Let’s call her Emily.
A now divorced mom of three school-agers, she works full-time in an office with pretty family-friendly hours. Her pay nudges her just above the poverty line for a family of four (that’s $24,500 a year).
Emily’s life changed when her husband left her. He had the better paying job and he provided the family’s health insurance. The court ordered him to pay about a thousand dollars a month in child support, and, maintain health coverage for the family. Alas, friends told Emily that the new woman in his life thought those requirements “outrageous” and, well, he changed jobs (and some say he moved out of state).
Oh, Emily could get health insurance for the kids through her work. Unfortunately, her employer doesn’t subsidize family plan premiums, so, better than half of her after tax income would go for insurance.
The good news is that the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a part of MO HealthNet (aka Medicaid), was designed to help kids like Emily’s. She also learned that she qualified for food stamps (around $200 a month), free school meals for the kids, and, a couple of other programs.
I met Emily thanks to friends who know I’m looking for working folks on food stamps who would be willing to share their stories.
Right wing mythology claims all on “welfare” stay at home growing fat on government aid. The reality is that the vast majority of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program households not containing senior or disabled citizens include working adults. Therefore forced “work requirements” won’t lead to more people working, no, they merely create new paperwork traps to cut benefits from hard working folks.
As I said, Emily works full-time. Work requirements could still harm her if she – or her employer – missed a piece of paperwork, or, if a sick child kept her home for more than a couple of days.
She carefully listened to my explanation of why it is so critical to have people willing to talk with reporters, to put a human face on programs helping families.
Then, she politely declined to participate.
It was nothing personal. She’s thankful for the help she gets and understands the need to show examples of good people enrolled in these programs.
Yet, she wouldn’t “expose” herself – and, more importantly her kids – as being on “welfare.” She’s not proud that she needs help and wants to keep that reality a secret as much as she can.
During our talk I learned that she’d had a not good experience with the state. I relayed her experience at a meeting with state officials, managers who genuinely want to make the system better for families. The official most involved in this area asked for Emily’s name and information, so, I contacted her again and asked if I could share her specifics.
Again, she declined.
She fears the state will retaliate if she “complains.”
Yes, I did explain that the people I deal with would not do that. And, I said that the way the Department of Social Services now operates (with Call Centers and Processing Centers instead of Case Workers assigned to individual families), there is literally no one who could be punished for mistakes with her treatment. Still no go.
The screaming hordes of Facebook posters and anti-government and alt right bloggers attacking those deserving of our help have overwhelmed intelligent discussion and, well, reality itself. Emily has a right to fear becoming a target of their darkness.
Still, to keep support for food stamps and Medicaid and other programs we need good people to stand before cameras and share their lives. It’s easy to see why this is so hard.
Glenn