[Faith & Hunger] Have you endorsed raising the welfare grant?

[Dunleamark at aol.com]

Here is Hunger Action's official list of raising the welfare grant. If  your 
group is not on it but wishes to be, please contact me or Rob in our Albany  
office ASAP. Mark (518 434-7371, xt 1#)
 
Also below is the signon form for both the welfare grant and TANF  
implementation.
 
 
A New Hope Center ∙ Bensonhurst COJ ∙ The Bridge  Fund of Westchester ∙ 
Builders for the Family & Youth ∙ Catholic Charities  of Oswego County ∙ Catholic 
Charities of Tompkins/Tioga ∙ Cayuga/Seneca  Community Action ∙ Central New 
York/Utica Citizens in Action, Inc. ∙ Church  Alive Community Church ∙ Church 
Alive Development Corporation ∙ Citizens’  Environmental Coalition ∙ 
Community Service Society ∙ Compass House ∙ CUNY Law  School’s Economic Justice 
Project ∙ Empire Justice Center ∙ Federation of  Protestant Welfare Agencies ∙ 
Fiscal Policy Institute ∙ Food Pantries of the  Capital District ∙ Homeless 
Alliance of Western New York ∙ Hour Children ∙  Hunger Action Network of NYS ∙ 
Metro Justice of Rochester ∙ Mount Vernon United  Tenants ∙ National Center 
for Law and Economic Justice ∙ Neighbors Together ∙  New Hope Baptist Church ∙ 
New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness ∙ NYC Employment and  Training Coalition ∙ 
NYS Coalition Against Domestic Violence ∙ Niagara Frontier  City Ministries, 
Inc. ∙ The Partnership for the Homeless ∙ Pax Christi Rochester  ∙ Poor Homeless 
Farmers ∙ The Riverside Church ∙ Schenectady Community Action  Program, Inc. 
∙ St. Raphael R.C. Parish ∙ The Skill Center ∙ Thorpe Family  Residence ∙ 
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Binghamton ∙ University  Settlement ∙ 
Welfare Rights Initiative at Hunter College ∙ West Side Campaign  Against 
Hunger 
Sign On  Form:  Raise the Welfare  Grant 
II. Raise the Welfare  Grant 
Welfare helps poor children and their parents obtain  basic necessities such 
as heat, housing, food and clothing. Unless a welfare  recipient is unable to 
work because they are elderly, a child, or suffers from a  disability, there 
are strict work requirements that they must comply with or  face losing their 
assistance. The Governor and the State Legislature have not raised the welfare 
grant since 1990. The value of welfare benefits has fallen to only half of the 
federal poverty  level. 577,000 New Yorkers are on Temporary Assistance 
including 333,000  children. For more than a decade the courts have repeatedly 
ruled that welfare  payments for housing are illegally low. 
In 1975 public assistance  for a three-person family was equal to 110% of the 
Federal Poverty Level.   
Proposal:  Increase the non-shelter portion of the public assistance grant 
from $291 to  $450 for a family of three to reflect increase in the cost of 
living since the  last adjustment in 1990. Fuel for Heating Allowances should be 
increased to  account for inflationary increases since the last adjustments in 
1987. A  commission should be established to investigate the adequacy of all 
public  assistance allowances and to recommend mechanisms to provide for annual 
cost  adjustments. 
SIGN ON FORM: Strengthen  Welfare to Work Programs under TANF  Implementation 
I. A TANF Implementation  Agenda 
Last year Congress enacted  changes in the federal welfare (TANF) program. In 
2007, New York is facing key  choices. The federal regulations substantially 
increase the proportion of  assistance recipients who must participate in work 
activities.  We will need an additional 7,000 to  10,000 TANF recipients 
monthly in federally countable activities or else the  State will face possible 
federal penalties. 
We want the state to meet  its increased work participation rates by 
improving the quality of its  welfare-to-work programs, increasing engagement in those 
programs, and extending  supports to low-income working families. Below is an 
outline of some of the  reforms we are proposing. 
Expand access to education and training programs for  welfare recipients. 
Many public assistance participants need education and  vocational training in 
order to get jobs paying family-sustaining wages and  benefits.  NY should 
maximize  participation in programs like GED, adult literacy and ESL, while  
allowing qualified individuals to complete two-year Associates degree  programs. 
Create income supports and transitional jobs. Enact a wage supplement program 
which  provides cash payments on top of earnings from wages. Increase the 
Earned Income  Disregard to allow welfare participants who work to keep more of 
their  wages. 
Address the needs of people with disabilities and other  barriers to 
employment. A significant  percentage of public assistance recipients struggle with 
disabilities –  particularly mental disabilities – and other barriers to 
employment.  The State should develop a screening  tool to identify clients with 
disabilities and mandate that localities offer  screening to their clients.  More 
 intensive case services should be provided. 
Sign On Form 
___ My organization endorses the TANF Implementation  Agenda 
___ My organization endorses Raise the Welfare  Grant. 
Organization _______________________________________  Contact 
____________________________ 
Address __________________________ Town / City __________  Zip _____________  
Phone (__________)____________________ email  
____________________________________ 
Return to: HANNYS, 260 W. 360 St. #504, NY NY 10018. Fax:  212 741-7236  
www.hungeractionnys.org 




************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.hungeractionnys.org/pipermail/faithhunger_hungeractionnys.org/attachments/20070329/4609ec42/attachment.html