New Poverty Data, Still Not Looking Good for Millions

The Census Bureau recently released new data capturing the state of poverty in the U.S. using the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The U.S. government uses two measures for quantifying poverty: (1) the official poverty measureand (2) the SPM.

The official measure, also known as the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), is used to determine the eligibility of individuals applying for means-tested public benefit programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

 http://www.theshriverbrief.org/2012/11/articles/asset-opportunity/new-poverty-data-still-not-looking-good-for-millions/

Kalamazoo homeless youth program hopes to tap into Calhoun County

In a small room of the Catholic Charities Diocese of Kalamazoo building are a few desks, shelves of food and bright green duffel bags. Here, a three-person team works to help reach the thousands of local homeless and at-risk young people.

“A lot of times you hear from youth who reached the point of success for themselves,” said Brooke Hill, case manager for the Kalamazoo-based Ark Services for Youth’s street outreach team. “They usually say it came from someone just listening, someone just caring, someone just reaching out.”

Now, after a previous attempt to reach homeless youth in Battle Creek fell short of its expectations, the nonprofit is hoping to do more in Calhoun County.

“We’ve been there the whole time, but not with as much of a presence as we wish we had,” said Ben Moe, supervisor of outreach.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20121125/NEWS01/311250003/Kalamazoo-homeless-youth-program-hopes-tap-into-Calhoun-County

Childhood Poverty in America as Told by Children on Frontline

Watch Poor Kids on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

5-year limit on welfare challenged in Michigan Supreme Court

The welfare benefits of at least 11,000 recipients are at stake in the Michigan Supreme Court, which is weighing whether the state overstepped its authority in enforcing a five-year lifetime limit on receiving cash assistance.

After a new law took effect in October 2011, state Department of Human Services Director Maura Corrigan changed policy to end welfare benefits for people who were beyond 60 months of eligibility under federal law. The state has a 48-month limit, but months that recipients get a hardship exemption - working single parents, for instance, or caregivers for disabled family members - do not count.

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/5-year_limit_on_welfare_challe.html#incart_river_default

The Harvest / La Cosecha

More than 400,000 children work in American fields to harvest the food we all eat.

Children working in agriculture endure lives of extreme poverty

• The average farmworker family makes less than $17,500 a year, well below the poverty level for a family of four.
• Poverty among farmworkers is two times that of workers in other occupations
• Farmworkers can be paid hourly, daily, by the piece or receive a salary, but they are always legally exempt from receiving overtime and often from receiving even minimum wage.
• Families often cannot afford childcare and so have no choice but to bring their children out into the fields.
• Increasing the incomes of migrant farmworkers by 40% would add just $15 to what the average US household spends every year on fruits and vegetables, according to a researcher at University of California Davis.

Source:

http://theharvestfilm.com/facts

The Harvest / La Cosecha will be screened on April 20, 2013 at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in St. Joseph, Michigan as part of a Social Justice Film Series sponsored by Pilgrim, St. Augustine Episcopal-Benton Harbor, Berrien Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, 1st Presbyterian Benton Harbor, and the St. Joseph Buddhist Sangha.


Eva Longoria on child migrant farmworkers - The Harvest/La Cosecha from Shine Global on Vimeo.

Court: Michigan's ban on affirmative action is unconstitutional

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals today declared unconstitutional Michigan’s ban on affirmative action approved by voters in a 2006 ballot initiative.

The majority opinion in a divided court said the state ban on affirmative action violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution by making it more difficult for a minority student to get a university to adopt a race-conscious admissions policy than it is for a white student to get a university to adopt an admissions policy that considers family alumni connections.

“Ensuring a fair political process is nowhere more important than in education,” the court said.

“This is a tremendous victory for students,” said Detroit attorney George Washington, who represented the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action in the case.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121115/NEWS06/121115041/1001/news

Poverty, as seen through the eyes of children

"There are good days and bad days."

That's how 12-year old Tyler Smith describes his life in Iowa, where he says he and his sister often go hungry because their mom doesn't make enough money to provide three meals a day for the family. "Sometimes when I switch the [TV] channel and there's a cooking show on," says Smith, "I get a little more hungry. I want to vanish into the screen and start eating the food."

... a new documentary airs on PBS next Tuesday, Nov. 21

http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/poverty-seen-through-eyes-children

Bono Preaches the Gospel of Social Justice at Georgetown

I would suggest to you that the biggest obstacle in the way (of fulfilling human potential) right now is extreme poverty. Poverty so extreme that it brutalizes, it vandalizes human dignity. Poverty so extreme it laughs at the concept of human dignity. Poverty so extreme it doubts how far we've traveled in our journey of equality; the journey that began with Wilberforce taking on slavery and a journey that will not end until misery and deprivation are in stocks.

- Bono

http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/11/13/bono-preaches-gospel-social-justice-georgetown

 

Major hurdles remain to end veteran homelessness

Arthur Lute's arduous journey from his days as a U.S. Marine to his nights sleeping on the streets illustrates the challenge for the Obama administration to fulfill its promise to end homelessness among veterans by 2015.

Lute has post-traumatic stress disorder from the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon. He spent years drifting through jobs, two years in prison for assault, then 15 months sleeping in the bushes outside the police department of this city south of San Diego.

http://news.yahoo.com/major-hurdles-remain-end-veteran-homelessness-100937764--politics.html

Top Ten Facts About Social Security

1. Social Security is more than just a retirement program.  It provides important life insurance and disability insurance protection as well
2. Social Security provides a guaranteed, progressive benefit that keeps up with increases in the cost of living....

 http://www.offthechartsblog.org/top-ten-facts-about-social-security/

One woman's fight to end the cycle of poverty

Economic mobility for the Americans at the bottom of the income scale seems to be fading. Today more than 40 percent of children born into poverty stay in poverty as adults.

State of Opportunity's Jennifer Guerra profiles one woman trying hard to be on the right side of that statistic.   Guerra reports that although Keisha Johnson has already overcome a grim childhood she keeps a positive attitude and believes she can provide a better life for her family.

http://michiganradio.org/post/one-womans-fight-end-cycle-poverty

Election 2012: What about the poor?

One wants to strengthen the nation's existing safety net. The other wants to overhaul it.

President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney have vastly different views on how to help the 46.2 million Americans in poverty and the more than 30 million people who are near poor.  The president leans toward expanding the programs that exist, while the Republicans say they will set up a system that fosters economic opportunity instead of government dependency.

The ranks of the poor and the government programs that assist them swelled during the Obama administration, largely because of the Great Recession. The number of people in poverty jumped 16% between 2008 and 2011, while the Medicaid rolls jumped 23.5% over that time. Food stamp enrollment soared 46% during his term.

 http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/05/news/economy/obama-romney-poor/index.html

With Poverty Comes Depression, More Than Other Illnesses

Americans in poverty are more likely than those who are not to struggle with a wide array of chronic health problems, and depression disproportionately affects those in poverty the most. About 31% of Americans in poverty say they have at some point been diagnosed with depression compared with 15.8% of those not in poverty. Impoverished Americans are also more likely to report asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart attacks -- which are likely related to the higher level of obesity found for this group -- 31.8% vs. 26% for adults not in poverty.

 http://www.gallup.com/poll/158417/poverty-comes-depression-illness.aspx