street roots
S ept 30, 2011
City gets $1.3
million grant for
HIV/AIDS housing
STAFF REPORTS
Needy families show strain from state cuts
TAN F programs, already slashed earlier this year, drop again Oct. 1
process that, as Misty is experiencing,
s Oregon’s primary program for poor
takes years of paperwork and patience.
families with children, TANF provides
. Miller says that that component remains
" l\
isty McGee is stuck, in the waiting
cash assistance to'help cover the basic
intact
needs,
along
with
job
training
and
skills
I V I game*
“That service is immeasurably valuable
JL ▼ JL “I feel like I’m on hold. It’s
programs to help people get into the
because the process for applying can be
really frustrating.”
workforce. But with a maximum 5-year
especially onerous,” Miller said.
. Her biggest opponent is her own health.
assistance period, TANF was never
Cancer at a young age took her out of
designed to be a lifelong support system.
school life and into a hospital regimen that
There are essentially two ways of
included two surgeries, chemotherapy,
moving off TANF — either by attaining ,
he cuts to the TANF JOBS program,
radiation treatments. Working against her
gainful employment for those who can
and related child cafe and
are multiple disabilities that have
work, or by transitioning to the federally
transportation that began July 1 have
hampered her attempts to secure gainful
funded Supplemental Security Income
already washed up casualties.
employment. Three years ago she escaped
(SSI) or Social Security Disability Income
Rachel Post, director of Supportive
with her son from an abusive relationship
(SSDI) for people who, either because of
and into shelter;
Housing and Employment with Central
cage or physical or mental disability, cannot
She got out of the shelter with the help
City Concern (CCC), oversees the
Work. ’
of the state’s Temporary Assistance for
transition of families from tragedy to self-
In the spring session, the Oregon
Needy Families, or TANF progràm. Now,
sustainment. The program operates 85
Legislature cut funding for the JOBS >
with chronic health issues preventing her
units bf drug- and
program by 51
from working - she’s says her doctor has
alcohol-free housing
percent, reducing
had her on medical leave for the past year
for families reunited
services to target
and a half - she’s wading through the
after foster care,
only those
"The system has Invested so sobriety, disability
years-long process of getting Supplemental
considered “job
Security Income. As is the routine for the
ready” or “near job much in these families to get and unemployment,
majority of applicants, Misty was denied in
and after 10 years,
ready.” Those with
them into clean and sober
the first round. She believes that she could
has ah impressive
more complex
housing and their children
get back to work eventually, but the
track record of
barriers to .
returned from foster care,
program — that in her own words has
getting families
employment are .
that to just leave them
helped her so much will not be there to
reunited, parents
less likely to
provide ,child support should she look for - receive the
employed, and
without the supports they
and secure work. And the TANF JOBS
families back to
program’s trainings
need
to
complete
their
program is mere shadow of it’s former self,
and job services.
independence. Last
journey into self-sufficiency, year, nearly half of
leaving people with high barriers to
And those who do
employment, sihiilarto Misty, on the
it just makes no sense/'
get into the
those in the program
bubble.
— RACHEL POST went into their own
employment
IC E N T R A L C IT Y C O N C E R N
“I’m just going through the hoops right
program are now
permanent housing
now,” she says.
limited to just two
beyond CCC. It’s an
This year, those hoops tightened
months of training
intensive support
dramatically, and will again on Oct. 1, when
and job search
program that works
the pre-Supplemental Security and
services. Transportation services to and
entirely with families reliant on TANF
Disability Insurance for people unable to
from interviews~arrd‘woi^-arid' cliiW'care
................... - 1 ■*II"ITI
'Su ppo f t." ' ............".......... -
work will drop on average about $116 a .
“It really takes a long time for these
were also drastically reduced and
month.With these.cuts, a family of three,
families, who may have led pretty impaired
eliminated for some clients*
with one adult (the most common client
lives for many years of intergenerational
For those unable to work who are •
household configuration for the program)
poverty, to get back on their feet,” Post
engaged in the years-long wait for SSI or
who was receiving $637 a month, will
SSDI approval, they will see the reduction
says.
receive after O ct 1 only $506. It’s
“The cuts in child care and
in the family pre-SSI/SSDI payments,
expected to impact nearly 700 families in
transportation in the JOBS program has
which was a stipend to help families cover
Oregon.
costs, and in some cases even avoid full
made it tremendously difficult for us. to
This comes on the heels of massive ;
help families continue with their
TANF enrollment altogether. This program
state budget cuts to the network of TANF
serves individuals with severe physical arid/ educational programs.”
programs intended to help people get jobs
Post can list off the losses: A mother
or mental impairments, who are unable to
and out of the welfare system.
work, that meet Social Security disability
who was one test away from completing
“I would have already started looking for
criteria. It also provides clients
her GED but without child care could not
some part-time work if they would have
professional assistance through the SSI
take the last test; several others who to
had the child care or JOBS (assistance),”
and SSDI application and appeals process,
drop out of the JOBS program for lack of
Misty says, her leg in a cast. “You can’t :
which takes on average about three years.
child care. “They can’t leave their children
afford to Took for a job if you’re not going
“As one might imaginé, these clients,
while they’re out looking for jobs.”
to get help for those things. It’s just
they have very little income and very little
In one case, a child was sent back to
physically not possible. It’s going to cause
resourced, so any reduction in their
foster care after the family lost TANF’s
people to stay on TANF even longer. When
resources is going to have an impact,” said
wraparound supports.
you think about it, the JOBS program is so ; Erika Miller, program manager of the State
“The system has invested so much in
people go back to work, and When they go
family pre-SSI/SSDI program.
these families to get them into clean and
back to work they need help for child care.
The pre-SSI/SSDI program is also a
sober housing and their children returned
It just doesn’t make sense. Those are. the
gateway for people to begin the application
two keys to getting people off TANF.” I
process for the federal supplements, a
BY JOANNE ZUHL
S T A F F W R IT E R
.
ew federal funding from the
Department of Housing and Urban
Development Will help house and
provide services for homeless Portlanders
with HIV/AIDS.
The city of Portland was one of eight to
receive.a competitive grant from HUD to
provide short-term rent assistance,
employment services and permanent
housing for people living with HIV and
experiencing homelessness. Portland
received $1.3 million, which will provide
homes for 60 people peE year and connect
them with employment opportunities. The
city reports that more than 600 people in
the Portland metro area are living with
HIV/AIDS and experiencing homelessness
Or are on the brink of homelessness.
According to HUD, 70 percent of people
living with HIV/AIDS have incomes below
the federal poverty level. Lack of
employment and benefits income presents
a major barrier to securing housing.
The binding will support programs by
Cascade AIDS Project in providing rent
assistance, case management and
employment services, with the
employment and training services offered
at WorkSource Portland Metro fundedby
Worksystems, Inc.
Cascade AIDS Project is the largest
provider of housing for people living with
HIV/AIDS in Oregon and southwest
Washington. Michael Kaplan, executive
director of Cascade AIDS Project, said the
funding will reduce the current housing
waitlist of individuals living with HIV and,
with the job training component, help
them toward self-sufficiency.
N
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laura@ideacog.net.
A
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