Housing is Fundamental

Here are a few thoughts on the very fundamental role housing plays in each of our lives - the first from an academic, the remainder from a formerly chronically homeless individual who has been a good friend and volunteer at Community Action House for the past year and a half.

"Whether one is concerned with welfare reform, education, health care or employment programs, any serious social policy aimed at addressing poverty in this country must encompass a housing strategy. In a fundamental sense, housing is central to the way people live, how they feel about themselves, and their ability to develop self-esteem, be good parents and acquire the skills and stability necessary for good work." -- Rachel Brat, Dept. of Urban and Environmental Policy, Tufts University


"It's important to have shelter. To have to be out there on the streets every day is stressful and leads to desperation. It leads to wanting to give up. It leads to worrying about what you're going to do when the sun goes down."
"When I have stable housing, my mind is relaxed once again. Now all I've got to do is work and keep what I've got, and hope that others get lucky too."
"Being homeless means you're in a bad position, and you have to accept what comes at you. It's a state of stress and uncertainty."
"When in stable housing, you now have the confidence to go out and better your life. You can put your stuff down and not worry about it. You learn how to handle life better and stay focused." -- friend of Community Action House

(Mark Kornelis)

Changes likely in store for food stamp program in Michigan

Making the news across Michigan this past week has been the efforts in the Michigan House and Senate to require the state Department of Human Services (DHS) to distribute food stamps twice per month instead of once. The article in the Holland Sentinel (March 10, 2008 – see link below) explains well the two primary reasons this change is being promoted, namely to encourage food stamp recipients to spread their food spending out more evenly throughout the month and thereby purchase fresher and healthier products, and to help grocery stores better predict demand (which is currently heavily weighted during the first week of the month when food assistance benefits are distributed state-wide). If the bill becomes law, as appears likely, Michigan will become the first state in the country to institute this change.

First, on a parenthetical note, food stamps in the form of actual stamps have not existed for some time now. Michigan, like most states, instead issues EBT (electronic benefits transfer) cards to eligible food assistance recipients. This card, used like a debit card, allows families to shop and pay for their purchases without the stigma of using cumbersome “stamps” that looked like play money and drew unwanted attention from others. The problem however, albeit small, is that no one has come up with a suitable replacement name for "food stamps." "Food Assistance" seems to be the best name suggested so far, but it sounds more like a descriptor than a program title and is confusing to those of us who provide other forms of food assistance.

The change to twice per month benefit allotments should indeed help families budget their assistance funds more evenly throughout the month. The person who shops with their assistance funds typically only once per month would have a difficult time buying fresh products and making those last beyond a week or so. Still, the program change has the feel of the state micro-managing people’s lives, but I don’t believe that is the intent of the bill sponsors. To me, using this change to “encourage” shopping practices that will result in improved nutritional intake while also helping the small inner-city grocer better manage their inventory outweigh arguments made against the change.

Under the current system incidentally, while some grocers experience a rush of demand during the first week of each month when EBT funds are distributed, CAH food pantries experience their greatest demand during the last week of the month when we commonly hear that "the food stamps ran out.” We too would welcome a leveling out of our pantry activity and inventory throughout the month.

While the state is right to be giving this issue consideration, I agree fully with one advocate interviewed for the AP article in the Sentinel who stated that the more important issue is that increases made to food assistance allotments over the years have not kept pace with inflation. The great majority of families receiving DHS food assistance simply do not receive a sufficient amount to meet their essential food needs for the entire month, even when factoring in available income. Families must routinely supplement these funds with other funds (money that is needed for rent, medications, etc) or resources (food pantries). Making sure families have access to the resources needed to meet their most basic needs should be at the top of the list of issues needing attention by state and national lawmakers. Nationally, the food stamp/assistance program is funded through the Farm Bill, the near-final version of which is being debated currently in the congressional conference committee. The current version on the table at present does, fortunately, include modest increases to the program, but I predict we will find when the final bill is passed and signed by the president that it will still be lacking in the eyes of our poorest neighbors who have litte choice but to rely on this vital safety net program.

What are your thoughts on the Michigan food stamp bill? Feel free to post a comment using the comment link below.

(Link to Holland Sentinel article: http://hollandsentinel.com/stories/031008/local_20080310003.shtml )

Mark Kornelis

Food Stamp Facts

• Twelve percent of Michigan residents (more than one in nine) receive DHS food assistance.
• Eighty percent of DHS food assistance funds are received by households with children.
• The number of food assistance recipients in Michigan has doubled in the last six years.
• The number of food assistance recipients in Ottawa County increased by 6% between September 2006 and September 2007.
• The average amount received by food assistance recipients is $88.00 per month.
• The USDA expects households receiving food assistance to be able to feed each member with approximately $3.00 per day (using a combination of food assistance funds and other resources).

For more information about Food Stamps/Food Assistance in Michigan, please visit the Michigan Food Stamp Partnership at http://www.foodstamphelp.org/ .

(Mark Kornelis)

Excerpts from "Poverty mars formation of infant brains"

The following are excerpts from a recent article run in the Financial Times (Feb 16, 2008) documenting new research on the effects of low socio-economic status on very young children's development. This research is important in that it demonstrates substantial detrimental impact to children of low SES households due to increased stress levels, effects which are over and above those of nutritional deficiencies and exposure to environmental toxins. The article uses some strong language, which, if heard, should create an increased sense of urgency to find solutions to the multi-faceted tragedy of poverty.

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"Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain, the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Boston heard on Friday. Neuroscientists said many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which impair their neural development. That effect is on top of any damage caused by inadequate nutrition and exposure to environmental toxins. "

"Studies by several US universities have revealed the pervasive harm done to the brain, particularly between the ages of six months and three years, from low socio-economic status. Martha Farah, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s centre for cognitive neuroscience, said: 'The biggest effects are on language and memory. The finding about memory impairment – the ability to encounter a pattern and remember it – really surprised us.'”

"Stress hormone levels tend to be higher in young children from poor families than in children growing up in middle-class and wealthy families, said Prof Shonkoff. Excessive levels of these hormones disrupt the formation of synaptic connections between cells in the developing brain – and even affect its blood supply. 'They literally disrupt the brain architecture,' he said."

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The following link will take you to the complete article as found in the Financial Times:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/62c45126-dc1f-11dc-bc82-0000779fd2ac.html

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman also wrote a piece on the Financial Times article. You can find his column here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/opinion/18krugman.html?_r=1&st=cse&sq=poverty+is+poison&scp=1&oref=slogin

All the (Poverty) News That's Fit to Print

The Institute for Research on Poverty (University of Wisconsin-Madison) distributes twice-weekly a Poverty Dispatch, listing headlines and links to print media articles addressing issues of poverty and related subjects in the United States. I’ve compiled a sample of these from the past two months, focusing on those that pertain to the Midwest region or are national in scope. In most cases, the headline speaks for itself. Collectively, these headlines demonstrate the prevailing impact of poverty on the lives of many in our society.

Schools increase social services as poverty rises. (GRAND RAPIDS, MI), Grand Rapids Press. March 2, 2008.
Critics say poverty rate no longer reflects reality. (Column) San Diego Union-Tribune. March 2, 2008.
Hard times drive food stamp rolls. (INDIANA) Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. February 28, 2008.
What if there are no jobs or little pay? (MUSKEGON, MI), Muskegon Chronicle. February 23, 2008.
Poverty drains nutrition from family diet. U.S. News and World Report. February 21, 2008.
Jobless spend more time looking for work. Wisconsin State Journal. February 18, 2008.
Higher education gap may slow economic mobility. New York Times. February 20, 2008.
Food stamp use soars in suburbs. (OHIO) Cleveland Plain Dealer. February 15, 2008.
Uninsured children, recipients of food stamps are on the rise. (MINNESOTA) Rochester Post-Bulletin. February 14, 2008.
Report casts light on childhood hunger. (INDIANA) Associated Press, Martinsville Reporter-Times. February 11, 2008.
No tax return? No rebate check. Los Angeles Times. February 14, 2008.
State urged to act on child hunger, obesity. (OHIO) Columbus Dispatch. February 8, 2008.
Care for preemies in poverty appalling, scientist says. Columbus Dispatch. February 3, 2008.
Study finds follow-up care for Medicaid preemies lacking. Star-Ledger. February 4, 2008.
Poverty's grasp grows wider. (NORTH CAROLINA) Myrtle Beach Sun News. February 4, 2008.
For some elders, pride before food. (MASSACHUSETTS) Boston Globe. January 31, 2008.
Michigan is third in U.S. for foreclosures. (MICHIGAN) Detroit News. January 29, 2008.
Food shortage hits charity pantries. Los Angeles Times. January 21, 2008.
One-third of children in poverty, report says. (WASHINGTON, D.C.) Washington Post. January 18, 2008.
Tax break for poor may cost far less. (MICHIGAN) Detroit News. January 24, 2008.
Groups rallying to keep earned income tax credit. (MICHIGAN) (Associated Press), Lansing State Journal. January 24, 2008.
Blue-collar jobs disappear, taking families’ way of life along. (OHIO) New York Times. January 16, 2008.
That elusive poverty line. Editorial, Christian Science Monitor. January 16, 2008.
Income gap widening, Census numbers show. (MICHIGAN) Monroe News. January 11, 2008.
Demand for public aid swamps staff. (MILWAUKEE, WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. January 14, 2008.
The price of poverty: Struggling to succeed in school. (DULUTH, MN) Duluth News Tribune. January 13, 2008.
Poverty has bigger effect than school spending on test scores. (MISSOURI) Southeast Missourian. January 9, 2008.

(Mark Kornelis)