Maureen Lane

NYS Policy Misfire: Denying Poor Families Public Assistance

The Office of Temporary Disability Assistance, the state agency that oversees welfare in New York, has proposed a measure that would have families, eligible for assistance and transitioning from federal and state aid combined to state aid alone, wait 45 days without cash benefits just.... because. Robert Doar, OTDA director, says that the counties are concerned that families are not moving from welfare to self-sufficiency. We should all be concerned. We have poverty rising alarmingly in NYS and income supports, meant to help families stabilize as they deal with unfeeling economic forces, are not being accessed by those who need them.

The OTDA proposal echoes a familiar Pataki tune, full family sanction. The governor consistently posits that the entire family needs to lose benefits if the heads of households do not comply with work requirements. The entire family means the children. Here in NYC we find that people are often wrongfully sanctioned for not complying. That means that families are disconnected from the basic necessities of life in error.

With the OTDA proposed 45 day waiting period, we have the same end result of full family sanctions: Benefits for the entire family will be cut off. Families would have to wait a month and half for benefits they are already receiving for which they are eligible, for no reason at all. Doar says it will only affect cash assistance not food stamps or Medicaid.

So often, policy makers are so far removed from reality as to be from another planet. Earth to Doar, you cannot by diapers with food stamps. You cannot buy paper products for the household with Medicaid. Rent and other essential items that are not being provided by Food Stamps and Medicaid are purchased with cash. Indeed, the cash grant has not risen in NYS for over a decade. I commend Doar and the county's concern for poor families moving to economic security. I would strongly suggest that a raise in the cash grant for families in New York makes infinitely more sense than cutting benefits to the whole family for even a day.

Maureen Lane: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 8:15 AM, Nov 15, 2005 in Education
Permalink | Email to Friend | Comment on this post