SALT 2012 VIRGINIA STATE LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS

     SALT has been working on a Work Sharing proposal--to enact a work sharing program in Virginia. Of course, this requires an amendment to the Commonwealth's unemployment insurance law.

     Other social insurance organizations (e.g., CLASP, AARP) support state work sharing programs, along with a wide assortment of public policy advocates and economists. Moreover, work sharing is gaining traction in Republican-led states.

Over the last several weeks we have been discussing the merits of work sharing with several Virginia legislators.  Delegate Patrick Hope and Senator George Barker are interested in pursuing this program and committed to being patrons of Work-Sharing-an-Alternative-to-Layoffs legislation.  A two-page Fact Sheet on work sharing, and a SALT Work Sharing Fact Sheet are available on request from me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . SALT Leaders would be delighted to discuss ways that we might work together to make a work sharing a reality in Virginia. Our goal is to amend the Commonwealth's law so that Virginia can join the 23 other states that allow this job saving approach.

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SALT Priority #1 VA Prisons to Ban Shackling of Pregnant Women – SALT supports the prohibition of shackling pregnant inmates in Virginia’s prisons, in agreement with regulations of the Virginia Department of Correction. The regulation is modeled after legislation (HB 1488) introduced by Delegate Patrick A. Hope. This practice violates the dignity of the human person and is an ethical principle for advancing social justice in our communities and state.

SALT Priority #2: Work Sharing: An Employer Tool that Helps Save Jobs and Diminishes Poverty in Communities – SALT is in support of Virginia utilizing compensated work sharing, a type of unemployment insurance that enables businesses to avoid layoffs and keep workers on the job by reducing their work hours and providing them with partial unemployment benefits. Work sharing benefits are paid from the state’s unemployment trust fund, which is financed by a tax paid by employers. Employers are charged for work sharing benefits in the same manner as for regular unemployment benefits. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have already adopted work sharing. This is a win/win for employers and employees, and it supports the principles of the “common good”--a just ordering of society so that all may do well—and the dignity of work and the rights of workers, enabling them to support their families.

SALT Priority #3: Reasonable Rates for Inmate Telecommunications Systems - SALT proposes legislation to authorize the State Corporation Commission to determine that the rates for debit or prepaid telephone systems at state correctional facilities are at the lowest available rates for the service in accordance with filed schedules. Permitting an additional financial burden to be placed on prisoners and their families who are among the poor and vulnerable is simply unconscionable, a violation of the basic principles of justice.

SALT PRIORITY #4: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Automatic Adjustment for Inflation -SALT is in support of establishing a reasonable, automatic adjustment for inflation each year to be applied to the TANF assistance grant. However, this provision shall apply only in fiscal years following a fiscal year in which salary increases are provided for state employees. This legislation is intended to correct the benefit disparities between foster care parent rates and TANF benefit standards of assistance. Our proposal would bring equity to the way some of the most vulnerable children are treated. This is clearly a fairness issue. (Virginia has enacted only one TANF benefit increase since 1985. Currently a family of three receives a benefit of about a fifth of the federal poverty level.)

SALT Priority #5: Rescinding the Federal Lifetime Ban of TANF - SALT is in support of the proposed FY 2013-14 State Only TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) budget provision rescinding the Federal lifetime ban on TANF welfare benefits for ex-offenders convicted of felony drug crimes. The Federal lifetime ban penalizes children of drug felons for the crimes of their parents, depriving them of those things required for human decency and need to sustain life. We have never been a society that has required children to pay for the misdeed(s) of their parents, and such punitive legislation that afflicts children is not supported by the Constitution or the religious traditions of the major religious communities in our society. Failure to provide the needed transition assistance by lifting the ban is destructive to families and fuels recidicism.

SALT Priority #6: Support of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) - SALT is in support of the EITC, the extension of important targeted tax relief for working Virginia families in the FY 2013 budget. Key elements of our state’s EITC will expire without legislative action in the coming session. Expirations would result in a substantial tax increase for over 114,000 working families throughout the state. Given the proven track record of the EITC to incentivize work and provide targeted relief to working families, we believe an extension of these provisions is critical for strengthening and supporting families; failure to support the EITC will most certainly undermine families in the Commonwealth.

SALT Priority #7: Support of a Balanced Approach to Funding Safety Net Programs – SALT supports closing the Virginia’s budget shortfall by using a balanced approach, one that includes new revenue along with targeted spending cuts. We support closing and reforming loopholes, in order that social service organizations can respond to the emergency needs of the most vulnerable. Reforming costly and inefficient loopholes will preserve Virginia’s future prosperity and bring the needed balance to our current budget process.

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The Issue:  The 1996 Welfare Reform Act introduced many changes to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), also known as Welfare.  Among them, the money for TANF has been dispersed to states in block grants, with significant flexibility given to states in how much they give in TANF benefits, and how much of the money can be diverted to programs intended to help current and former TANF recipients.  Unfortunately, with too few controls or guidelines on how TANF programming money can be used, states have grown dependent on TANF funds to balance their own budgets, using them for "everything under the sun," as Welfare Reform architect Ron Haskins put it.  This means there is too little available for needy families, those TANF is meant to benefit.

2012 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION PRIORITIES

Social Action Linking Together, (SALT)--and its 1,000 advocates for faith-based social justice have a number of initiatives related to human services and encourages funding of the following initiatives in the 2012 budget. Together these initiatives address critical issues of poverty and homelessness in Virginia.

Taken together, these initiatives provide a real solution for low-income Virginians, both those who need temporary assistance while moving to work and those who have jobs but whose wages are insufficient to pay for housing. In fact, people with jobs make up the majority in homeless shelters across the State. As a result, shelter stays are longer, and more and more people are being turned away from shelters that are filled with Virginia’s working poor.

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TANF INDEXING PROPOSAL FOR 2012--Item  #______

Chief Patrons: Senator Janet Howell & Delegate Jim Scott

 "O. The Commissioner, in cooperation with the Department of Planning and Budget, shall establish a reasonable, automatic adjustment for inflation each year to be applied to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) assistance grants.  However, this provision shall apply only in fiscal years following a fiscal year in which salary increases are provided for state employees."

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TANF BENEFITS (2012)

SALT’s 1,000 members and its advocacy partners* are calling for an increase in benefits for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients next year and the following two years, to be funded primarily from the federal block grant, and for the indexing of future benefits to go into effect each time state employee’s wages are raised. Such an increase is urgently needed to partially offset the projected 31 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 2000, when payments were last adjusted.

The 10 percent COLA approved in 2000 was the only benefit increase that TANF families have received since 1985, compared to the CPI increase during that entire time of over 100 percent. A typical family of three now receives a mere $3,840 per year, about a fifth of the Federal poverty level. As a matter of basic fairness, we owe it to Virginia’s needy families to restore at least a portion of the buying power they have lost to inflation.

TANF benefit levels matter because poverty harms children. Among many other disadvantages, poor children are much more likely to have health problems and developmental disabilities, and they are at much greater risk for abuse and neglect. Most of these children live with at least one parent, but about a quarter of them live with a relative other than a parent. These relatives, especially grandparents, make tremendous sacrifices to care for these children and receive little support in doing so.

Consider two siblings aged 3 and 5 living in the Richmond area.

• If they live with a parent and are eligible for TANF, the family will recieve a meager $320 per month to get by on.
• If they live with a relative other than a parent and are eligible for TANF, the family will recieve even less in benefits--$254 per month. 
• However, if they live in foster care, the foster family will recieve $918 per month to care for them. 

This marked disparity effectively penalizes children who happen to be poor and/or are lucky enough to have a relative who cares about them. Moreover, it demonstrates how dramatically the cost to the state would escalate if children in TANF households were transferred to the foster care program.

Foster care support payments were increased by 15 percent in FY 2009. A comparable increase in TANF benefits is long past due. TANF benefits would lag far behind foster care payments.

The TANF caseload in Virginia has been reduced by 50 percent since the start of Welfare Reform in 1995 (from 70,797 families in June 1995 to 35,697 families as of September 2011), while Federal funding has remained constant. Thanks to this dramatic caseload reduction, Virginia Federal TANF funds that should be used to pay for this modest benefit increase

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Investing in Human Services 

During the state's fiscal crisis of the past several years, the federal TANF block grant was used as an informal “rainy day fund” to support programs that had previously been funded with state general fund dollars. As Virginia’s fiscal crisis has now eased, a portion of increased state revenue is being dedicated to restoring State General Fund support for these programs so that federal TANF funds can be used for their intended purpose---namely, to provide a safety net for poor children and to move families from welfare to economic self-sufficiency.

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Transitional Assistance for Former Drug Offenders 

2012 General Assembly Session

SALT applauds the 2005 Virginia General Assembly for eliminating the lifetime ban on food stamps for people with drug felony convictions. With Virginia CURE and Delegate Jim Dillard, the bill's patron, SALT members worked to eliminate the ban on food stamps and benefits through Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). The elimination of the ban on food stamps is commendable, but the unjust ban on TANF benefits remains and must be removed to ensure those with drug felony convictions, a vulnerable population, receive the assistance to which they are entitled.

Each year, Virginia releases roughly 10,000 men and women from its prisons. Seventy-five percent of them are parents of two or more children. All Virginians have a stake in the success of these families, since failure is likely to mean renewed cycles of poverty, substance abuse, physical abuse, and crime. Effective transitional assistance, on the other hand, leads to job training, treatment, and limited financial support for members of this population while they work to become self-sufficient.

SALT urges members of the General Assembly to support legislation that would lift the lifetime ban on TANF benefits for individuals convicted of a drug-related felony. This legislation is essential for the following reasons:

· The ban, while providing no meaningful deterrent to drug-related crime, unfairly punishes one group of former inmates who have paid their debt to society, and punishes their families as well.

· Parents who are reentering their communities after incarceration often need public benefits to reunite their families, pay rent, and buy food, clothing, and other necessities. The denial of assistance to such parents as they attempt to rebuild their lives is counterproductive.

· The ban makes it extremely difficult for individuals to enter or complete substance abuse treatment programs, or maintain recovery from addiction. It limits the effectiveness of community-based treatment programs, which rely on their clients to use TANF benefits to help cover room and board expenses.

· The ban interferes with the ability of ex-offenders to find work, return to school, or enter job training programs to gain essential skills to become competitive in the labor market.

· TANF benefits provide a lifeline for women trying to escape domestic violence. Many women with drug-related convictions began using drugs as children when they were being physically or sexually abused. Providing them and their children with essential assistance enables them to avoid returning to an abusive environment.

BACKGROUND:

Section 115 (a) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, P.L. 104-193, permanently bans individuals convicted of drug felonies from receiving TANF cash assistance or food stamps. However, section 115(d) of the Act allows states to opt out of this ban or modify it, and 34 states have done so. Virginia modified the ban in the most recent session of the General Assembly, removing the ban on food stamps.

SALT has worked repeatedly with Virginia C.U.R.E. to promote meaningful reentry programs for inmate parents and their children. We know from experience that incarcerated individuals who do not receive help with their transition back into society are more likely to return to a life of crime and, ultimately, prison.

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**Cost of Living Adjustment Charts

The TANF caseload in Virginia has been reduced by 50 percent since the start of Welfare Reform in 1995 while Federal funding has remained constant. Thanks to this dramatic caseload reduction, Virginia should have sufficient Federal TANF funds that could be used to pay for this modest benefit increase.

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SALT Success!

Virginia Income Credit Coalition Mini-Grants 

Out of this appropriation, $185,000 the first year and $185,000 the second year shall be provided to the Virginia Community Action Partnership to support the Virginia Earned Income Tax Coalition and provide grants to local organizations to provide outreach, education and tax preparation services to citizens who may be eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. The Virginia Community Action Partnership shall report on its efforts to expand the number of Virginians who are able to claim the federal EITC, including the number of individuals identified who could benefit from the credit, the number of individuals counseled on the availability of the federal EITC, and the number of individuals assisted with tax preparation to claim the federal EITC. This report shall be provided to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees and the Chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission by December 1 each year."

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Rental Assistance

Select "Rental Assistance" at left-most column on this page or Visit the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness website at http://www.vceh.org/.  

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Foster Care Disparities

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Washington Post (Fairfax Extra): Voices of Fairfax 

Letter to the Editor                                                            

Dear Editor:

In this regard, effective July 1, 2008, Virginia legislators did the right thing and increased the foster family homes subsidy rates for a single older youth by 15% to $628 per month.

By comparison, Virginia's support for children in relative care under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is only $290 a month for a family of three.  Virginia should also say "yes" to a long-overdue increase in TANF which provides time-limited assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives.  This includes grandparents raising grandchildren.  Virginia has allowed much needed support for TANF to lag far behind inflation.  Currently a family of three receives less than one-fourth of the Federal poverty level.

Why are TANF family support levels important?  Because poverty harms children.  Poor children are more likely to have health problems and developmental disabilities; and they are at greater risk for abuse and neglect.  Additionally, the cost to the state would escalate tremendously if the children in TANF households were to be transferred to the Foster Care program.

TANF has increased only one time since 1985, a 10 percent increase in 2000, compared to  an over 100 percent inflation increase over that same period.  Imagine the outrage if Social Security recipients had received only one modest increase in benefits since 1985.  Further, TANF caseloads have declined by 50 percent since 1995, while federal funding has remained constant.

Virginia needs to invest these considerable savings in helping the hard-to-serve families who remain on TANF.  As a matter of basic fairness, The Governor and General Assembly owe it to Virginia's neediest children to restore at least a portion of the buying power lost to inflation and thereby, use TANF funds for their most fundamental purpose, to provide a temporary safety net for families working toward financial independence. 

Sincerely,  john Horejsi, SALT

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Striving for Family Stability Through TANF

Family stability is a primary goal of the TANF program.  Social Action Linking Together (SALT) is requesting a 10% increase in TANF payments to parents and other kinship/relative caregivers of children in Virginia.  Current TANF payments are inadequate to support families with children.  As a result, children who might be cared for within their extended families often must be placed-at greater expense and with greater trauma to the child and his or her family-in non-relative foster care.

Kinship/Relative Care:  A Case Study

A growing number of children in Virginia are being raised by kinship/relative caregivers-relatives other than their biological parents.  In most cases, kinship/relative care is preferable to other foster care situations, because the child maintains closer connection to his or her family of origin.  However, these preferred caretakers labor at a disadvantage-the TANF payments they receive are only about 30% of the payment a non-relative foster care parent would receive.

The following , is typical:

 With diminished resources, we tried to use all the services available from state and county government such as TANF, Medicaid, etc. We had thought Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF), would be a real benefit. However, we received only $310 per month for four children (about $19.50 per week per child)-not nearly enough to feed and clothe them, and take care of their other normal and special needs. The state spends far more to support children through foster care programs. 

Today, we are in our early sixties, living paycheck to paycheck. We deeply love our grandchildren. But we can no longer give them all the benefits we were able to provide our own children. We can love them and teach them to be good people and to get a good education, but we and they would be better off if the support we receive through TANF were increased. 

Because Relative and especially grand parent care givers love their children and grandchildren enough to step in during a time of a crisis -and for the duration-their own financial stability is put at risk, and their dreams for retirement are deferred, perhaps forever.  SALT believes that relative families-as well as those parents struggling to care for their own children-deserve greater support, and so requests an indexing increase in TANF payments to families in need.

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Kinship Care is Better

A recently published study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine reports on the impact of kinship care on the behavioral well-being for children in out-of-home-care. The study was conducted over a three year time period and involved 1309 children. The children included those in kinship and foster care. The conclusions of the study were that children placed into kinship care had fewer behavioral problems three years after placement as opposed to those placed in foster care.  The study authors concluded these results support efforts to maximize placement of children with willing and available kin when they enter out-of-home care.

The complete journal article can be viewed on line at

 http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/162/6/550?eaf

For a simpler version, see the Science News summary at:

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/32805/title/Fostering_gains

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Voices of Fairfax:  Letters to the Editor:

Foster Care Disparities

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) makes it possible for children to be provided for in their homes or the homes of relatives, despite family poverty.  Relatives, especially grandparents, make tremendous sacrifices to care for these children, and they receive little support.  Some older relatives and grandparents have to postpone retirement and move to a bigger house or move out of retirement communities to provide for these children.  I know: I grew up in relative care.  The disparity in benefits is amazing.  An entire TANF family of three receives less than a half as much as a single foster-care program child.  Are some children worth less just because they are poor, or are lucky enough to have a relative who cares?  We hope you will look into and make these disparities known.

John Horejsi

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