Transcripts For CSPAN Poverty And Working Families 20140828

Have a younger girl cousin, you better be able to pull it back in. Otherwise you are in a heap of trouble. [laughter] what we have to do as social workers is we have to rally around the families who want to support these kids, both want to want to take them back and the one to are going to receive them and encourage them. We should be leading the charge. We should be encouraging people and providing support to the sounds to are from different ethnic groups sued the site to take an africanamerican child and support them. For the support around them and dont make them feel bad about the decision they have made. You have made the right decision. Particular, many of them need intense Mental Health support. Intense. They have some of the most acute issues of anyone you will find. Right . You have seen like i had seen, these kids find themselves in those situations have the most acute issues and they are the most challenging. They will need support. I thank you sincerely. I really do. Before you clock or anything, clap or anything, i want you to hear me say thank you are all you do. Thank you for hearing what im saying and coming to you and being real with you about what we need to do. This is really on us right now. Thank you for all of your attention. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] tomorrow night on cspan, look at how election laws might affect Voting Rights. And floridas attempt to purge suspected noncitizens and voter id laws, early voting, and the prospect for National Registration system. His part of the event with a history professor here is part of the event with a history professor. I will put this into the concept of why people come into differing conclusions. Republicans have a view of the purpose of election which is certainty. Of the purpose of Holding Election is we know who won a we are clear as to who you as to who won. Anything that cleans up the elect our own process that gives us that certainty is a word and worth paying cash burden worth paying. Democrats generally believe that legitimacy in election involves participation. Anything that limits participation of all those who could vote from voting undermines the legitimacy of the that means the result may be a little messy on the edges. These are legitimate. It is a prospective toward the purpose of the election of voting. Each respect to focuses us on a different answer. What is a legitimate burden for the state to impose upon voters in the voting process . Underneath this is that not so that each side takes a position that is comfortable with outcomes that will help them. The broader, the better it is for democrats. The narrower, the better it is for republicans. It is just easier to do the right thing if the end result is one you want. A look at how election laws might affect Voting Rights is on cspan in prime time tomorrow at 8 p. M. Eastern. Moments, a House Budget Committee looking at programs aimed to reduce poverty. Forecastatest economic from the congressional budget office. After that come Immigration Judges call for more independence from the justice department. Later we will reair the discussion on the role of social workers. Several live events to tell you beginning with American Political Science Association panel on nsa surveillance programs. Hat is at 10 15 a. M. Eastern at 12 30 p. M. , the 17th for study of islam democracy was a form on isis and radicalization. Later, then nato Cato Institute looks at Public Opinion and war. That is at 2 p. M. Eastern. This month, cspan presents debates on what makes america great, evolution, and genetically modified foods. Issue spotlights with looks at Veterans Health care, irs oversight, and campus sexual assault. New perspectives on issues including global warming, Voting Rights, fighting infectious disease, food safety. Fromhe history tour americas historic places. Find our tv schedule one week in advance at cspan. Org. Know what you think about the programs you are watching. Us. Us or email join the conversation, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. Up next, a House Budget Committee hearing on charitable programs aimed at reducing poverty. This two hour hearing is chaired by paul ryan of wisconsin. The committee will come to order. A number of our members will be here late. I want us to get started. Welcome. Good to see you. This is our fifth hearing on the war on poverty. We have heard from a number of voices, policy experts and officials and today, we are going to hear from people in the middle. Into the private sector who worked with the Public Sector. People who coordinate. We are going to hear from an especially important voice, mrs. Tianna gainesturner. First, i was happy to meet tianna. We got to meet earlier and i am happy to hear her testimony. I will quote from her previous testimony because i think she hit the nail on the head. Poverty is not just one issue that can be solved at one time. It is just not an issue of jobs or food or housing or assistance and safety. It is a people issue and you cannot slice people up into issues. We are whole human beings. Poverty has to do with a whole person who is in a family, a neighborhood. I cannot have said it better myself. That is right. For too long, the federal government has treated people as numbers. That is why im excited to hear from Heather Reynolds. She is doing great work in fort worth. She is putting together a Pilot Project about expanding opportunities for working families. Ms. Reynolds program sees people as whole human beings who deserve time and care and not just a client to usher through the door. And the results speak for themselves. In 2013, 90 percent of the people and the Refugee Program but came selfsufficient within six months. I also want to welcome jennifer tiller. Work first and accountability. America works get paid only if they succeed. I cannot find a better definition of success than their own. They say successful is moving to employment and maintaining a selfsufficient lifestyle. I think we should insist on the same kind of accountability on our federal programs. One last thing. As a previous hearing, some of my colleagues kept asking if they received federal aid as if it would undercut their testimony. The point of these hearings is not just to question whether the federate federal government should help but how it can best help. I hope we can listen and learn from our Witnesses Today. And i want to recognize the Ranking Member. Thank you, mr. Chairman and i want to thank all of the witnesses for being here today. This is our fifth hearing. The question of how we can better address poverty in america. As i have in the past, i want to start on two points of agreement. First, the best antipoverty measurement is a job. A job that pays a living wage and can support individuals and a family. And second, if there are better ways to Channel Resources to get better results in terms of our fight on poverty, we welcome that conversation. And Case Management may be a very successful way of doing that. While it is our fifth hearing, we still have two we still have a huge disconnect. The republican budget that passed out of this committee and house the dramatically cuts funding for programs that help people climb out of poverty. And mr. Chairman, the fact remains that the budget you presented with a cut the areas of the budget that would help provide the kind of Case Management we are talking about. Dramatic cuts of the discretionary part of the budget funded at lower than two times the sequester cuts and deep cuts in programs like food and nutrition. We wanted to have a discussion here about how to better use existing resources to help people climb out of poverty. We welcome that conversation. What we do not welcome is using that conversation as a pretext were means to dramatically cut funding for this program whether medicaid or food and nutrition programs. And as chairman indicated, we have had witnesses who have received important funding. There is no disagreement here that the federal government can play an Important Role in helping people climb out of poverty. But, it is hard to do that at the same time that you have a budget that dramatically cuts funding for the programs. Reform, better use of existing resources to help people and more effective results yes. A conversation that does not answer the question about how cuts on antipoverty programs will advance the goal is a something we will continue to ask about. Finally, as i joined the chairman and welcoming all of the witnesses, i am pleased that ms. Is gainesturner is here. She is the first of five hearings who herself has experienced the struggles of poverty and the effort to climb out. I think your personal testimony is especially important in that regard. As you state in your testimony, one of the keys there is making sure that work pays. When you have a job, you can lose have a job that supports the family. One of the things wouldve been trying to do in the house is at least raise the minimum wage from its current 7. 25 an hour which is lower purchasing power than when harry truman was president. Would like to raise it to 10. 10 an hour which does not provide a living away job at least provide greater opportunities for people taking care of themselves and their families. We are still hoping to have a vote on that and many other issues that support work. We are pleased to have all these Witnesses Today to talk about how we can tackle this important challenge before us. Thank you, mr. Chairman and look forward to the conversation. Thank you. To make sure everyone knows, it is against the law to provide false testimony, we have began a new practice. This does not reflect any guest trust we have in any particular witness. We are taking this step because of guidance. I would like to ask the three of you if you do not mind standing if we can swear in our testimony. Please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give will be the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Please take your seats. That is a formality we have to engage in now. Heather, why dont we start with you and move this way. Thank you. Chairman ryan and Ranking Member van holland, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. My name is Heather Reynolds and i am president of Catholic Charities fort worth. Let me get right to my main point. Poverty is complex and often cyclical. Parents have poor children and poor children often become poor parents. The cycle continues unless it is broken. Case management is the critical element in moving someone from government dependency to selfsufficiency. That is why we believe that Case Management has got to be an integral part of the conversation on how we reform our approach to poverty. First, case manager allows us to work with that client and individualized away. Every day in fort worth, texas, we have over 300 people coming to our organization for help. Each individuals poverty looks different but we mainly see three main types. Chronic poverty which results from a combination of factors such as age, disability, or mental illness. People who will need Safety Net Services throughout the course of their life. The second type is situational poverty. Cost of idle divorce, Unexpected Health care expenses and the loss of a job. This type is often the most temporary ad with a quick intervention, families can be put back on track. The third type is generational. People in generational poverty are those what had two or three People Living in poverty. It is passed down from parent to child. It is a mindset of living in the moment and be proactive and setting goals and planning ahead are not in the reference. Understanding is critical for understanding how to combat it. Case manager is most needed for those in situational and generational. Those in generational poverty need a deeper level of Case Management because it requires a mindset change. Second, Case Management allows us to serve in a way that is holistic. In most cases, people come to capital Catholic Charities face complex challenges. The way the federal system is designed, they receive services for all of their needs independently. Case management helps transform intervention from an array of Standalone Services to a comprehensive plan to get families to achieve their fullest potential. If active Case Management is a process in which they work to holistically move a family forward out of poverty permanently. We have a successful federally funded and antipoverty program. Our success of moving individuals from poverty is a high because of Case Management. In 2013, 90 of our clients became selfsufficient within six months. From my experience, many federal programs are not designed for the end goal. How can we set our goal at ending homelessness and count the number shelter beds . How can we count the number of homeless families and achieve it by counting the number . At Catholic Charities, our main partner is the Economic Opportunities at notre dame. Our program aimed at persistent and agreed among low income students. This is achieved through Case Management and emergency financial assistance. A pilot is tracking outcome for randomly assigned to students receiving surfaces in a control group of student. In order to measure the true impact of the services. Academic performance, Educational Attainment and employment and earnings. The results indicated that students receiving Case Management services not only averaged more credit hours and in the Treatment Group but were more likely to persist in their education. Case management was the difference. Theres not a better way to get somebody out of poverty is to help ensure they graduate with a degree that can get them a job that pays them not enough to survive but to thrive. Poor parents have poor kids and more often than not, poor kids become poor parents. The cycle continues unless it is a purposely broken. Case management is the critical item of moving a family out of poverty for good. Thank you for your time today and thank you for what you are doing to bring attention to the important issue of ending poverty. Thank you. America works is a network of Company Including americaworks of washington, d. C. Have managed retention programs throughout the united states. Under the mission of changing lives by lifting them from dependency and to employment, americaworks have place over 400,000 people into jobs nationwide. Americaworks rapid attachment work Program Allows individuals to be place quickly in the workforce. We believe will work should be the central focus. Wrap around services but not limited to Mental Health, shelter services, childcare care, and education endeavors are simultaneously. Over the years, americaworks has taken on total social programs that has caused taxpayers billions of dollars. We have attached exoffenders to jobs. Americaworks has taken people out of homeless shelters. We could create productive citizens. Americaworks pioneered the work first program. States were limited to a small percentage of people. This forced employment first and training later or simultaneously for upgrading and improving prospects. Americaworks haiyan pioneered government contracts that is not commonly used. Betsy mckay wrote it is the responsibility. Government involvement should not stop at the management of funding and programs, it should champion personal most contractors are paid when clients enroll in their programs regardless of employment. Betsy mckay wrote it is the responsibility of government involvement should not stop at the management of funding and programs, it should champion personal responsibility. Personal responsibility act to encourage employment as well as hold precipitous participants accountable. In order to successfully move individuals from dependent too independent, we must revisit the premise. What is the definition of success for a recipient . It is an individual moving to employment, maintaining a selfsufficient lifestyle, and progress in their desired career trajectory. Charlene shares her story and i would like to share it. My name is Charlene Dorsey and ive been a part of it for 2 years. When i first started, i was not focus on my career goals. After several months of messing around, i came to the realization. Tanf would be cut soon and i cannot rely on this as a way to support me and my children. I got tired of my life south of the dependency. After spending with the director, i decide to take the program more seriously. I work very closely with the staff at americaworks and put my energy into gaining employment. Within one week, i had a job. I started working as a cashier. When i was searching for employment, food service was my last resort. After work for a few months, i realize i loved my job and had the potential to grow within the company. I have been working there for nine months in him the Mental Health<\/a> support. Intense. They have some of the most acute issues of anyone you will find. Right . You have seen like i had seen, these kids find themselves in those situations have the most acute issues and they are the most challenging. They will need support. I thank you sincerely. I really do. Before you clock or anything, clap or anything, i want you to hear me say thank you are all you do. Thank you for hearing what im saying and coming to you and being real with you about what we need to do. This is really on us right now. Thank you for all of your attention. [applause] [captions Copyright National<\/a> cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] tomorrow night on cspan, look at how election laws might affect Voting Rights<\/a>. And floridas attempt to purge suspected noncitizens and voter id laws, early voting, and the prospect for National Registration<\/a> system. His part of the event with a history professor here is part of the event with a history professor. I will put this into the concept of why people come into differing conclusions. Republicans have a view of the purpose of election which is certainty. Of the purpose of Holding Election<\/a> is we know who won a we are clear as to who you as to who won. Anything that cleans up the elect our own process that gives us that certainty is a word and worth paying cash burden worth paying. Democrats generally believe that legitimacy in election involves participation. Anything that limits participation of all those who could vote from voting undermines the legitimacy of the that means the result may be a little messy on the edges. These are legitimate. It is a prospective toward the purpose of the election of voting. Each respect to focuses us on a different answer. What is a legitimate burden for the state to impose upon voters in the voting process . Underneath this is that not so that each side takes a position that is comfortable with outcomes that will help them. The broader, the better it is for democrats. The narrower, the better it is for republicans. It is just easier to do the right thing if the end result is one you want. A look at how election laws might affect Voting Rights<\/a> is on cspan in prime time tomorrow at 8 p. M. Eastern. Moments, a House Budget Committee<\/a> looking at programs aimed to reduce poverty. Forecastatest economic from the congressional budget office. After that come Immigration Judges<\/a> call for more independence from the justice department. Later we will reair the discussion on the role of social workers. Several live events to tell you beginning with American Political Science Association<\/a> panel on nsa surveillance programs. Hat is at 10 15 a. M. Eastern at 12 30 p. M. , the 17th for study of islam democracy was a form on isis and radicalization. Later, then nato Cato Institute<\/a> looks at Public Opinion<\/a> and war. That is at 2 p. M. Eastern. This month, cspan presents debates on what makes america great, evolution, and genetically modified foods. Issue spotlights with looks at Veterans Health<\/a> care, irs oversight, and campus sexual assault. New perspectives on issues including global warming, Voting Rights<\/a>, fighting infectious disease, food safety. Fromhe history tour americas historic places. Find our tv schedule one week in advance at cspan. Org. Know what you think about the programs you are watching. Us. Us or email join the conversation, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. Up next, a House Budget Committee<\/a> hearing on charitable programs aimed at reducing poverty. This two hour hearing is chaired by paul ryan of wisconsin. The committee will come to order. A number of our members will be here late. I want us to get started. Welcome. Good to see you. This is our fifth hearing on the war on poverty. We have heard from a number of voices, policy experts and officials and today, we are going to hear from people in the middle. Into the private sector who worked with the Public Sector<\/a>. People who coordinate. We are going to hear from an especially important voice, mrs. Tianna gainesturner. First, i was happy to meet tianna. We got to meet earlier and i am happy to hear her testimony. I will quote from her previous testimony because i think she hit the nail on the head. Poverty is not just one issue that can be solved at one time. It is just not an issue of jobs or food or housing or assistance and safety. It is a people issue and you cannot slice people up into issues. We are whole human beings. Poverty has to do with a whole person who is in a family, a neighborhood. I cannot have said it better myself. That is right. For too long, the federal government has treated people as numbers. That is why im excited to hear from Heather Reynolds<\/a>. She is doing great work in fort worth. She is putting together a Pilot Project<\/a> about expanding opportunities for working families. Ms. Reynolds program sees people as whole human beings who deserve time and care and not just a client to usher through the door. And the results speak for themselves. In 2013, 90 percent of the people and the Refugee Program<\/a> but came selfsufficient within six months. I also want to welcome jennifer tiller. Work first and accountability. America works get paid only if they succeed. I cannot find a better definition of success than their own. They say successful is moving to employment and maintaining a selfsufficient lifestyle. I think we should insist on the same kind of accountability on our federal programs. One last thing. As a previous hearing, some of my colleagues kept asking if they received federal aid as if it would undercut their testimony. The point of these hearings is not just to question whether the federate federal government should help but how it can best help. I hope we can listen and learn from our Witnesses Today<\/a>. And i want to recognize the Ranking Member<\/a>. Thank you, mr. Chairman and i want to thank all of the witnesses for being here today. This is our fifth hearing. The question of how we can better address poverty in america. As i have in the past, i want to start on two points of agreement. First, the best antipoverty measurement is a job. A job that pays a living wage and can support individuals and a family. And second, if there are better ways to Channel Resources<\/a> to get better results in terms of our fight on poverty, we welcome that conversation. And Case Management<\/a> may be a very successful way of doing that. While it is our fifth hearing, we still have two we still have a huge disconnect. The republican budget that passed out of this committee and house the dramatically cuts funding for programs that help people climb out of poverty. And mr. Chairman, the fact remains that the budget you presented with a cut the areas of the budget that would help provide the kind of Case Management<\/a> we are talking about. Dramatic cuts of the discretionary part of the budget funded at lower than two times the sequester cuts and deep cuts in programs like food and nutrition. We wanted to have a discussion here about how to better use existing resources to help people climb out of poverty. We welcome that conversation. What we do not welcome is using that conversation as a pretext were means to dramatically cut funding for this program whether medicaid or food and nutrition programs. And as chairman indicated, we have had witnesses who have received important funding. There is no disagreement here that the federal government can play an Important Role<\/a> in helping people climb out of poverty. But, it is hard to do that at the same time that you have a budget that dramatically cuts funding for the programs. Reform, better use of existing resources to help people and more effective results yes. A conversation that does not answer the question about how cuts on antipoverty programs will advance the goal is a something we will continue to ask about. Finally, as i joined the chairman and welcoming all of the witnesses, i am pleased that ms. Is gainesturner is here. She is the first of five hearings who herself has experienced the struggles of poverty and the effort to climb out. I think your personal testimony is especially important in that regard. As you state in your testimony, one of the keys there is making sure that work pays. When you have a job, you can lose have a job that supports the family. One of the things wouldve been trying to do in the house is at least raise the minimum wage from its current 7. 25 an hour which is lower purchasing power than when harry truman was president. Would like to raise it to 10. 10 an hour which does not provide a living away job at least provide greater opportunities for people taking care of themselves and their families. We are still hoping to have a vote on that and many other issues that support work. We are pleased to have all these Witnesses Today<\/a> to talk about how we can tackle this important challenge before us. Thank you, mr. Chairman and look forward to the conversation. Thank you. To make sure everyone knows, it is against the law to provide false testimony, we have began a new practice. This does not reflect any guest trust we have in any particular witness. We are taking this step because of guidance. I would like to ask the three of you if you do not mind standing if we can swear in our testimony. Please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give will be the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Please take your seats. That is a formality we have to engage in now. Heather, why dont we start with you and move this way. Thank you. Chairman ryan and Ranking Member<\/a> van holland, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. My name is Heather Reynolds<\/a> and i am president of Catholic Charities<\/a> fort worth. Let me get right to my main point. Poverty is complex and often cyclical. Parents have poor children and poor children often become poor parents. The cycle continues unless it is broken. Case management is the critical element in moving someone from government dependency to selfsufficiency. That is why we believe that Case Management<\/a> has got to be an integral part of the conversation on how we reform our approach to poverty. First, case manager allows us to work with that client and individualized away. Every day in fort worth, texas, we have over 300 people coming to our organization for help. Each individuals poverty looks different but we mainly see three main types. Chronic poverty which results from a combination of factors such as age, disability, or mental illness. People who will need Safety Net Services<\/a> throughout the course of their life. The second type is situational poverty. Cost of idle divorce, Unexpected Health<\/a> care expenses and the loss of a job. This type is often the most temporary ad with a quick intervention, families can be put back on track. The third type is generational. People in generational poverty are those what had two or three People Living<\/a> in poverty. It is passed down from parent to child. It is a mindset of living in the moment and be proactive and setting goals and planning ahead are not in the reference. Understanding is critical for understanding how to combat it. Case manager is most needed for those in situational and generational. Those in generational poverty need a deeper level of Case Management<\/a> because it requires a mindset change. Second, Case Management<\/a> allows us to serve in a way that is holistic. In most cases, people come to capital Catholic Charities<\/a> face complex challenges. The way the federal system is designed, they receive services for all of their needs independently. Case management helps transform intervention from an array of Standalone Services<\/a> to a comprehensive plan to get families to achieve their fullest potential. If active Case Management<\/a> is a process in which they work to holistically move a family forward out of poverty permanently. We have a successful federally funded and antipoverty program. Our success of moving individuals from poverty is a high because of Case Management<\/a>. In 2013, 90 of our clients became selfsufficient within six months. From my experience, many federal programs are not designed for the end goal. How can we set our goal at ending homelessness and count the number shelter beds . How can we count the number of homeless families and achieve it by counting the number . At Catholic Charities<\/a>, our main partner is the Economic Opportunities<\/a> at notre dame. Our program aimed at persistent and agreed among low income students. This is achieved through Case Management<\/a> and emergency financial assistance. A pilot is tracking outcome for randomly assigned to students receiving surfaces in a control group of student. In order to measure the true impact of the services. Academic performance, Educational Attainment<\/a> and employment and earnings. The results indicated that students receiving Case Management<\/a> services not only averaged more credit hours and in the Treatment Group<\/a> but were more likely to persist in their education. Case management was the difference. Theres not a better way to get somebody out of poverty is to help ensure they graduate with a degree that can get them a job that pays them not enough to survive but to thrive. Poor parents have poor kids and more often than not, poor kids become poor parents. The cycle continues unless it is a purposely broken. Case management is the critical item of moving a family out of poverty for good. Thank you for your time today and thank you for what you are doing to bring attention to the important issue of ending poverty. Thank you. America works is a network of Company Including<\/a> americaworks of washington, d. C. Have managed retention programs throughout the united states. Under the mission of changing lives by lifting them from dependency and to employment, americaworks have place over 400,000 people into jobs nationwide. Americaworks rapid attachment work Program Allows<\/a> individuals to be place quickly in the workforce. We believe will work should be the central focus. Wrap around services but not limited to Mental Health<\/a>, shelter services, childcare care, and education endeavors are simultaneously. Over the years, americaworks has taken on total social programs that has caused taxpayers billions of dollars. We have attached exoffenders to jobs. Americaworks has taken people out of homeless shelters. We could create productive citizens. Americaworks pioneered the work first program. States were limited to a small percentage of people. This forced employment first and training later or simultaneously for upgrading and improving prospects. Americaworks haiyan pioneered government contracts that is not commonly used. Betsy mckay wrote it is the responsibility. Government involvement should not stop at the management of funding and programs, it should champion personal most contractors are paid when clients enroll in their programs regardless of employment. Betsy mckay wrote it is the responsibility of government involvement should not stop at the management of funding and programs, it should champion personal responsibility. Personal responsibility act to encourage employment as well as hold precipitous participants accountable. In order to successfully move individuals from dependent too independent, we must revisit the premise. What is the definition of success for a recipient . It is an individual moving to employment, maintaining a selfsufficient lifestyle, and progress in their desired career trajectory. Charlene shares her story and i would like to share it. My name is Charlene Dorsey<\/a> and ive been a part of it for 2 years. When i first started, i was not focus on my career goals. After several months of messing around, i came to the realization. Tanf would be cut soon and i cannot rely on this as a way to support me and my children. I got tired of my life south of the dependency. After spending with the director, i decide to take the program more seriously. I work very closely with the staff at americaworks and put my energy into gaining employment. Within one week, i had a job. I started working as a cashier. When i was searching for employment, food service was my last resort. After work for a few months, i realize i loved my job and had the potential to grow within the company. I have been working there for nine months in him the Training Program<\/a> to become a manager. I love my supervisor and staff i work with. I enjoy getting up and going to work each day. Even though food service is not in the fieldwork i was initially interested in, i came to berlin as the nation that work is it better i came to the realization that work is better than depending on tanf. I am so happy at my job now and im looking forward to all of the opportunities i will have to advance my career. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Ms. Tianna gainesturner. Good morning. Thank you very much for inviting me. My name is tianna gainesturner and im a member of a witness to hunger. Lets get down to business. I will be talking about Different Things<\/a> that are important to me and my family. Lets talk about jobs and wages. The fact it is called minimal wage is a problem. We need to be where people do have a living wage. We need to make sure we have paid sick leave so a mother or father or a person as a caregiver can take off of work and not to worry about losing their jobs. And address affordable childcare for those who have children and those entering into the workforce. Safety net. Where do i begin . Food stamps. The Food Stamp Program<\/a> is very important to me and my family. Nobody wakes up in the morning and say we want to be in poverty. We do not want to wait in a food pantry line to get to the front and tell there is no food. It helped cement my husband make sure we can feed our children. Nutritious and adequate food. Husbandlps and and my make sure we can feed our children. Nutritious and adequate food. Wic is another important program. I know that firsthand. With twins, my twin boy had openheart surgery. I was able to breastfeed a give a pump which i know i cannot. Health care. If you look at the screen, that is my son. I thought it was important for people to understand the many struggles found have to go through. Id to visit minutes after my son suffered his i took this a few minutes after my son suffered his second a seizure. It is not easy to wake up every day and not know, did you pay the phone bill or pay for medical . You have constant challenges. I am proud to sit here and say my mother was never on foodstuffs when i was a child. I watched her struggle every day. I feel light right now we need to have a conversation on the things that are wrong. Why is it that when a person enters the job force, if they made . 50 over, their food stamps are cut and in their tanf is taken away. Technology, why is it i go to the. Office and they get a receipt and they tell me they have gotten my food work my paperwork. A month later and my caseworker has no knowledge. We need to make sure we get the caseworkers so we are not treated like unhuman as individuals and understand we are here for a moment, not for a lifetime. Educational programs. We need to make sure we do not push people into these ready to Work Programs<\/a> that simply do not work. We need to make sure we do not put people and to nursing programs to become a cna and cannot compete with the others in that category. Lets make sure it is ok for me and other people on public assistance to be able to open up a savings account so we can save money to on our own homes and safe for our childrens college. Instead of a caseworker say because youre of a savings account, you are not eligible. I feel light right now in america, there should be no child that goes hungry and no one that will have to see the troubles every day of not knowing. This photograph right here is a photo of my children. My children are everything to me. I would like to say we need to break the cycle. We need to make sure we all remember what the American Dream<\/a> is, providing family values. I am not a number or statistic or food stamp recipients. I am an individual lives in the innercity we just all happens to be writing now struggling. Just as so Many Americans<\/a> are struggling. We need to get back to the core values of remembering we are people. Not looked at as somebody on welfare and is lazy and wants to collecting benefits. I never wake up every day and say, i want to be on public assistance. This is a picture of my husband and children on fathers day. As you see behind me, my father is behind me and he is a strong africanamerican man who can relate to everybody in this room and gets up every day and goes to work. He made sure he wants the same thing that you want for your children. Safe and affordable housing. There should be no decision made without someone sitting at the table who was going to struggle. Thank you so much. How old are your kids . My twins are six and my son is 10. I want to start with you tianna. I am really interested in what you mean when you talk about the cliff and you said before, you have given this example about the babysitting for a friend for 40 and you can you you can lose your a welfare check. A lot of these programs are layered on top of each other, not connected. You have the situation where you could have a cold cut off all benefits if you earn some money. Give me a sense of how you see this cliff and what it does to people and kind of the wrong incentives it gives and more importantly, just a better way of coordinating . Should we have a smoother system so that people do not face these cliffs . What kind of decisions are they forcing upon people . It does not encourage people to have saving accounts. They put their money under mattresses because theyre scared their caseworker will find out. I was getting 793 in food stamps. Once i began working and the first cut went through, i went to 220. When a second income went through, i went to 200. Did you make more with your paycheck . No, i was working. I do not want to be on cash benefits. I wanted to go out there and work. As soon as i got right there to start being able to put a little away and do things with my children and put them in camp, i was cut just like that. I feel like we should padden the program and make sure just because a person may make . 10 over the guidelines, they should not lose everything right away. There should be measurements. You should measure and see where a person and not push them to get a job, get a job. Once you get a job, you lose your childcare and cut off all food stamps. It assumes i air think is right from the media. It seems like things are pulled from underneath you. I am very intrigued with the model that Catholic Charities<\/a> has done with Case Management<\/a>. Walk us through this. What does it look like . What is the relationship between Case Management<\/a> and the client recipient . What ratio you strive for . How could the federal government do a better job as encouraging . The biggest concern is it is cookiecutter, its cold, treats every body the same. It needs to be more customized and human. You are doing that. What does it look like . What can the government do . Thank you for that question. Making sure you will higher private organizations, hiring plate case manager that have a heart for the client and a deep understanding of how to work with folks of for a mindset change but also creating this idea you can get out and giving them the encouragement every step of the way. To be successful as an assessment of understanding a client and then a plan developed to take into account what are your strengths . Sometimes we treat clients like they are full of deficits. What are your strengths, what access do you possess and what did you needed to gain . We have been moving forward in a new highlight, what does success really look like . What are we trying to achieve . We made a change internally, making a way so you actually support your family and not on any Public Benefits<\/a> or social benefits. Have three months of savings and no debt. The biggest thing the federal government could do is allow us to serve it more holistically by allowing us to pull more together. We need time to work with folks. Like what . About a twoyear process. Cost effectiveness of putting the money into Case Management<\/a> and then savings with a decreasing and Public Benefits<\/a> makes it a very economically the key is to customize . There are people who are situational and that could be quick, right . Refugee situational. Generational, you need more time. Whether an associate degree or ged. When we see customized Case Management<\/a>, what we should be thinking about is this person might have transportation or daycare problems and that person might have education and food problems. Being able to customize the benefit to tailor their specific needs. Absolutely. If you are looking at you want to get somebody out of poverty, your goals are how to plan and leverage and figure out where there are opportunities that help them build so they can accomplish. Many times if it is Something Like<\/a> an Associates Degree<\/a> or certificate, that takes time. The problem you have for the federal government is a Patchwork Quilt<\/a> of programs that are out there with a different cut offs and requirements that you had to spend this time navigating that. If you have more flexible benefits you could customize, thats what you are trying to do . Absolutely. They may qualify for something else. Let me ask you the last question. I visited your location in d. C. It is amazing to watch for the people leave with a job and get on the ladder of life. If there something you could do to change the federal aid system, what would it be . I know you afford with counties and cities, if there were one or two things you can change to facilitate the transition, what are the things you would do . Thank you for your compliments first off all. I mentioned accountability and best champion of everywhere. And when it comes to things like time limits and at heather was saying with Case Management<\/a> and ensuring it is individualized and at as what we do. Everybody has a different set and educational set and people are from all different walks of life from where they are in the nation and we have to make sure everybody is getting that service and we will continue to do that. Championing that and accountability would be a great benefit. Lets me get back to measurement. How do you measure success . We have long complained we have input measurement system, the war on poverty for a lack of a better phrase. We measure input and how much money and how many programs we are creating versus outcomes. How many people are we truly getting out of poverty in a lasting way . It is that outcome measurement that is new. You had the institute at notre dame doing that, not only there but around the country. What are some of the keys of measuring success . What does it look like . Is it the original design of the program that is key . We want to have a system but we do not want to chase statistics and metrics and things like that. We do not want to chase some spreadsheet. So a bureaucrat can say my job is done. Are they in a selfsufficient lifestyle is a want to obtain . Obtain . They want to one of the most important ideas is not just a evaluation and outcomes but the research. That is why we are partnering with notre dame. What theyre able to do, we have a control group and Treatment Group<\/a>. Most of us in the Nonprofit Sector<\/a> are saying no to people every day because the resources are limited. We have a control group that we can provide. What happens is we bring the economies of notre dame and what theyre able to do is not only see if the Program Matters<\/a> because if they do not have the program, what would have happened . Having a treatment and Intervention Group<\/a> allows you to tell if not for the intervention, the famines would not have improved. Federal investment into more Rigorous Research<\/a> and evaluation with a large sample sizes and if we are seeing something that is working, how do we scale up to a National Level<\/a> . So we can see if it works and if it doesnt that gets into the program dont put me in a program that is proven to fail. That is a right. Mr. Van holland . Thank you for your testimony today. It has been very instructive. I want to start with ms. Gainesturner antiwar for being here and i want to thank thank you for being here and i want to thank congresswoman barbara lee. Were asking if you were talking about, if you put aside something to save and you may no longer qualify for food and nutrition benefits. For benefit of our colleagues, we do see the cliffs that is something all of us would support especially on the democratic side. It may end up costing more money. What you are saying and said being cut off from food and nutrition programs, we do start saving, you would be allowed to save and also receive your nutrition benefits unto you get to a point where youre family is truly at a living wage. Exactly. I want to be very clear on what i am saying. I have been hearing a couple of things about generational poverty. I feel like thats the main reason i am sitting here. You want to break the cycle of that. The federal programs running right now are not working. I do not want a status to be involved and tell me when i can join a certain program. I feel like that is not the way to go. Accountability, we need to hold a big company like walmart and target accountable for not paying their employees enough to where they can have medical benefits. A lot of these Big Companies<\/a> limit their employees to a certain amount of hours so they do not have to offer medical. We need to make sure they have paid sick leave. I want to make sure i cleared up a couple of things. I do not want anybody to misconstrue what i was saying. Thank you. Just on the budget point we are the budget committee, addressing this issues require resources. To reduce what the chairman said the cliff may involve more resources. At the same time, our colleagues have proposed a budget that allow deeper cuts. It is important to take the comprehensive review of this. While it is very important to figure out whether Case Management<\/a> is the best approach of all of them require resources. Some require more. And some may require more up front to get savings potentially down the road. If you could talk a little bit about the impact of the Affordable Care<\/a> act has had on your family. I saw that in your written testimony a you may not have had time to talk about in your oral testimony. Can you talk about how it has provided additional help for you and your family . The Affordable Care<\/a> act has definitely helped me and my husband and i am appreciative. For a long time, i was paying out of pocket to go to the doc are. I paying 75 for a doctor visit and getting a prescription, i had no medical coverage. I pay 75 does to go to the doctor and now i have to figure how i will pay for the prescription. I will go about getting the adequate medical because i did not qualify. Only my children qualified. Now that me and my husband are working, we are both working parttime jobs, our hours fluctuate. I was able to get quality medical through obamacare. It is very important. We need obama care. I know right now people want to cut obamacare and they are challenging to look into cutting and i would like for you to look at me and my husband as a prime example. If you cut that program, youre cutting away to make sure that i am here and do the job i need to do as a mother. I want to pick up on a point was that you are working in now, correct . And your husband . Correct. Your combined income is still not sufficient to provide a living wage for a family. Correct. What would happen while you are working, you are receiving food and attrition . What would be the impact on you and your children if you were to lose that food and nutrition . It would be a bigger struggle. I am already struggling unknown to pay the rent. The bills coming in, gas, water, electric. If i lose the food stamps, money taken away from the bills and my children to buy food. I do not know how much more i can say is. No one lives in poverty once to stay wants to stay on government assistance programs. We want to be independent and work are hard and believe in the American Dream<\/a>, if i get up everyday day and we work and my husband worked, will have the same jobs, benefits, wages as everyone else. That is the most important thing to us. I am a lot of people say, well, they do not need food stamps. It is not working. This person is abusing this program. Lets not go there. There are a lot of different programs we can talk about that have been abused that have been passed through. And they are not held accountable. I thank you for your testimony and why it is so important to have somebody who is currently struggling with these questions and the impact of some of the proposed cuts would have. Mrs. Reynolds, if i could ask you and thank you for the good work you do around the country. You mentioned that the larger share of your federal funding, from refugee assistance area. I would like to take this opportunity to ask you for the status report of your efforts on refugee assistance to stop we are currently facing this crisis, this border. I want to read for the benefit, made by national Catholic Charities<\/a>, a little earlier. One year ago today the Senate Passed<\/a> a comprehensive bill moving closer to an immigration process. But have not had a chance to vote in the house. In the meantime, we have this crisis on the border. Could you talk about Catholic Charities<\/a> review of this issue . I noticed your chapter has sent out alerts to all the members of the texas congressional delegation urging to increase refugee assistance which will be part of the president s emergency supplemental request. Share what you are doing and your views. You are from texas. Thank you for that question. Our hearts go out to the kids on the border because we have had the opportunity to work with, their shares of the horrible stories. We had a 70 Year Old Girl<\/a> who was in our shelter recently who talked about how her neighborhood friends would go missing and appear dead on the doorstep with her organs missing. The counselor they are giving us is quite daunting. Our organization is a longtime provider of refugee since the vietnam war. We have been a longtime provider of welfare services. Because of that, we were approached. About 18 months ago to start using our shelter for some of these children. We began about 18 months ago working with eight of these kids and there are eight beds. And we were approached again and we have increased beds. June 30 of this year, we increased to 32 beds. We converted office space into beds. We were able to do our part. We can have about 400 kiddos who can come through. Our main goal is to make sure they are taken care of. Many have been trafficked and their journey has been amazing. Recently, we had a threeyearold girl and i have a daughter and i cannot imagine letting her across the street without me. The journey that ive been on has been a tragedy and a blessing for us to step up and help. Thank you for your organization in that area. I wanted to commend you for continuing this series on the war on poverty and what works and what it does not and i want to thank all of the witnesses for sharing your personal stories about how we are moving in the right direction. There is a common theme if we listen and if it works with one individual and poverty and you work with one. All folks needed to be treated with the individualized regimen. Factors were Case Management<\/a> comes in. Mrs. Reynolds, i was impressed by your testimony. I want to drill down if we made, you separate out categories of poverty. Chronic, situational, generational. Can you talk about the percentages are . Do you have a breakdown of where people fit in . I do not. I would say our organization is more anecdotal. For example, we have a largest Senior Housing<\/a> program funded by hud. Those seniors are low income, many have extensive disabilities, Mental Health<\/a> issues. We need to provide them a place to live. And people in chronic poverty are not able to get jobs. We help them build community. We see a fair number in situational poverty but a large number are generational. The success rate varies between those three categories . It does. Success looks different. Success will look like it is about ensuring they live with dignity. Chronic and situational, that as one of the big reasons we are launching our pilot to study that a lot more and understand a lot more to look at time of war as we proceed. What are the incentives, if you could talk about the incentives in the Current Program<\/a> . What is your job . Right now i work with young the things that help us with is client out of poverty motivation, working on development of the claim. Assessing them after the series of assets we believe they need to possess in order to move out of are pretty. Setting goals of they can have quick wins medium and longterm fourpronged strategy of what out of poverty looks like. How does that compare to the Standard Program<\/a> of antipoverty . Are so many federal programs that are antipoverty salute would be difficult. Generally. You have public assistance programs talking about output. You have some programs like a lot of the Refugee Program<\/a>s which i believe are a good model getting to a good white of selfsufficiency and no longer being able to depend on that. Of inhing else is kind between. It can be shelter beds, helping children thrive, a variety of things. Im impressed with America Works<\/a>. Im wondering if you would 96 reform act the and compare that work requirement and how you think its important or not to successful outcomes. I think the work requirement is quite important. It allows organizations like America Works<\/a> to provide individualized assistance to ensure we address any of the Case Management<\/a> issues we have discussed here today. The work requirement is important for anyone deemed eligible to work and that is where the government comes in where they screen people to make sure they are eligible to work. Then we are looking at people receiving Social Security<\/a> disability. They cannoten told work and its about matching them to an appropriate position and we have done that for the last seven years was Social Security<\/a> beneficiaries. Approach isalized so important because it allows us the opportunity to hear what this individual is going through. They may not be heard to the caliber they expect when they go to apply for benefits or they go to recertify. Do you think your program is scalable . We could build it up . Absolutely. Thank you. There is no doubt in my mind that if we put them in a room to address the same th be of the meetings we would having in here that the three of youregardless of , yourence of opinions would come up with a better solution than we would come up with. Lets get this straight right now. The two parties want to do something about this problem. We have widely differing ideas about what direction we should go in. The culture ofes poverty. You better examine the culture of the congress. Poverty means there is an essential part of poverty that will continue inevitably. Hand, how do we help people become selfsufficient . Thats an interesting term selfsufficient. How do you become selfsufficient . Do children 3, 4, five years old become selfsufficient . How do seniors in their later years . How do the infirm, the mentally challenged, the chronically unemployed . I have selfsufficient coming out of my ears and it does not do what you three people do day in and out. So thank you for what each of you do. According to not my analysis, the budget that this house of representatives fines 69 of the budget trillion over the , it cuts ityears for people with low and moderate incomes. You can pontificate all you want. Lets deal with the reality of what we have to deal with. Listen very carefully. But what you need an Catholic Charities<\/a>. Im very familiar with Catholic Charities<\/a>. Its a great job you do all over, not just in fort worth. Those cuts are vital for us to understand. And medicaid, culture of poverty , the snap program. Do all of you know what it is . The social Services Block<\/a> grant which provides states with funding for meals on wheels programs anddental child care for low income workers. It includes 125 billion in pell grants giving them the ability to break the cycle of poverty. Fulcher of poverty. We will always have poor people. Be our incentive to try to do something about the mess that exists out there. With children, the infirm, those people who are mentally rner,enged, ms. Gainestu let me ask you a question. Your children receive Health Coverage<\/a> through thechip program . It is a medical assistant program. Its the department of public welfare. What happened if we cut the program and you would not be able to happen . I have three children with seizure disorders. They have to take medication twice per day. All three have asthma and take medication every day. Thank you for testifying today. Please try to help us change the congress of the united states. We hope we listen to all three of you. Thank you very much. I also thank the witnesses for their testimony. This is the fifth hearing weve had on this and related subjects. Ive learned a lot. Its no different today. I believe from hearing all the testimony that one of the reasons government and welfare programs can never and will never be able to match the kind of services that you provide is lack of relationship. A Government Program<\/a> cannot love. A Government Program<\/a> cannot demand expectation. I want to talk about that a little bit. If i understood your testimony correctly, we want to break that cycle. You want to break that cycle. To get offot want these programs necessarily. I understand the cliff and there are ways to soften it, perhaps. By 300 ,e to increase in theseor grams programs, by definition they would then be out of poverty and that would be a good thing or a bad thing . Thing ifld be a good they were moved out of poverty in the right way. Do not push them out of poverty. Programs you put in and then you cut them. Just take my theoretical example. The programs work and it would be good. The tendency would certainly still be there. The cycle of dependency. You would not be independent. Im independent now on the program. Be veryer myself to independent. I work as hard as anyone in this room. Im not challenging you. You say you are independent but you say you have to have these programs and you need them. I said these programs work to help people who are and struggling situations. If a person loses their job and they become unemployed my situation . What is your job . Right now i work with Young Children<\/a> in a recreation center. I have to make sure theyre doing their home work, afterschool program. My husband works at a whats your pay amount . My pay is 10. 88 an hour. Your husband works at a Grocery Store<\/a> and thats full time as well . Yes. My job is full time. But my job is also limited. Im a Seasonal Employee<\/a> so i work for six months with my job. Ok. Is that by choice so you can spend more time with your kids in the other six months or have you tried to find other employment . I have had to find other employment but due to Health Issues<\/a> i have not had your testimony youre a ward chairman in philadelphias inner city. Is that a paid position . No, its volunteer. Is that a partisan position . I do and make sure that people understand the importance of votes member of a Republican Party<\/a> or Democratic Party<\/a> . Im a democrat. Its volunteer. It was a precinct . Yes, volunteer. With the minute i have left i want to switch gears a little bit and talk about the work opportunity tax credit. Ms. Tiller or ms. Reynolds, are any of you two familiar with this . Justice a lot of folks come into my office and say its effective in helping people incentivizing employers to hire lowincome people or folks that might that are an exfelon and they get a credit for hiring and training them and keeping them on the job. Seems to me like a good thing. And then there are others that says its not so good. I want to get your impressions of the program. Is it complementry to the work you do . Is it a better incentive . We make sure that we inform all of our participants, all of the individuals about the work opportunity tax credit and ive heard both sides as well. With the exoffenders that i work with consistently, theres some embarrassment because the way the application process is when youre filling out an application for an employer, what is your felon status, what is your misdemeanor status, things of that nature. Potentially i think there could be a benefit down the road. I think we need to reevaluate in essence how were getting to the point that the business would accrue that credit. Thank you. Time has expired. The gentlelady from wisconsin, ms. Moore, is recognized. Thank you, mr. Chair. Let me make an Opening Statement<\/a> given the last exchange between one of our colleagues and mrs. Gainesturner with regard to dependency. Just recently and friday we are going to be working on yet another tax extender where apparently we are going to extend 614 billion in tax extenders on a permanent make them permanent and put businesses on a permanent welfare. These bills the latest, the bonus depreciation, was temporary in nature to stimulate the economy. But yet they want to add 287 billion to the deficit. I want to put this in the record with your permission, mr. Chairman, just to clear that up. Without objection. I also want to clear some other things up, without objection. Clear some other things up about the because i feel like weve had great testimony from all three of you, but the conversation was sort of trying to steer some of our witnesses into saying that theyre just absolutely too many programs and if they had more flexibility that they could do a better job. I certainly agree, for example and ms. Reynolds, the Case Management<\/a> approach. Certainly agree with America Works<\/a> which recently came to milwaukee, some of the things that you do. But be clear, when they talk about flexibility theyre talking about cutting the 299 billion Medicaid Program<\/a> that you may need in order to help situational or generational poverty or the infermed or disabled people. The testimony you read for us, ms. Tiller, the young woman i think she was probably still on medicaid after she got her job at the fast food restaurant. So you, you know, i dont want you to be lulled into supporting, gutting this while we pay 614 billion in corporate welfare. I do have a question for you, ms. Reynolds, about the mind set of the individuals. Dont you think we have to change the mind set of the community too . An example i come up with. If you run into a client, for example, who found themselves in the county jail because they had a bar fight and when they come out, dont we have to get the Business Community<\/a> to hire people who might have a public record, for example . We in fort worth have been very fortunate to work with the Business Community<\/a>. We have developed a living wage tool kit at our organization. Everybody we Catholic Charities<\/a> fort worth makes a living wage. Several of our local businesses have made a choice. Ok. I dont have 10 minutes like the chairman did. Its not changing the individual minds. The community has to embrace it too. Otherwise you have permanent unemployment. Im so happy that people get Educational Opportunity<\/a> through your program because ms. Tiller, you focus on work first programs. Sometimes its very difficult. We have skills match in this country. How do you deal with skills match when you dont allow education, one of my main critiques of the tanf program . Well, its not that we dont allow education. A lot of times well take the skill set that the individual can come in with, see if we can transfer it into some type of employment so simultaneously theyll begin to provide more for their families and attend educational programs. And we support college do you do you worry about the femininization of poverty . Tanf is primarily utilized by women and, you know, everybody here is educated in this room. And we all know that an Associates Degree<\/a>, bachelors degree is just necessary in this economy to have a job. Dont you worry about that . Im going to ask you another question too. Your model, your Business Model<\/a>, America Works<\/a>, youve come into milwaukee and its sort of putting the nonprofits in the Public Sector<\/a> out of business. How does your Business Model<\/a> enable you to provide services to clients that are adequate to get them out of poverty . Were able to turn around those profits to help individuals. You use profits back into the programs and not into the shareholders . Both. We want to reinvest as well because we want to do more programs, do more research and help additional populations. The gentleladys time has expired. Thank you, all, for your time. The gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Id like to thank all of you for being here. You have wonderful stories. We appreciate you greatly. First of all, ms. Reynolds and i call fort worth our home and we are both t. C. U. Horned frogs. Go, frogs. Ms. Reynolds, youve said weve been talking about a term you said which you termed generational poverty. Do a lot of people you know trust government . Not. Iutely night believe each person is met with such unity and care. I believe they would rather come through our office than government offices. Appreciate it. Tell all the may benship with people itter than the government. Want to thank you for the work you are doing. You are really making a difference. I thank you for your testimony. I heard you saying government delivers negative incentives. In other words, the government says, dont have a savings account. Dont make anymore than you were making. Where it allows for growth and limited success. Texted i say government or rkers . But i assume i said government or caseworkers . I assume you were talking about government. I dont feel like i need somebody else to tell me how i should he spending my benefit. I dont feel we should go that way. Charge of what is good for me. I should have a say so on what is going to affect me and my and so Many Americans<\/a>. I dont feel the government should tell me i have this and this is what you are going to do with it and if you dont do it you will be penalized. You dont think the government should tell you that . No, i dont think the government should tell me that. I feel like if i go into an office and sit down across the table i should be treated like a human being. I should be looked at as a human being. I shouldnt be talked down to. I shouldnt be looked at as someone who just wants to come and rely on Government Program<\/a>s because thats not true. Im very strong. Im very independent. Im very smart and i know whats right and wrong for me and my family. You sound like a private sector person talking. I appreciate that. Back to you, ms. Reynolds. What would you say are the Biggest Barriers<\/a> that your clients are trying to face, and theyre trying to come out of poverty, what is the biggest challenge . That leap. 80 are working. But theyre just the working poor. They dont make enough to get out of poverty. Yet they make too much to qualify for any governmental assistance. And too often the federal system incentivizes people not to work and to backslide because youve become its financially better. Theyre more financially astute about how that should look. As the thing that would be more beneficial is an incremental decrease as well as losing benefits as well as the Case Management<\/a> that could more quickly work hand in hand with families to remove the barriers to get them where they need to go. I say that anybody that comes to services should be treated with compassion, dignity. I do believe accountability is incredibly important. I think support is incredibly important. I learned how to balance a checkbook from my father whos a c. P. A. A lot of our families who walk through the doors have no clue what to do, no clue how to get to the next level. We talk about pell grants. Its a great benefit. But at the same time only 10 of students lowincome students who Start Community<\/a> college nationwide ever finish. Somethings wrong. What often it is is a small situation, childcare issues, barriers, some families spiraling out of control. They need that support, they need that push, they need that push to make that leap out. Youre doing that. With that being said, i yield back, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Mr. Mcdermott. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Im old enough to remember george bush being sold to us as a compassionate conservative and i appreciate five, six hearings about poor people but im not sure i really understand. Ms. Gainesturner, you are someone we can learn from about how it actually works. Now, everybody up here makes 170,000 a year. So we dont have much contact with what you go through on an average month. Could you tell me what your education level is, how far you went in school . I graduated high school. So you got a High School Education<\/a> . Yes. And the federal government describes Poverty Level<\/a> for a family of five thats three kids and a couple parents, at 27,900. Can you tell us what your income as a family monthly, after taxes, or yearly after taxes, can you give us an idea where you are . So my husband gets paid every week and he makes 8. 25 an hour. After taxes he has about 170 a week. 170 a week. I get paid 10. 88 an hour. Just recently in june my hours were cut down to 12 hours a week due to the budget. My paycheck was 222. For two weeks. For two weeks. For two weeks. That would be about 111 for a week. Yes, sir. Ok. So thats so thats what your plun is now. Tell me about how the food stamp thing interacts with that. What level is that your salary, whether you get the food stamps or is it the family level . Its me and my husbands income. And you have to report each week or each month . You have to report each month. Each month. So when you drop, you reduce yours and you get more food stamp money . Thats the way its supposed to work. Thats not how it always works. So in june my income reduced and i went into the county Assistance Office<\/a> and gave them that information and my food stamps stayed the same. So it was supposed to rise but it didnt because the caseworker said she didnt get the paperwork so now that im back to my fulltime hours in july, you know, my income now my food stamps will go back to 380 is what my food stamps will be. So were looking at a family that right now is making about maybe 300 a week, thats 1,200, youre living on that amount of money. Yes, that was for the yes, that was for the month of june. Do you get cash money from any other source, from tanf . No, im not on cash assistance. No cash assistance . No. The only thing you have is the food stamps on top of that . Yes. And your rent, how much do you pay for rent . My rent right now is 277. So a quarter of your money well, not a quarter about a fifth of your money each month goes to rent, little bit more than that . Yes. And then food do you have a car . No. I take Public Transportation<\/a> to work, me and my husband. Youre on Public Transportation<\/a> uhhuh. And how much is your utilities . You would figure one month i might get a water bill for 230 and then you have to think about the gas bill which is maybe another 107, Something Like<\/a> that, give or take. And then you have to think about the electric. Like i said, i have three children with medical disabilities so i dont have a choice to turn on the airconditioner to make my house is cool in the summer months so my children dont have seizures. In the winter, i dont have a choice when temperatures drop, i have to turn that gas on. So, you know, im always im always were always trying to climb up. Climb up. There is a constant climb. And that is the one thing i think thats important for me being here today just for people to understand. You just broke down my whole everything. Could anyone live off that amount of my like me and my husband do every day, every month, every week . Its difficult. Its not something we choose to do. Of course we want to get a fulltime job. Of course my husband wants to go back to school. He has a masonary degree. Of course i want to go back to college. I am a smart, threctual, independent person. But unfortunately my circumstances dont allow me to go to school and to also work and juggle our family, you know. I have things that i need to do. I want a tee ball program, volunteer. Im an assistant girl scout coach. I do things to contribute to my community. I thank you very much for being open and willing to expose your financial situation to us. It takes great courage to come here and talk about what life is really like. Thank you. I want to thank all three of you being here today. Its really interesting and an honor to be in front of you. What each of you do for your community and i appreciate it very much. I was very fortunate to be involved in homeless shelter and transitioning people transitioning people from situational or generational poverty and into success over a 20year period and it was certainly a very rewarding thing. One thing i worried about in our particular facility called myrtle beach haven, in terms of the accountability aspect, we always saw that was important. We didnt want to encourage people to stay homeless. So we limited the time people could stay and said they need to be looking for work when they came in. That wasnt all always most Success Model<\/a> but the successes that we had we were very proud of. Then in terms of the Case Management<\/a> aspect, thats something that always worried me. The manager of the house took it on himself to take people around to apply for this maze and myriad of potentialal benefits that may or may not be aplickal to each person. I applicable to each person. I would love to get your advice on how we can better handle the Case Management<\/a> at myrtle beach haven. You said something that intrigued me or made me curious. You said the federal programs well, you named them welfare and food stamps, you said theyre not working. What did you mean by that . You said these federal programs are not working. What did you mean . Had what i meant was the federal programs in which we have right now, they do work, but the problem is is that once you get to a certain platform you are knocked back down. I didnt mean they are not working. What im saying is they need to be improved. I feel like we need to get a Task Force Im<\/a> stating here for the record. We need to get a task force that will Pay Attention<\/a> to Food Stamp Program<\/a>s, to savings, to education and to medical. They need to be monitored. Thats what i meant. Not just a myriad of unrelated programs that youre saying more like Case Management<\/a>, right . When you say monitor you mean somebody needs to be looking at them . I think someone needs to be looking at them to see how we can improve them, to make sure theyre not cut, to make sure there are not billions and billions taken away from a single mother or wake program or a head start program. More money spent ineffectively when there is such limited money to go around, we dont want money ton tob spent ineffectively either, transition people to being independent, is that correct . You want to make sure money is used effectively . Of course we want them to be used effectively. I think you agree that the only path out of will federal programs if people rely totally on federal programs, does that take them out of poverty . No. Will it ever . I think some people just naturally make it but over all a reliance on federal programs solely is not going to move someone out of poverty. Mrs. Tiller, do you agree with that . No. It will never take them out of poverty . No. Mrs. Turner, do you agree with that . Sorry. People rely on federal programs the thing were talking about, the generational poverty, if they just simply rely on federal programs and they dont try to make themselves better and go out and get a job, will they ever get out of poverty . I dont think anyone relies on federal programs. I feel like people want to go out and get a job. Do you agree thats the path out of poverty is they have to go out and get a job and become selfreliant . If they are capable of going out and getting a job, sir, and have the necessary things to do that, then, yes. But you also have to think about there are some people who are not capable of going out to find employment because where they live, there arent any jobs. I mean, lets think about it. There is a recession right now. How many jobs are there . And goodpaying jobs . Lets keep that in mind. If you rely on federal programs, youre never going to come out of poverty. The om way to come out of poverty is to become selfreliant and find yourself a job. I got 20 seconds left and i want to ask you one other question. You mentioned earlier that the limit on hours in the Affordable Care<\/a> act, you said there cant be the limits on hours, didnt you say that . Didnt say the Affordable Care<\/a> act. What i said is the limit on hours is you have employers that wont pay and thats what youre i said employers wont pay their they wont pay their workers enough hours to give them medical insurance. That is a big problem. That is something we need to address. Why is that a person can work for a company for 32 years and have to wait a whole year just to get a quarter raise . That is what im talking about. Why is it that Big Companies<\/a> and corporation ks only pay a person 30 hours and not giving them four hours to receive medical benefits . Ms. Lee. Thank you very much. First, let me thank you, mr. Chairman, and our Ranking Member<\/a> for this very important hearing and this very Important Panel<\/a> and i want to thank both of you for inviting these witnesses, especially ms. Gainesturner, because its so important that we hear from americans who are most impacted by the policies that we discuss at this committee. So i want to thank you very much for this. Let me once again thank all of the witnesses. Before i begin my questions, i want to mention, mr. Chairman and to our Ranking Member<\/a>, next tuesday, im cohosting a bipartisan poverty simulation that will allow members of congress and their staff just a small glimpse into the lives of families who are living in poverty every day. It will be just a brief example of what this experience is like. We are trying to raise more awareness around the country as to what ms. Gainesturner, for instance, what her life is like, and so were inviting democrats and republicans to participate with us. And well get you the information. Wed love your participation. First, ms. Gainesturner, let me talk to you. We were just breaking down the numbers in terms of your salary. We figured you and your husband both make a little over 14,000 a year. And with snap benefits and your income, youre probably about 23,000, 24,000 which is about below, again, the Poverty Level<\/a> of 27,900. Now, youre living on the edge. Thats very clear. Millions of americans are living on the edge. You both are working you both are outstanding citizens and youre dealing with all kinds of issues in your life and i want to just commend you, first of all, for juggling so much. But and for your advocacy and for being here today. Also, i want to just ask you how, you know, so many people view people who are on public assistance or who need government assistance, not that government assistance and relying on government assistance is going to lift everyone out of poverty. Its a bridge over troubled water. I was on public assistance and food stamps and i thank my government for being there for me. But it was a bridge over troubled water until i could figure out what to do next and get my degree and take care of my kids and move on. Whats your perspective People Living<\/a> in poverty below the poverty line and who are working and who some consider lazy or relying on public assistance to just get over . And let me ask my second question to ms. Tiller. I want to do this. The federal ban on Food Assistance<\/a> and thank you very much for your testimony. The federal ban on Food Assistance<\/a>, which is a critical piece of the safety net, this ban for those convicted of a drug felony for life, lifetime ban on food stamps and public assistance, want to get your comment on that. And to ms. Reynolds, let me thank you again. Im a social worker by profession. I understand Case Management<\/a>. So important. But those clients that you serve, what happens if the safety net were cut in terms of Case Management<\/a> and what happens if theres a reduction of about 30 of federal assistance as proposed in the ryan republican budget . Ok. Ms. Gainesturner. Thank you, ms. Lee, for your comments and thank you for your support constantly and pointing out how difficult it is. I feel like, you know, a lot of people dont know how difficult it is. I dont know one person, maybe in this room, that can juggle the things that me and my husband have to juggle every single day with having three children on medical disability going back and forth back to work, maybe having to take an underthe table job just to bring in extra money. Theres not a lazy bone in my body. There are many people who live in the inner city under the Poverty Level<\/a> that are not lazy. We want to be a part of the conversation. We want to have fulltime jobs and go to school and go to college and things like that. I actually believe that certain people just put that stamp of lazy on us, to put a smokescreen, not really see whats going on, to point the finger at us, to look down at us, to try to humiliate us or twist our words, you know. I feel like we are the most every day we wake up and cut coupons like everybody else and get up and go to work and strive for that American Dream<\/a> because thats what everybody strives for, right, the American Dream<\/a>. Thats what we need to get back to is the american core and where if you strive harder and work hard and do your just diligence that you can get ahead no matter what race, gender, creed or where you come from, inner city or out of city. Second go round . No we dont have you have a lot of colleagues that showed up. Well, ill ask for a written response. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I appreciate the fact you have taken on this issue of poverty and that we are really trying to get to the bottom of it. I have my own story of my own about poverty. I sit here today because there are a lot of folks who helped me to get to where i am. So im interested, ms. Reynolds, because i have gone back and worked with a number of programs of the poverty and generational poverty in particular is what im going to speak to. Im sorry i wasnt here for all your opening remarks. I did read the piece you gave to us. Generational poverty has its own culture, hidden rules and belief systems. Thats what ive run into as weve had programs that tried to help people get out of poverty. What we see and you say it here generational poverty need a deeper level of Case Management<\/a> because it requires a mind set change. What i have seen in my experience and not in all cases, but some that have broken my heart, where some got an opportunity to get a skill or a degree and slip back again because of just anxiety about, can i make it on my own . Will the paycheck actually come . Will i lose my job . So you say here youre happy to provide these examples to show how youve been able to work through that. Can you give me a really brief idea how your casework moves to help people being in poverty and having that dependency and then the fear of being on your own . Thats a great point because it is about getting jobs but its also about making sure people who maybe grew up on federal benefits, people who maybe grew up in a situation where they never saw a parent go to work for a variety of reasons and it has nothing to do with lazyness or motivation. It has something to do with helping folks understand that they can rewrite their life story. And although i have never been in poverty, my familys been closely impacted by poverty and i dedicated my life to poverty and studied it quite closely. I think what is so needed with generational poverty is helping with that mind set shift of you can rewrite your life story. This does not need to be where your life story ends. We can look at Something Different<\/a> because often when youre in survival mode, basic human theory tells us youre focused on surviving, focused on today. And our case managers lift heads up and help people see a tomorrow. So thank you very much. I appreciate that. Id love to offline have a little more conversation with you. Talk about some of the programs im involved in back in my community. Ms. Gainesturner, thank you for being here today. Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for helping us have a glimpse about whats happening in your family. I respect the fact that you and your husband are raising three children together. Family i think is something we have forgotten about as an equation in this poverty situation. We know the number one poverty independent cadors indicators is a child being in a Single Family<\/a> home. Thank you for what you and your husband are doing. Thank you. I just want to ask you. Do you think if there were casework involved, as Catholic Charities<\/a> is doing with the people that theyre helping to pull up and i think ms. Tiller, you are doing the same kind of thing. Youre working beyond just the job piece but helping them with all the other life situations. Either in your situation or those that you know and you see around you that are in that situation, do you think if we did a better job at the government level with nor casework and helping people to find the jobs, understand how to balance the budget and that kind of thing, would that help . Yes. It definitely would help. It would help. It would help a great part. Im not saying that Case Management<\/a> doesnt work and im not saying that all caseworkers are nasty and all people that work for the government are nasty. Thats not what im saying. What im saying is we need to make sure we support the programs that support the people that do work. Thats what my colleagues thank you not colleague but other witness. Found something that is very common in what you all were saying in the casework because ive experienced in in getting people to get from that defensey to the independencey. Its very difficult, the anxiety thats produced and i think thats one of the nuggets we ought to take out of this and looking to help people. Thank you all so much for this. Mr. Jeffries. Thank you, mr. Chair. I thank the Ranking Member<\/a>, both for your leadership on this issue. We know that 50 years ago, january of 1964, i believe, president Lyndon Johnson<\/a> came to the floor of the house of representatives for a joint session of congress and declared a war on poverty. That war on poverty has largely been successful in helping millions of americans lift themselves out of an impoverished condition and set on a pathway toward the middle class. Of course, theres still a long way to go. Although it does seem in this town there are some more interested in a war on working families than a war on poverty. But thats something that were going to ultimately have to overcome as well. In the context of this present hearing, i thought id start with ms. Reynolds just to kind of explore the perspective that you laid out. I believe, i guess in your experience, youve laid out three broad categories of poverty, is that correct . Correct. And those three categories are chronic, generational and situational . Correct. Now, i guess your view is with respect to each category there is a different preferred strategy in order to arrive at a successful resolution is that true . Correct. And i think you testified that you believe generational poverty requires a mind set adjustment, correct . Situational sometimes situational poverty can require that as well. Ok. And can you elaborate on just sort of the mind set you believe exists as what you describe as generational poverty and what you believe needs to be adjusted . Sometimes people in generational poverty has been beat down in a lot of things. They tried to get up and fallen back down. In addition to that, some People Living<\/a> in poverty have maybe never seen a different side of life. Have never seen what opportunities exist or frankly never believed in themselves they can get there. If i could stop you there. Individuals trapped in generational poverty are beat down by what would be an example of something that has beat them down to create this type of mind set . Can be a whole series of things. It can be a lack of opportunities. It can be observing others. It can be a family member. We see that often sometimes too. Is it fair to say that those trapped in generational poverty is not affected by a mind set but a mind set that is brought by substantive barriers or obstacles they confronted in their life . Absolutely. One of those substantive barriers you define success in three different ways. Making a way to support the family, correct, was one. Three months of savings, a second definition of success. And then no debt. No public assistance. No public assistance. Ok. With respect to sort of the current minimum wage that exists in america, 7. 25 per hour. Now, is that a wage that enables a family or an individual to lift themselves out of poverty . No. In your view . So based on your own practice, i believe, where you support the concept of a living wage, do you think its good Public Policy<\/a> in america to have a wage that exists to allow individuals working hard 40 days 40 hours a week throughout an entire year to actually be able to support their families . Sir. You know, being in fort worth, texas, and being with Catholic Charities<\/a> fort worth and ill speak on them, our focus has not been on policy reform at the federal level because there are multiple complexities for us. We make sure that clients are trained in jobs that pay a living wage, thats our focus. And encouraging Corporate Responsibility<\/a> which we have great partnerships with businesses and support our mission in an incredible way. But a living wage is a good federal policy, correct . Are are a living wage is and important element to get a client to. I think you also mention the in your testimony the importance of a College Education<\/a> in addressing poverty, is that correct . Ot just college he had education, no, sir. Associates degree can help. An aviation mechanic at 50,000 a year is moving families out of poverty. In terms of a past way out of poverty, a College Education<\/a> is an important component . Education is always important, yes. Do you think a 260 billion cut in higher he cation funding is a responsibility way to address poverty in mark. What i am concerned about is the results that happens with those dollars. Any money we are investing in college, pel grants or anything like that, that is having a large return. That is why we have invested in Case Management<\/a> to ensure graduation. For are spending money ucation and it doesnt get past that point, nothing everything happens. Thank you. Thank you very much. I wanted to follow up a bit on mr. Jeffries. Let me make a couple of comments. One of the things to keep in mind is that while in theory the motion that many of the federal programs at least as i understand some of the theory that has been presented from folks on the other side, that some of the federal programs may have the effect of prop gating or somehow supporting what has been referring to as a it causes me rlt, it cause me rty, that what are the factors cause folks in chronic or generational poverty to feel like they are beaten down. The sense i get is that is manifest in the belief that there is no hope, there is no way out, that there isnt a path forward for them. I think we have to acknowledge that there are places in this country in fact, i represent a couple of communities where this condition is present. There are places in this country where many of the folks in poverty, everything they see around them reinforces the lack of hope. I represent two communities, flint and saginaw, that have experienced incredible job loss, high rates of poverty, concentrations of poverty. , in some of the urban communities with half of the population having left in the last few years. There is a deterioration of the landscape, empty houses, empty buildings. The notion that those individuals would feel beaten down and sense a lack of hope is one that is clearly understandable, right . So the question is, in part it is an interesting question as to whether or not there is a culture that surrounds folks within generational chronic poverty, but the challenge before us is so what do we do about that . I fully understand and embrace the notion that supportive Case Management<\/a>, which the way i view is, is the way to help individuals in poverty navigate a system of support and opportunity, ladders of opportunity that can create a pathway for those folks, which are comprised of a couple of things. We need to focus on both. One is sort of the method, how the engagement occurs, whether it is through active Case Management<\/a> or whatever. But also it really does also come down to resource toss a certain extent. So im curious. Nd mrs. And ms. Reynolds, programs you can comment on this. Individuals, particularly in chronic or generational poverty, the difficulty they have in achieving educational outcomes, 20 of those in poverty that choose to enroll in Higher Education<\/a> are successful, which means the vast majority are not. I am curious as to whether or not you think the simple act of decreasing pel grants, for example, would increase the success rate for people in poverty . Do you think that would have a positive effect on those in poverty seeking Higher Education<\/a> . I think we need to measure the success of pel grants in terms of those who complete their education. That is critical. What we have seen from a ommunity college standpoint, the National Average<\/a> is 10 . Oftentimes the reasons students drop out is because of very simple things, child care issues, traps takes, a Health Care Crisis<\/a> going on or Something Like<\/a> getting a bad grade and not understand cant how to cope with that. Although it can cost a little bit more money, bringing Case Management<\/a> along with this education is starting to prove up to actually work. Then in the future you can reduce some of the other benefits that you are moving people out. The point i was make in active Case Management<\/a> you help the individual thank you time. Mr. Huffman . I would yield my time to barbara lee. Let me think the gentleman for yielding his time. I appreciate that. Wanted to ask you to respond. You have mentioned the owe tance of attaching feppers to work. In the fell wear reform bill, dempsters and republicans. This was a bipartisan fiasco if ou ask me president clinton signed it into law, but there snap and ime ban on ublic assistance on drug owe fins convictions. I have had legislation for years trying to lift this. Fortunately, states can opt out, and my state just opted out this year. What work that you do as it relates to formerly incarcerated individuals with felony drug owe offenses, how would their transition be into the work world . Would it be easier, harder, p reduce resip vicks recidivism, and what would this do . Let me ask mrs. Reynolds one more thing with regard to the federal grant and safety nets. What would happen to your clients if there is a 30 reduction in the safety net while you are trying to help people through the Case Management<\/a> process become slfl sufficient and live the American Dream<\/a> . Thank you. Thank you for your question. While i am not familiar in its entirely, we cant deny the individualism. I could only hope that if it were lifted out the nation, it would ease the transition for an exoffender. We dont want people to resid videogate because they need to feed their family. I bring them into my office, and listen to them, and creating resumes, kill profiles and introducing them to employers, where potentially this may never effect them. Something i have heard repeatedly is reference to building relationships. I do that with every participant that comes in, but equally important with the community. Without the employer partners, without the Community Based<\/a> organization, without the government, without having those strong relationships and strong ties, regardless of my legislation, we might not be as successful. And regarding Safety Net Services<\/a> and clients, as a fellow social work, we would agree that a strength based approach about pulling a client out of poverty is really what our profession is all about. Rarl safety regarding safety net cuts, we are not here to talk about the budget. Not this current burget, but were there a 30 reduction. We need to case manning clients to get them out of poverty differently. If we cut snap benefits by 40 , does that make your job easier, or if we cut maid medicade, or section eight, or those services, the safety net that offense prince gainesturner talked about, until they can find a good paying job . What does that do to the clients that Catholic Charities<\/a> service . I think we do need to have a seventh net throughout our country. Let me ask you one more question about the safety net. N terms of the safety net, the client who you see and again, i know Catholic Charities<\/a> very well. Are they clients who want to stay on the government safety net through their lives . Are they looking for a job . Do they want to live the American Dream<\/a> . Yes. What is their life like . That is a great question. Some are, and some are not. Some of them dont understand what living the American Dream<\/a> ever would look like because they have never seen that in practice. And so for us, yes, some of the families who come through our or on Public Benefits<\/a> see it as a rather there. But unfortunately, some of the have been on Public Benefits<\/a> for life and others as well. Mrs. Grab am . Thank you, mr. Chairman. I am probably going to repeat some of the stuff discussed i eady this morning, but want to follow up on my colleague, ms. Lee. The big issue that we have in discharge planning, there is no place to discharge anybody to. You dont have any of those supports, whether government focused or familial. They dont exist. When we talk about the safety net, i am not sure most people under what that means anymore. Most case managers are effective at the think you do for that client. Maybe it is food support. Maybe it is housing. But it is access to specialty medical care or transportation. When you have to be broad about all of those things, and they differ from state to state, it is a very challenging circumstance for the per","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia804500.us.archive.org\/17\/items\/CSPAN_20140828_011700_Poverty_and_Working_Families\/CSPAN_20140828_011700_Poverty_and_Working_Families.thumbs\/CSPAN_20140828_011700_Poverty_and_Working_Families_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240621T12:35:10+00:00"}