CASA CRY MAY 2016
FoodShare Employment and Training (FSET) and the Myth of the Undeserving Poor by XAR1060
Dorothy Day famously said “The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.” Sadly, Wisconsin state policymakers have been manufacturing and deploying weapons in their war on the poor. Their effectiveness is in the ability to embed the idea of a worthy/unworthy distinction in the public mind while placing as many people as possible into the later category. For the last year, the FoodShare Employment and Training Program (FSET) has distinguished itself as the a-bomb of this specialized arsenal. FSET has been around for years. Its purpose is to help people who receive FoodShare find work through assisting job searches and providing training and supportive services. While some people have found employment through the program, many enroll in the program to get a free bus pass. It may not have been helping as many individuals enter or advance in the workforce as the middle and upper class hoped, but it was not a means of punishing those who lack privilege. This changed on April 1, 2015, when a work requirement for FoodShare eligibility took effect. Since that day, individuals ages 18 to 49 who are physically and mentally able to work and don't have dependent children have to prove to the state they're doing at least 80 hours per month of work-related activity. Those who work at least half-time can fulfill the requirement through their employment, and the rest can either fulfill it through FSET participation or receive three months of FoodShare benefits and then become FoodShare ineligible for three years.
Against my better judgment I took a position working for ResCare, Inc, the for-profit human services firm contracted by the state to administer the FSET program in Milwaukee and six other counties in southeastern Wisconsin. I was not unaware that the new policy would lead to individuals losing FoodShare. But, I naively thought I'd be helping others to improve their lives through employment (as if selling one's waking hours to an employer is an improvement!), or at least maintain their FoodShare eligibility through FSET participation. I had good intentions, but misjudged the intentions at play in the new policy Three months after the work requirement took effect, 15,000 Wisconsin residents became FoodShare ineligible, and only about 4,500 found employment as FSET participants. State representative Mark Born said that the new policies were working as intended, stating, "The FSET program was created to help guide able-bodied adults back into the workforce, or put them on the path to gainful employment while remaining on FoodShare." If the new policy was working as intended, the numbers suggest that the intention was not to get people working, but rather to justify terminating FoodShare. My heart broke when I saw the reported numbers. These people who were going to be having trouble feeding themselves and their families. My heart broke again when I saw how my coworkers responded to the same news. The name “ResCare” is supposed to mean “respect” and “care,” yet those meant to be carrying out that mission only expressed judgment and resentment for those who lost FoodShare. Other than myself, very few at the firm seemed to see the outcomes as a failure of ResCare or the state, or even to question how they happened. The accepted view was, and is, that those cut off are undeserving of public assistance. End of story.
There was, and is, little discussion among ResCare staff about the state's and ResCare's lack of effort to communicate the policy changes to FoodShare recipients. Most people at risk of losing FoodShare only received a couple of letters with confusing wording and a phone call from ResCare's scheduling department. Announcements through mass media channels, clear explanations by Income Maintenance workers, and mailings that made the situation unambiguous did not happen. There was, and is, little discussion among ResCare staff acknowledging that many people are unable to participate in FSET because they don't have access to transportation to attend an orientation and get enrolled. Certainly this is a challenge even in areas with bus service. But in suburban and rural areas that don't have public transit, not owning a car probably means someone will become FoodShare ineligible. There was, and is, little discussion among ResCare staff of the fact that for people who already work more than 20 hours a week, are physically or mentally unable to work, or otherwise qualify for exemption from required FSET participation, changing their status to exempt is a low hurdle race that many don't have the stamina to finish. There was, and is, little discussion among ResCare staff of racism, education, the prison industrial complex, and other conditions that push the disadvantaged into poverty. The myth of the undeserving poor is driven deep into the views of the ResCare workers who, superficially, are meant to be helping FoodShare recipients “reach their highest level of independence.” Like ResCare employees, the general Wisconsin public has been largely uncritical of FSET and the FoodShare work requirement. But my experience has led me to believe that this is because the general public is not widely aware of or does not understand the policy changes.
Policymakers have failed to address the lack of secure, family-supporting jobs, the lack of educational opportunities, the criminal justice system that disproportionately affects those who lack privilege, the lack of access to transportation, and institutional racism. Indeed, they seem to fail to even acknowledge these matters as problematic, and Wisconsin citizens have been excluded from the dialogue. In a socioeconomic situation like ours, attempting to address unemployment by shouting “TRY HARDER” at the poor can only lead to shame, discouragement, and large numbers of people losing what little means they have to feed themselves.
***We just learned from his daughter, Therese, that Mike Cullen had a serious heart attack. He was given a pace maker There's a campaign to financially assist him and his wife, Annette. See http://www.gofundme.com/michaelcullen
Mike and Annette were founders of Casa Maria which will celebrate its 50th anniversary on July 9th of this year. Michael spent time in prison for the Milwaukee 14 Draft File Burning.
JOKES
How many skunks does it take to change a light bulb? A Phew! How do fish get to school? By taxicrab!
A drunk was walking on the road when he spotted a crowd by the creek. A preacher was performing baptisms. The drunk sort of got in line and then the preacher called him. The drunk gets down to the water, and the preacher dunks him. When he comes out, the preacher asks: "Son, did you see Jesus?" to which the drunk answers, "No." The preacher dunks him again, and asks: "Son, did you see Jesus?" to which the drunk answers, "No." The preacher dunks him a third time, and again asks: "Son, did you see Jesus?" The drunk answers: "Nope. Are you sure this is where he fell?"
A marriage counselor goes to see a fortune teller. The fortune teller looks at the man’s wrinkles in his hand, and starts to chuckle. The man stands up and slaps the swami. "Why did you do that?" asks the fortune teller, The man replies, "I always try to strike a happy medium.” Teen: I’m confused. Half the adults tell me to find myself. The other half tell me to get lost.
INTERESTING FACTS
More than 55,000 armed law enforcement officers operate inside of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the foot soldiers of the mass deportation system. They work as you would expect any police force to operate but without even the semblance of oversight. With an annual budget line item of $18bn solely for immigration enforcement the federal government spends more on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (BPE) than all other federal law enforcement agencies combined. ----The Guardian, 4/18/16
A plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to fully decompose. And if it doesn’t end up in a landfill, it could end up in the ocean and in the stomach of a fish, bird or dolphin—a fatal occurrence that happens all the time. In China, a staggering 3 billion new plastic bags enter into circulation every single day. The Pacific Garbage Patch, a massive swirling collection of plastic trash in the North Pacific Ocean, is estimated to be anywhere from 270,000 square miles (about the size of Texas) to more than 5,800,000 square miles (up to 8 percent the size of the entire Pacific Ocean).
According to Worldwatch Institute, more than half of global greenhouse-gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture. The U.S. addiction to meat is intense: Americans eat nearly four times as much meat as the global average. ----EcoWatch
Top U.S. corporations have stashed $1.4 trillion offshore From 2008 – 2014. The 50 largest U.S. companies collectively received $27 in federal loans, loan guarantees and bailouts for every $1 they paid in federal taxes. These 50 companies spent about $2.6 billion on lobbying while receiving nearly $11.2 trillion in federal loans, loan guarantees and bailouts.---Common Dreams, 4/6/16
Netherlands looks to ban all non-electric cars by 2025. ---Christian Science Monitor,4/18/16
Number of refugee children who entered Europe in 2015 whose whereabouts are unknown: 10,000
Number of Chinese villagers being relocated to make room for a telescope looking for alien life: 9,110
Percentage of U.S. science teachers who “emphasize” that global warming is likely due to natural causes: 30%
Portion of U.S. students from low-income households who do not have broadband internet access: 2/5 Average number of trophy animals imported to the U.S. each year: 126,000 -----Harper’s Index
The Internal Revenue Service is expected to take in over $2 trillion this year. Nearly 40 percent of that total will go to military-related expenses. if you look at human needs and where our tax dollar is going, It’s less than a penny in job training, two cents of your income tax dollar to nutrition, to affordable housing, five cents to education. – National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
FoodShare Employment and Training (FSET) and the Myth of the Undeserving Poor by XAR1060
Dorothy Day famously said “The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.” Sadly, Wisconsin state policymakers have been manufacturing and deploying weapons in their war on the poor. Their effectiveness is in the ability to embed the idea of a worthy/unworthy distinction in the public mind while placing as many people as possible into the later category. For the last year, the FoodShare Employment and Training Program (FSET) has distinguished itself as the a-bomb of this specialized arsenal. FSET has been around for years. Its purpose is to help people who receive FoodShare find work through assisting job searches and providing training and supportive services. While some people have found employment through the program, many enroll in the program to get a free bus pass. It may not have been helping as many individuals enter or advance in the workforce as the middle and upper class hoped, but it was not a means of punishing those who lack privilege. This changed on April 1, 2015, when a work requirement for FoodShare eligibility took effect. Since that day, individuals ages 18 to 49 who are physically and mentally able to work and don't have dependent children have to prove to the state they're doing at least 80 hours per month of work-related activity. Those who work at least half-time can fulfill the requirement through their employment, and the rest can either fulfill it through FSET participation or receive three months of FoodShare benefits and then become FoodShare ineligible for three years.
Against my better judgment I took a position working for ResCare, Inc, the for-profit human services firm contracted by the state to administer the FSET program in Milwaukee and six other counties in southeastern Wisconsin. I was not unaware that the new policy would lead to individuals losing FoodShare. But, I naively thought I'd be helping others to improve their lives through employment (as if selling one's waking hours to an employer is an improvement!), or at least maintain their FoodShare eligibility through FSET participation. I had good intentions, but misjudged the intentions at play in the new policy Three months after the work requirement took effect, 15,000 Wisconsin residents became FoodShare ineligible, and only about 4,500 found employment as FSET participants. State representative Mark Born said that the new policies were working as intended, stating, "The FSET program was created to help guide able-bodied adults back into the workforce, or put them on the path to gainful employment while remaining on FoodShare." If the new policy was working as intended, the numbers suggest that the intention was not to get people working, but rather to justify terminating FoodShare. My heart broke when I saw the reported numbers. These people who were going to be having trouble feeding themselves and their families. My heart broke again when I saw how my coworkers responded to the same news. The name “ResCare” is supposed to mean “respect” and “care,” yet those meant to be carrying out that mission only expressed judgment and resentment for those who lost FoodShare. Other than myself, very few at the firm seemed to see the outcomes as a failure of ResCare or the state, or even to question how they happened. The accepted view was, and is, that those cut off are undeserving of public assistance. End of story.
There was, and is, little discussion among ResCare staff about the state's and ResCare's lack of effort to communicate the policy changes to FoodShare recipients. Most people at risk of losing FoodShare only received a couple of letters with confusing wording and a phone call from ResCare's scheduling department. Announcements through mass media channels, clear explanations by Income Maintenance workers, and mailings that made the situation unambiguous did not happen. There was, and is, little discussion among ResCare staff acknowledging that many people are unable to participate in FSET because they don't have access to transportation to attend an orientation and get enrolled. Certainly this is a challenge even in areas with bus service. But in suburban and rural areas that don't have public transit, not owning a car probably means someone will become FoodShare ineligible. There was, and is, little discussion among ResCare staff of the fact that for people who already work more than 20 hours a week, are physically or mentally unable to work, or otherwise qualify for exemption from required FSET participation, changing their status to exempt is a low hurdle race that many don't have the stamina to finish. There was, and is, little discussion among ResCare staff of racism, education, the prison industrial complex, and other conditions that push the disadvantaged into poverty. The myth of the undeserving poor is driven deep into the views of the ResCare workers who, superficially, are meant to be helping FoodShare recipients “reach their highest level of independence.” Like ResCare employees, the general Wisconsin public has been largely uncritical of FSET and the FoodShare work requirement. But my experience has led me to believe that this is because the general public is not widely aware of or does not understand the policy changes.
Policymakers have failed to address the lack of secure, family-supporting jobs, the lack of educational opportunities, the criminal justice system that disproportionately affects those who lack privilege, the lack of access to transportation, and institutional racism. Indeed, they seem to fail to even acknowledge these matters as problematic, and Wisconsin citizens have been excluded from the dialogue. In a socioeconomic situation like ours, attempting to address unemployment by shouting “TRY HARDER” at the poor can only lead to shame, discouragement, and large numbers of people losing what little means they have to feed themselves.
***We just learned from his daughter, Therese, that Mike Cullen had a serious heart attack. He was given a pace maker There's a campaign to financially assist him and his wife, Annette. See http://www.gofundme.com/michaelcullen
Mike and Annette were founders of Casa Maria which will celebrate its 50th anniversary on July 9th of this year. Michael spent time in prison for the Milwaukee 14 Draft File Burning.
JOKES
How many skunks does it take to change a light bulb? A Phew! How do fish get to school? By taxicrab!
A drunk was walking on the road when he spotted a crowd by the creek. A preacher was performing baptisms. The drunk sort of got in line and then the preacher called him. The drunk gets down to the water, and the preacher dunks him. When he comes out, the preacher asks: "Son, did you see Jesus?" to which the drunk answers, "No." The preacher dunks him again, and asks: "Son, did you see Jesus?" to which the drunk answers, "No." The preacher dunks him a third time, and again asks: "Son, did you see Jesus?" The drunk answers: "Nope. Are you sure this is where he fell?"
A marriage counselor goes to see a fortune teller. The fortune teller looks at the man’s wrinkles in his hand, and starts to chuckle. The man stands up and slaps the swami. "Why did you do that?" asks the fortune teller, The man replies, "I always try to strike a happy medium.” Teen: I’m confused. Half the adults tell me to find myself. The other half tell me to get lost.
INTERESTING FACTS
More than 55,000 armed law enforcement officers operate inside of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the foot soldiers of the mass deportation system. They work as you would expect any police force to operate but without even the semblance of oversight. With an annual budget line item of $18bn solely for immigration enforcement the federal government spends more on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (BPE) than all other federal law enforcement agencies combined. ----The Guardian, 4/18/16
A plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to fully decompose. And if it doesn’t end up in a landfill, it could end up in the ocean and in the stomach of a fish, bird or dolphin—a fatal occurrence that happens all the time. In China, a staggering 3 billion new plastic bags enter into circulation every single day. The Pacific Garbage Patch, a massive swirling collection of plastic trash in the North Pacific Ocean, is estimated to be anywhere from 270,000 square miles (about the size of Texas) to more than 5,800,000 square miles (up to 8 percent the size of the entire Pacific Ocean).
According to Worldwatch Institute, more than half of global greenhouse-gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture. The U.S. addiction to meat is intense: Americans eat nearly four times as much meat as the global average. ----EcoWatch
Top U.S. corporations have stashed $1.4 trillion offshore From 2008 – 2014. The 50 largest U.S. companies collectively received $27 in federal loans, loan guarantees and bailouts for every $1 they paid in federal taxes. These 50 companies spent about $2.6 billion on lobbying while receiving nearly $11.2 trillion in federal loans, loan guarantees and bailouts.---Common Dreams, 4/6/16
Netherlands looks to ban all non-electric cars by 2025. ---Christian Science Monitor,4/18/16
Number of refugee children who entered Europe in 2015 whose whereabouts are unknown: 10,000
Number of Chinese villagers being relocated to make room for a telescope looking for alien life: 9,110
Percentage of U.S. science teachers who “emphasize” that global warming is likely due to natural causes: 30%
Portion of U.S. students from low-income households who do not have broadband internet access: 2/5 Average number of trophy animals imported to the U.S. each year: 126,000 -----Harper’s Index
The Internal Revenue Service is expected to take in over $2 trillion this year. Nearly 40 percent of that total will go to military-related expenses. if you look at human needs and where our tax dollar is going, It’s less than a penny in job training, two cents of your income tax dollar to nutrition, to affordable housing, five cents to education. – National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee