Eichelberger writes: "This year, as many as 1 million Americans in 23 states
are expected to lose food aid from the federal Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) because of stricter rules governing food stamps
that have been triggered by falling unemployment rates."
One million Americans may lose their SNAP benefits. (photo: Michael S.
Williamson/WP)
1 Million Americans Could Soon Lose Their Food Stamps - and People of Color
Are Getting Screwed the Most
By Erika Eichelberger, VICE
23 February 16
On nights when it's especially cold, Santonio Rogers walks to the Potawatomi
Casino in downtown Milwaukee and attempts to sleep in the bathroom. It's
warm there, and it usually takes awhile for anyone to notice him amid the
bustle. When he gets kicked out, he roams the city or searches for a warming
station where he can stay and wait for morning.
Rogers is a 25-year-old felon with epilepsy who hasn't completed high
school, which makes it virtually impossible for him to find a job. He's been
homeless since September, and his only income until recently was a monthly
food stamp disbursement of $194. But a couple months ago, he lost that too.
Not long after he began living on the street, a food stamp program
administrator informed Rogers that the rules had recently changed. If he
didn't find at least 20 hours of employment per week or enroll in a work
training program, his benefits would be cut off in three months. His
epilepsy should have exempted him, but he didn't have a doctor's note to
prove it, so he signed up for the job training. But being homeless makes
life erratic, and he says he was kicked out after missing a few days. He
lost his food stamps in December and now relies on charity to eat.
"You're taking from us when we barely have nothing at it is," he told VICE
News by phone from Milwaukee.
This year, as many as 1 million Americans in 23 states are expected to lose
food aid from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
because of stricter rules governing food stamps that have been triggered by
falling unemployment rates. But the economy hasn't improved equally for
everybody. The black unemployment rate remains double the white rate at 8.8
percent, yet African-Americans like Rogers will be disproportionately harmed
by the impending food stamp cuts, which will take effect in most states on
April 1.
The stricter food stamp rules are a return to the way things were before the
financial crisis. A welfare reform law signed by President Bill Clinton in
1996 contained a provision that said childless, non-disabled food stamp
recipients would lose their benefits after three months unless they could
find a half-time job, volunteer, or enroll in a state job training program.
States with high unemployment, however, can apply for a waiver, and nearly
all states received exemptions during the recent recession. But as jobs have
returned over the past few years, states have begun to lose their waivers.
Some states with Republican governors and legislatures have rejected the
waivers even though they are still eligible.
In 2014, several legal groups filed a lawsuit against Ohio alleging that the
state retained time-limit waivers in mostly white counties, while rejecting
them in minority-heavy areas with high unemployment rates. "It's a sin not
to help someone who needs it, but it's equally a sin to continue to help
someone who needs to learn how to help themselves," Ohio Governor John
Kasich said in his inauguration speech in January 2015.
The three-month clock began ticking on January 1 in almost all of the 23
states that have either lost or forfeited their food stamp waivers this
year. That means poor Americans who depend on food aid will begin losing it
on April 1 - even if they are actively searching for work. Thirty-five
percent of those expected to lose benefits are African-American, according
to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), though
they make up only 13 percent of the general population.
Nationally, a total of about 4.7 million food stamp recipients are
classified as able-bodied adults (aged 18 to 49) without dependents, and
they receive on average $164 per month from SNAP. The 1 million Americans
who are expected to lose benefits are a group of deeply impoverished people
with little education or skills, who have a hard time finding work in even
the best of economic times. Their gross incomes average only $2,000 a year
for a household of one, according to the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA), which administers the SNAP program. Many are formerly incarcerated
and thus barred from certain jobs and housing opportunities.
"You'd think that there'd be more resources for people in those
circumstances rather than fewer," says Ed Bolen, a senior policy analyst at
the CBPP.
Although disabled people are not supposed to be subject to the three-month
rule, many of those with physical and mental limitations end up being
dropped from the program because they cannot prove their disability, said
Elizabeth Lower-Basch, an expert in federal benefits policy at the Center
for Law and Social Policy.
"[The term] 'able-bodied without dependents' makes you think they are
completely healthy and able to work," she explained, "but in many states,
unless they're getting disability benefits, the SNAP agency has no way of
knowing they have other work limitations."
That was the case for Curtis Sloan-Glenn, a 29-year-old African-American who
says he lost his job at a distribution company in Milwaukee last fall when
he became ill with gallstones. Sloan-Glenn was forced to go on food stamps
for the first time, but then in November he learned he'd have to find a job
or enroll in a work training program to continue getting benefits. He
couldn't attend the training because he was undergoing surgery and then
recovering for a month and a half, but because he could not prove he was
temporarily disabled, he lost his $192 a month in food aid.
Even the alternatives available under the three-month provision for those
who cannot find work are often not viable. States are not required to
provide work training programs, and most do not. And volunteer work often
requires gas money or bus fare, which is income that jobless people don't
have.
Nineteen of the states that are reimposing the three-month time limit in
2016 are doing so because their employment rates have improved. Four others
have chosen to reimpose the time limit despite qualifying for a statewide
waiver. In recent years, at least a dozen other states have elected to
impose the time limit early. About half of these states are in the South or
Southwest and have large proportions of black and Hispanic citizens, which
"sort of doubles down on the disproportionate effect on minorities,"
Lower-Basch said.
When Clinton signed the welfare reforms into law in 1996, he noted that he
was deeply disappointed by the three-month time limit, and called for
Congress to change it. The USDA has no say in the matter, and did not
respond to a request for comment.
A spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which
administers the food stamp program in the state, said that the department
cannot comment on individual food stamp recipients due to privacy
considerations. She did add that those who have lost benefits and are not
participating in the state job training program have the option of searching
for and enrolling in a non-state worker training program in order to try to
regain food aid.
Last year, federal lawmakers introduced bills that would forbid states from
ending food assistance without offering the person the chance to participate
in a job training program. But with Republicans controlling both chambers of
Congress, the chances of such legislation making it to a vote are slim to
nil.
In Milwaukee, Rogers isn't despairing about losing his food stamps. He
believes he can get himself out of this homelessness mess on his own, even
if he feels like the system is rigged against poor folks like himself.
"If you got the low end of the totem pole, you're gonna be stuck in the
water drowning because you don't have the right life suit on to help you
float," he said. "To me, I feel that's bullshit because everybody matters."
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
One million Americans may lose their SNAP benefits. (photo: Michael S.
Williamson/WP)
https://news.vice.com/article/1-million-americans-lose-food-stamps-snap-peop
le-of-color-are-getting-screwedhttps://news.vice.com/article/1-million-ameri
cans-lose-food-stamps-snap-people-of-color-are-getting-screwed
1 Million Americans Could Soon Lose Their Food Stamps - and People of Color
Are Getting Screwed the Most
By Erika Eichelberger, VICE
23 February 16
n nights when it's especially cold, Santonio Rogers walks to the Potawatomi
Casino in downtown Milwaukee and attempts to sleep in the bathroom. It's
warm there, and it usually takes awhile for anyone to notice him amid the
bustle. When he gets kicked out, he roams the city or searches for a warming
station where he can stay and wait for morning.
Rogers is a 25-year-old felon with epilepsy who hasn't completed high
school, which makes it virtually impossible for him to find a job. He's been
homeless since September, and his only income until recently was a monthly
food stamp disbursement of $194. But a couple months ago, he lost that too.
Not long after he began living on the street, a food stamp program
administrator informed Rogers that the rules had recently changed. If he
didn't find at least 20 hours of employment per week or enroll in a work
training program, his benefits would be cut off in three months. His
epilepsy should have exempted him, but he didn't have a doctor's note to
prove it, so he signed up for the job training. But being homeless makes
life erratic, and he says he was kicked out after missing a few days. He
lost his food stamps in December and now relies on charity to eat.
"You're taking from us when we barely have nothing at it is," he told VICE
News by phone from Milwaukee.
This year, as many as 1 million Americans in 23 states are expected to lose
food aid from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
because of stricter rules governing food stamps that have been triggered by
falling unemployment rates. But the economy hasn't improved equally for
everybody. The black unemployment rate remains double the white rate at 8.8
percent, yet African-Americans like Rogers will be disproportionately harmed
by the impending food stamp cuts, which will take effect in most states on
April 1.
The stricter food stamp rules are a return to the way things were before the
financial crisis. A welfare reform law signed by President Bill Clinton in
1996 contained a provision that said childless, non-disabled food stamp
recipients would lose their benefits after three months unless they could
find a half-time job, volunteer, or enroll in a state job training program.
States with high unemployment, however, can apply for a waiver, and nearly
all states received exemptions during the recent recession. But as jobs have
returned over the past few years, states have begun to lose their waivers.
Some states with Republican governors and legislatures have rejected the
waivers even though they are still eligible.
In 2014, several legal groups filed a lawsuit against Ohio alleging that the
state retained time-limit waivers in mostly white counties, while rejecting
them in minority-heavy areas with high unemployment rates. "It's a sin not
to help someone who needs it, but it's equally a sin to continue to help
someone who needs to learn how to help themselves," Ohio Governor John
Kasich said in his inauguration speech in January 2015.
The three-month clock began ticking on January 1 in almost all of the 23
states that have either lost or forfeited their food stamp waivers this
year. That means poor Americans who depend on food aid will begin losing it
on April 1 - even if they are actively searching for work. Thirty-five
percent of those expected to lose benefits are African-American, according
to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), though
they make up only 13 percent of the general population.
Nationally, a total of about 4.7 million food stamp recipients are
classified as able-bodied adults (aged 18 to 49) without dependents, and
they receive on average $164 per month from SNAP. The 1 million Americans
who are expected to lose benefits are a group of deeply impoverished people
with little education or skills, who have a hard time finding work in even
the best of economic times. Their gross incomes average only $2,000 a year
for a household of one, according to the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA), which administers the SNAP program. Many are formerly incarcerated
and thus barred from certain jobs and housing opportunities.
"You'd think that there'd be more resources for people in those
circumstances rather than fewer," says Ed Bolen, a senior policy analyst at
the CBPP.
Although disabled people are not supposed to be subject to the three-month
rule, many of those with physical and mental limitations end up being
dropped from the program because they cannot prove their disability, said
Elizabeth Lower-Basch, an expert in federal benefits policy at the Center
for Law and Social Policy.
"[The term] 'able-bodied without dependents' makes you think they are
completely healthy and able to work," she explained, "but in many states,
unless they're getting disability benefits, the SNAP agency has no way of
knowing they have other work limitations."
That was the case for Curtis Sloan-Glenn, a 29-year-old African-American who
says he lost his job at a distribution company in Milwaukee last fall when
he became ill with gallstones. Sloan-Glenn was forced to go on food stamps
for the first time, but then in November he learned he'd have to find a job
or enroll in a work training program to continue getting benefits. He
couldn't attend the training because he was undergoing surgery and then
recovering for a month and a half, but because he could not prove he was
temporarily disabled, he lost his $192 a month in food aid.
Even the alternatives available under the three-month provision for those
who cannot find work are often not viable. States are not required to
provide work training programs, and most do not. And volunteer work often
requires gas money or bus fare, which is income that jobless people don't
have.
Nineteen of the states that are reimposing the three-month time limit in
2016 are doing so because their employment rates have improved. Four others
have chosen to reimpose the time limit despite qualifying for a statewide
waiver. In recent years, at least a dozen other states have elected to
impose the time limit early. About half of these states are in the South or
Southwest and have large proportions of black and Hispanic citizens, which
"sort of doubles down on the disproportionate effect on minorities,"
Lower-Basch said.
When Clinton signed the welfare reforms into law in 1996, he noted that he
was deeply disappointed by the three-month time limit, and called for
Congress to change it. The USDA has no say in the matter, and did not
respond to a request for comment.
A spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which
administers the food stamp program in the state, said that the department
cannot comment on individual food stamp recipients due to privacy
considerations. She did add that those who have lost benefits and are not
participating in the state job training program have the option of searching
for and enrolling in a non-state worker training program in order to try to
regain food aid.
Last year, federal lawmakers introduced bills that would forbid states from
ending food assistance without offering the person the chance to participate
in a job training program. But with Republicans controlling both chambers of
Congress, the chances of such legislation making it to a vote are slim to
nil.
In Milwaukee, Rogers isn't despairing about losing his food stamps. He
believes he can get himself out of this homelessness mess on his own, even
if he feels like the system is rigged against poor folks like himself.
"If you got the low end of the totem pole, you're gonna be stuck in the
water drowning because you don't have the right life suit on to help you
float," he said. "To me, I feel that's bullshit because everybody matters."
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
