. It has continued to provide federal dollars to those in need but, like other lifelines, has come under attack with limitations and diminished benefits. What if at that dining room table, every family had nutritious food to eat each morning and every night? And what if breakfast programs in the schools guaranteed that kids who didn’t have enough to eat at home would be nourished at school? The rising costs of health care has been huge obstacles for low income families. One solution has been the State Children’s Health Insurance Program – dubbed SCHIP – initiated during the Clinton administration for children in working families. Many states expanded the program to cover parents as well. SCHIP provided a minimal lifeline to health programs for millions working without health insurance. Unfortunately, even as the cost for employers to offer health insurance to their workers continues to rise, conservatives are targeting SCHIP for cuts or elimination. But what if when my kid or anyone’s kid was sick in the morning, we had government-funded health insurance so our kids could go to good doctors and get the care they need before they become really sick? And what if us parents could get a day off work to take our kids to the doctor, without getting fired or docked pay? Child care, an essential part of the solution for successful employment for single parents, has been increasing in cost and lacking in qualified providers. Parents have to turn to solutions which may not be in the best interest of the child. The federal government provides limited matching dollars for child care assistance for the most needy parents. Unfortunately, in a grim Catch-22, once parents gain employment, child care benefits are cut – and the cost becomes more than they can afford. It makes it all but impossible for many families to come out ahead. What if every parent could go to work in the morning and leave their young children with quality, well-paid, subsidized, safe daycare, so that parents weren’t forced to choose between taking care of their kids or earning a living? In most cities, one would need to earn anywhere from $15 to $20 per hour to support a family of three, but such living-wage jobs have diminished. The federal minimum wage has gone up to $5.85 recently – but it was the first increase in a decade, the longest span without an increase since federal law established the minimum in 1938. It is still woefully insufficient for parents working to support their families. What if every parent could go to a job where they earn enough money to support their families comfortably, where working harder actually means you make more money for yourself and your family, not some over-paid CEO? Housing costs are another huge problem for low-income parents, who have seen costs skyrockets while wages have stagnated. Stocks of affordable housing have not kept pace with population growth. What if every night, every family in America could turn off the lights in a house they can really call a home? We can make a system that works for all. We could start be abolishing the existing TANF program, which penalizes families, limits access and doesn’t provide critical services and opportunities. We could jettison bureaucratic time limits and unworkable work requirements. In its place, we could craft a way to deliver affordable housing, child care, domestic violence counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, basic nutrition and educational opportunities. Eliminating the greed and extreme profits that insurance companies now extract from the health-care system through a national, single-payer health program would be the ultimate answer for the crisis of medical care for uninsured families. We may have to live with the fact that we will always have people who fall through the cracks and need help, but as a caring compassionate society, we could and should provide lifelines for those in need. We spend billions on war and foreign assistance for other countries. Now is the time to invest in our families and provide a real safety net.
Jan Gilbert is the Lobbyist and Northern Nevada Coordinator for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN). She lives in Carson City, NV. |