There is a vision of what an average welfare recipient looks like. None of it is pretty. Very little of it is accurate. When I tell people who I advocate for – people with autism and with intellectual disabilities, reactions usually come close to “oh that’s so noble..” it’s clear people believe it is a “good” thing to do, or someone tells me their own personal connection – their daughter teaches autistic kids or their neighbor has a son with down’s syndrome….you would be amazed how many families are touched in one way or another by developmental disabilities.
You might also be amazed that many of these folks rely on funds that flow through the welfare department for the services and supports they need. Need, as in, to survive. By services I mean a place to live, someone to help them with basic physical needs if they don’t have a family to care for them, or if their needs are more significant than their family can manage on their own. You might also be amazed that many of the same people who agree that working for people with disabilities is a “good” thing waver when they realize that good thing is directly connected to state dollars, as in, their taxes.
Our state’s been in the news a lot lately, for their “amazing” work on welfare “reform.” The story that isn’t being told is that among the thousands of people who have been trimmed “off the rolls,” thousands are kids; thousands are people with developmental disabilities who never knew there were new forms to fill out or a meeting to attend in the first place. Rather than respond with support or assistance, the state points to overworked social workers and a backlog of paperwork. Those facts are probably true, but they aren’t justifications for stripping a lifeline from someone in need. It all feels Darwinian and cruel.
There was a movement a few years ago to change the name of the Department of Public Welfare to the Department of Human Services, because that’s what it IS. Mental health, intellectual disabilities, drug and alcohol services, child care, home-based services for people with physical disabilities and people over 60 who aren’t ready for nursing homes… all of these lifelines are funded through “Welfare.” That’s a very different picture than someone waiting in line instead of working and getting handed cash. Cash assistance, or TANF, accounts for the tiniest percentage of Welfare dollars. Yet, that is the image that people point to the most.
I really, really appreciate this project, and the fact that Dresden is pulling together real people to tell their stories. And that these stories might change one or two minds about what welfare means, why its needed and the thousands of people and families it helps.
m. blogs about infertility, life after loss, the pursuit of parenthood at www.themaybebaby.com. Sometimes other topics, like this one, pop up too.
She tweets at www.twitter.com/MaybeBabyBlog
photo credit: Gates Foundation via photopin cc
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Love this post! It is so hard to get past those preconceptions about what welfare really is.
Great post. It’s so important to bust these stereotypes.
What a timely and important post! In this election cycle, there has been quite a bit of pandering to some misbegotten idea of who receives welfare. If only the average taxpayer knew that their money was not going to people of (insert your chosen hated minority here) who are (choose your favorite stereotype of how someone is abusing the system), but instead to people of all races with varying legitimate needs. Society is supposed to take care of those who are not capable of caring for themselves.
I work for a Medicaid plan in my state as a behavioral health nurse. Every day, as I process another $25,000 admission for a hospitalization, I hear nurses and social workers tell me that so and so is back in the hospital because they are homeless. Because they are homeless- and waiting lists for housing assistance for those with severe behavioral health needs are 6-9 months long- we can’t send a psych nurse to do med monitoring and provide a housing subsidy, which we could do easily for an entire year for $25 K, instead of processing a $25K admission literally every 2 WEEKS for some of these folks.
I always say that people have needs whether or not you want to pay for them. You can either pay for them smart or you can pay the stupid tax. If we have decided that it is inhumane to turn away a man with a psychiatric crisis from the ER, or to allow a man with Down Syndrome to go without medical care, or allow a newborn to go without the medical and developmental assessment of a pediatrician, you have to be willing to pay for it.
There is need for reform so much, but the reform that is needed is to provide lower cost and more humane services and treatments to people who will always have needs. In the 12 years I worked as a nurse, social worker, and as an aide in group homes, I can think of maybe 4-5 people who were “milking the system” and know of hundreds upon hundreds that were vulnerable, sick, or just plain children that needed real, live help on a daily basis to survive and thrive.
I live this. Both of my kids are on medical assistance because of their disabilities. We could not get certain services we need without it. Also the copays of our normal insurance were bankrupting us. We are an average middle class family and welfare saves us. I no longer plan the kids appointments around what we can afford but I can take them in when they need.