On August 1st, 2012, the Department of Public Welfare ended Pennsylvania’s General Assistance (GA) program. That it survived an additional month was a testament to the advocacy work of “PA Cares for All”, a network of over a hundred organizations opposing the program’s elimination.
A lifeline cut: general assistance axed
by Mary Faulkner
On August 1st, 2012, the Department of Public Welfare ended Pennsylvania’s General Assistance (GA) program. That it survived an additional month was a testament to the advocacy work of “PA Cares for All”, a network of over a hundred organizations opposing the program’s elimination.
The PA Coalition against Domestic Violence (PCADV) and the Centre County Women’s Resource Center joined PA Cares for All recognizing the vital role that General Assistance has played in helping women leave their batterers.
Moreover, domestic violence agencies in counties across PA coordinate regularly with other human services agencies who will now face additional burdens created not only by the loss of General Assistance but also by other cuts in the Corbett Administration’s budget. General Assistance’s elimination does not mean that the safety net is increasingly frayed. From my work with survivors of domestic and sexual violence, I can tell you that there is no longer a safety net at all.
General Assistance was a cash assistance program which provided $205 per month for Pennsylvanians without income for a period of up to nine months. It had been in existence since the Great Depression, and the level of assistance for each participant has not been increased since 1990. It served as a lifeline for nearly 70,000 annually.
The recipients of this small stipend included people with disabilities, adults struggling with addiction, caregivers for elderly or disabled relatives, orphaned children, and survivors of domestic violence. Nearly half of those who received General Assistance are in the process of applying for federal SSI disability income, and once approved, that program pays back the previous General Assistance outlay. This portion of the costs, therefore, merely functions as a loan.
When Governor Corbett released his budget proposal with the elimination of General Assistance on Feburary 7th, 2012, he described it as “lean and demanding.” He stated that he “will not raise taxes” and, furthermore, “there is no talking around these limits.” In a likely reference to cutting programs like General Assistance, he argued that the budget “proposes more in the way of reforms by continuing to change a culture of government from one of entitlement to one of enterprise.” Gary Alexander, the Secretary of the Department of Public Welfare, wrote in his own Patriot News op-ed in November 2011 that “the DPW has taken swift action to ensure that scarce taxpayer funds are not lost to waste, fraud, or abuse.” For this administration, the specter of “waste, fraud and abuse” has been raised with regard to any and all public benefits program whether or not any such irregularities have been documented.
General Assistance is not a program rife with “waste, fraud and abuse.” The small amount of money each month is put to the most practical of uses. It covers medical co-pays and over-the-counter medicine, hygiene needs like toothpaste and soap, and bus tokens. Providing individuals with the $200 per month can allow them a degree of autonomy and keep them from homelessness. Critics of the Governor’s budget have deemed this cut “penny-wise, pound-foolish.” Without General Assistance, destitute Pennsylvanians will cost the government more over the long-term. They may wind up in homeless shelters and state psychiatric hospitals. Some will become incarcerated. The timeline on which payments ended was also problematic for recipients and human service providers. Previous restrictions to General Assistance were enacted with a minimum of sixty days of advance notice to prepare for the changes. Advocates fought to preserve an additional thirty days of assistance, but the abrupt timeline of this program’s elimination left little opportunity for individuals in crisis to find alternatives. Some only learned that the program ended when they attempted to access the money.
At the Centre County Women’s Resource Center, we provide a range of crisis intervention services including emergency shelter to assist women who may be in the process of leaving an abusive partner. Leaving is a process, and it can be the most dangerous time for women in violent homes. Along with assessing risks, it requires women to weigh their financial situation as well as their safety concerns. Economic uncertainty is a very real barrier to women ending a violent relationship. Women may return to their batterer between 7 and 11 times as they seek a stable and safe new living situation. These families may find themselves in and out of both domestic violence shelters and homeless shelters because in their experience, the violence and the homelessness are intrinsically linked.
Survivors have difficulty establishing themselves on firm financial footing because part of the pattern of an abusive relationship includes economic abuse. Economic abuse includes a range of tactics. For example, a controlling spouse may demand that her paycheck be deposited into his account. Alternatively, she may be discouraged from working outside the home or her ability to work consistently may be sabotaged. Telling Amy’s Story, a WPSU-produced documentary about a Centre County domestic violence homicide, demonstrates how Amy’s husband constantly interrupted her work day with harassing calls and caused her to leave work early or miss days. Amy attempted to obtain a transfer to another work location to mitigate the violence at home, but her employers could not accommodate her request. A battered woman may need to leave her job on little to no notice and flee to a new town with few immediate employment prospects. My colleagues and I now better understand that women can be in what seems to be a financially stable family but have little to know access to money or credit. Imagine then how vulnerable they would feel when they have to leave the roof over their head.
For those women who begin the process of leaving, emergency shelter is a thirty-day goal-oriented program for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Survivors can access round-the-clock advocacy, but they continue to face barriers to establishing autonomy.
Displaced women in Centre County come up against the high cost of gas and limited public transportation, a crisis in available affordable housing and a lack of full-time employment opportunities. Advocates can facilitate an application to the state’s Victim Compensation Assistance Program (VCAP) if the participant has cooperated with law enforcement or filed a protective order. VCAP is an important component for some victim’s journey to restoration, but it is a process of reimbursements victims which can take months to process.
Our local human services agencies, such as the Housing Authority, and charitable organizations have worked to prioritize the needs of battered women and their children, but these providers find themselves stretched thin amid the broader need in our area. Without cash-on-hand to maintain health and hygiene and to travel to job interviews or to view potential rentals, I have seen women become disheartened about the possibilities of living on their own and may return to abusive situations.
However small the amount General Assistance provided to these women, it was a resource to begin to build a safer and independent life.
In late June, Freelance reporter Jake Blumgart , described the recipients of General Assistance in a Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed piece as the following: “It is hard to imagine a less politically connected group than the low income people helped by General Assistance.”
Furthermore, General Assistance is “an easy target for politicians who want to seem to be making tough budget decisions without enraging anyone powerful.” Since the elimination of these payments on August 1st, there continues to be an outcry of activists about the effects of this cut on Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens.
ACT UP staged a “funeral” for General Assistance accusing the Governor of “digging more graves.” On behalf of the abused and destitute of Centre County and those who flee here for safety or opportunity, it is important to send a message that those with a voice can speak out for those who feel disenfranchised.
Community members can support their local agencies and charitable organizations that assist those among us who are experiencing crisis, and we can ask tough questions of our elected officials and those running for office about whether or not short-term budget cuts reflect either the economic or ethical values of Pennsylvania. In particular, we can question the Governor’s false dichotomy of entitlement versus enterprise. I worked with women who accessed General Assistance because they were experiencing a crisis not because they felt entitled.