Ohio is taking help away from desperate families

[rbrnmw]

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2012/08/25/ohio-is-taking-help-away-from-desperate-families.html


Tens of thousands of Ohio children are being raised in families that have no cash income. They struggle to survive on a small allotment of food stamps, which can be spent only on food. They have no cash for rent, utilities, clothing, transportation or personal-care products.

And while the situation is tragic, Ohio is making it worse through policies designed to take assistance away from families in need.

Since January 2011, the number of people receiving cash-assistance welfare in Ohio has been reduced by more than 75,000. Of the people who no longer receive benefits, nearly 44,000 are children. This is a reduction of nearly one-third of the state’s caseload, and it is happening at a time when the number of people living in poverty is growing.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that at least 18 percent of all food-stamps recipients in Ohio have no cash income. That is equal to more than 320,000 people.

Most families are not leaving the cash-assistance program because they are doing better financially. Caseloads are decreasing because families are being removed or diverted from the program, contrary to the program’s goals.

Ohio has been threatened with $130 million in sanctions by the Obama administration for failing to meet work-participation-rate targets. Ohio’s response has been to reduce the rolls of cash-assistance recipients by any means possible.

The majority of families being pushed off of assistance in Ohio are facing health problems, a lack of transportation and other significant challenges. In fact, 78 percent of the adults who receive cash assistance do not own a vehicle. And thanks to large cuts in funding, most counties do not provide the financial assistance needed by recipients to get to their work assignments.

more at link



ETA So much for the LIE about President Obama ending work requirements

[CaliforniaPeggy]

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