Street roots., April 29, 2011, Page 3, Image 3

Street roots
E332E
April 29, 2011
State camping bill
considered a
‘workable solution’
3
TANF proposals work through the Legislature
Advocates relieved time lim it won't change, but worry about long-term effects o f cutting support services
BY AMANDA WALDROUPE
participation is voluntary for parents with
said, to create programs that took into
children aged six months or younger.
account the various needs and barriers of
roposed changes to the Temporary
The changes would be in effect for the
TANF clients.
Assistance to Needy Families
upcoming biennium, July 2011 to July 2013.
“The program redesign was working,”
(TANF) program could salvage some
The House Human Services Committee
Kotek said. “We saw new job placements.”
provisions of the program after Gov.
did not discuss the changes', or suggest any
One reason changes are necessary, she
Kitzhaber proposed drastic cuts earlier this
further changes. That is extremely unusual
said, is that “the case load is off the
yea
for a policy committee, which typically
charts.”
The changes avoid shortening the time
hears public testimony, questions, and
The number of two-parent families in
limit a family could receive TANF benefits
proposes changes to bills.
TANF increased by 330 percent since 2007.
to 18 months, down from the federally
The public hearing for House Bill 2049
Overall demand increased by 57.3 percent
recommended 60 months. Relieved
took place one day before bills had to pass
Under Governor John Kitzhaber’s
advocates of low-income families and
out of legislative committees in order not
proposed budget, $67 million would be cut
individuals said such a drastically shortened to die.
from TANF by reducing the amount of time
time limit would cause hundreds of families
Members of the Human Services
someone could be on TANF, throughout
to become homeless. The changes were
Committee
*
their lifetime, from
announced during a hearing in the
expressed
60 to 18 months.
Legislature’s House Human Services
frustration that they
Oregon would
Committee on Wednesday, April 20.
were unable to
have the lowest time
“That’s good news,” said Marc John, the
carefully look at the
limit in the nation.
Rep. Tina Kotek said the
executive director of the homeless
biU.
The cut would affect
changes w ill mean TANF w ill 7,000 Oregon
outreach agency JOIN, who estimates that
“These are fairly
half of JOIN’S clients receive TANF
significant changes
no longer be tailored. She
families. “That is
benefits.
to these programs,” thinks that w ill directly
going to have a
Rep. Mitch
But House Representative Tina Kotek
disastrous effect on
effect how long people are
Greenlick
(D-Portland), the principal author of House
Oregon families,”
(D-Portland) said to on TANF, and their success.
Bill 2049 and TANF’s legislative champion,
said Jean DeMaster,
Kotek. “Handing
said it is still not clear whether the
"We won't see the successes
the executive
this to us today
program’s 60-month benefit limit will be
director of Human
we were seeing before," she
means that we are
preserved.
Solutions, which
said.
not going to have a
“This is the most modest package of
houses poor families.
policy debate in this
The
statutory changes we can make,” she said.
committee. You are
Subcommittee’s
“We may have to make more, particularly
the champion of
co-chairs “are
around time limits.”
TANF. There is no
committed” to not
House Bill 2049 changes the TANF
question about that. But this is not a good
cutting the time limit “We all know that’s a
program in six ways:
way to handle what is going to be a very
bad cat,” Kotek said.
■ Modifies eligibility requirements to
Kotek said the changes will mean TANF
difficult decision. I wish we would have
require applicants to participate in the Job
will no longer be tailored. She thinks that
some real time to discuss it.”
Opportunity and Basic Skills (JOBS)
will directly effect how long people áre on
“The department had been asking for
program while applying for benefits and
TANF, and,their success. “We won’t see
develops, .an “effective” individualized case . m any w e e k s to g e t amendments to this
STAFF WRITER
BY AMANDA WALDROUPE
STAFF WRITER
bill that would require the Oregon
Department of Transportation
(ODOT) to provide between five
days and two weeks notice of a camp
sweep on state-owned land passed the
House Transportation and Economic
Development Committee on Monday.
The Senate version of the bill, SB 447,
also requires that the notice be printed in
English and Spanish, say when the sweep
will take place, and leave information, if
belongings are removed, of where the
belongings can be picked up, and when.
Marc John, the executive director of
the outreach agency JOIN, says that the
bill will ensure that the belongings of
homeless individuals who camp near the
Eastbank Esplanade, under bridges, and
underneath freeway overpasses won’t be
lost.
“(Right now) there is no specific
notice,” he says. “It’s a win-win. It creates
less conflict for ODOT, and improves the
situation for everyone.”
The Oregon Law Center, which
provides legal services to low-income and
homeless individuals, was a main pusher
of the bill, as was Lane County Legal Aid
and Advocacy Center.
“The underlying concept of the bill is
that advance and effective notice of an
impending camp clean-up will encourage
homeless individuals to move their
belongings themselves,” said Sybil Hebb,
a lawyer at the Oregon Law Center, at a
February 28 hearing.
m > A 201Q bill wniilrf have, fasdrtrark&ri ,
campsweeps wiUifiut, p.otitying homeless
individuals’who camped in those areas.
The Oregon Law Center opposed the bill,
and it did not become law.
The current bill originated not from
homeless advocates, but out of
environmental concerns. John Brown, a
Eugene environmental advocate, worried
that accumulated garbage along the banks
of the Willamette River would enter and
contaminate the river during floods, and
thus impact the river’s water quality.
“On many occasions, I have had a
difficult time making sure the items found
under overpasses (and) bridges do not get
washed into the waterways during
periods of peak high water,” he said at
the same hearing.
He says the bill gives a “workable
solution.”
The bill passed the Senate on April 7,
so the bill’s next stop is a vote on the
House floor. If the House passes the bill,
it moves to Governor John Kitzhaber’s
desk to sign into law.
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■
plan focuged o n j o b r e a d in e s s tra in in g ,
,
education, community service, and other
activities “that promote family stability and
financial independence.”
■ Eliminates an enhanced benefit for
people applying to receive Social Security
Disability insurance.
■ Eliminates a.$50 per month payment
to families and individuals who left the
TANF program as a result of finding work.
■ Puts a cap on the Parents as Scholars
program, which supports parents as they
seek a two- or four-year degree. The
program would not accept new enrollees.
Current enrollees could finish. One percent
of TANF recipients participate, and the
program “is currently fully utilized,” Kotek
said. “There will be more budget savings if
we eliminate the program entirely.”
■ Reduces supportive services to TANF
recipients participating in the JOBS
Program.
■ Makes participation in the JOBS
program voluntary for parents with
children under the age of two. Currently,
c o m m itte e ,” K o te k re s p o n d e d . “I t w as m y I
[the s u c c e s s e s w e w e re se e in g /b e fo re ,” s h e
reluctance to put forth an amendment not
knowing what it would be (given the
budget).”
The bill was passed onto the Joint Ways
and Means Committee, where it will be
considered in the Subcommittee on Human
Services. Kotek co-chairs that
subcommittee.
TANF is a program reserved for the
poorest of Oregon’s poor. It provides a cash
benefit of up to $508 a month for
individuals or couples with dependent
children, who stay on the program for an
average of 24 months, to help cover their
basic needs while they participate in job
training programs, educational programs,
and other programs to help them re-enter
the work force and become self-sufficient
TANF underwent significant changes in
2007 as a result of new federal
requirements geared toward increasing
TANF clients’ participation in work
programs.
“We were really trying to tailor it,” Kotek
said.
She hopes that TANF will return to the
2007 design once the caseload" decreases
and the state’s budget improves.
Kotek wants to take $45 million from the
state’s Rainy Day Fund, $10 million of
which would go to the JOBS program, and
$35 million go to preserving the 60-month
time limit If money is not found, it’s
possible that $65 million could be removed
from the JOBS program, which Kotek said
is “going to be very difficult to get that
back” in future legislative sessions.
Advocates wait with bated breath and
worry how TANF will change, and are
united in their call that the time limit not
be reduced.
“At the end of the day, the basic cash
benefit allowing people to put a roof over
their heads is the most important thing,”
John said. “Absent the cash benefit, they
will become homeless.”
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