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ACTION ALERT: 
YOUR CALL NEEDED BY NOVEMBER 5, 2013
  • Please call your State Representative to ask them to co-sponsor Representative Khan's amendment to the Welfare Reform Proposal

 

Dear Friend,

 

The Massachusetts House of Representatives released a welfare reform proposal this past Friday. Unfortunately, it contains provisions that would be harmful to very low-income children and families.

 

Please call your State Representative today-and no later than November 5- to ask them to co-sponsor Representative Khan's amendment to address the following areas of concern:

  • Job search for applicants. 
    The House proposal requires applicants to verify job search before benefits are approved without providing transportation, childcare, or any help with job search.  Parents in crisis will not be able to meet this requirement, especially without the necessary supports. A similar provision raised the denial rate to 80% in PA.  85% of TAFDC recipients have a high school diploma or less; and very poor employment histories.  We are advocating for increased job assessment, education and training so parents are better able to get and keep jobs.  
  • Work requirements for parents with disabilitiesThe House proposal allows DTA to impose work requirements on 4,500 disabled parents, resulting in loss of benefits for the parents and their children.
  • No benefits for people who go off assistance and then reapply, unless they can show they complied with a plan that was done before they went off (perhaps years earlier).  Yet, the bill provides no resources or assistance to help them complete the plan.  It it is unfair to hold people accountable to plans without providing the necessary support.
  • Attending a four year college would no longer count as a work activity.  Federal law allows college to count for 12 months and longer if combined with another activity.  A college degree is the path to financial stability for some families.  If a parent is in college at a time her family needs assistance, she should not be required to drop out.
  • Does not increase funding for education or training, which has been cut by 80% since 2002.
  • Only allows families to set aside $5,000 in an asset account for allowable purposes and doesn't permit families to own a reliable car, making it harder for families to become financially stable.

 

Take Action

 

Please call your state representative today and ask them to cosponsor Representative Khan's amendment to preserve a lifeline for children and help families move forward not backwards.

 

If you don't know who your representative is, go to www.wheredoivotema.com.

 

If you have any questions you can contact Chelsea Sedani, Senior Public Policy Associate, Crittenton Women's Union, 

at [email protected] or 617.259.2936. 

 

Thank you! 

 

Loh-Sze Leung

Executive Director, SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce    

 



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