Poverty

Rally Cap: Chicago Family Saved From Eviction

Adam Doster — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:11:25 -0700

"Rally Cap" is a new recurring feature at Progress Illinois in which we recap -- with photography or video -- progressive-oriented protests and political rallies held around the state.

The Set-Up:
For almost a year, Erica Bledsoe has been fighting to keep control of a subsidized Rogers Park apartment that belonged to her late mother, Rosetta Bledsoe, the legal guardian to three young grandchildren (ages 14, 11, and 9). Following Rosetta's death last September, Northpoint, the company that leases the residence, ordered Erica and her three nieces and nephews to vacate the premises (and risk homelessness). As justification, they cited the fact that her name did not appear on the lease.

After One Story Up blogger Megan Cottrell began reporting on their plight this summer, the Bledsoes witnessed an outpouring of community support, including the formation of a community group that gathered over 600 signatures of support for the family. They also received assistance from attorneys with the Legal Aid Foundation, who have argued that Erica's three nieces and nephews -- whose names do appear on the lease -- have the legal right to stay in the apartment and have Erica's name added to the document.

Today, supporters delivered a stack of signed postcards to HUD headquarters in downtown Chicago and also announced news that the Department of Housing and Urban Development is intervening in hopes of settling the case on the family's behalf in the coming days. This outcome, while still tentative, is a testament to the real-world influence of good reporting, publicly-subsidized legal aid, and smart organizing.

Quote of the day:
"I never thought so many people cared. But so many people showed support. I want to say thank you to the people in my community -- and outside my community. ... We can stick together." - Erica Bledsoe

Multimedia:

Erica Bledsoe discusses her relief that HUD has intervened:

Organizer Frank Edwards talks about the neighborhood effort to keep the Bledsoe family in their apartment:

Rally location:
Federal Plaza, Chicago

Participants:
Erica Bledsoe
Committee To Support The Bledsoe Family
One Story Up

Background reading:
One Story Up: Federally-funded Company Evicting Orphans
One Story Up: Orphans Facing Homelessness, Community Trying To Intervene
Committee To Support The Bledsoe Family: Letter To Public Officials
Progress Illinois: Legal Aid Safety Net Stretched Thin

The "Food Stampede" Continues

Adam Doster — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:18:47 -0700

As the state's unemployment rate grows, so too do the food stamp rolls. About 16.5 percent more households used the federally-funded program in August than the same period in 2008, translating to aid for about 100,000 additional families. "It's a new record every month," Department of Human Services spokesperson Tom Green told the Pantagraph's Mike Riopell.

A few things to note here. While it's unfortunate that so many people are struggling right now, it's great that more and more are using the benefits provided to them; many eligible people simply don't apply, which is unfortunate for their families and the economy at large. It's also important to remember that without the stimulus bill this year, which dedicated an additional $890 million in funding to the program, the benefits would be smaller, the state would bear a larger administrative burden, and the federal food stamp fund would be drained of considerable resources.

Most importantly, the new data illustrates just how deep this recession is. If this many people in Illinois now qualify as desperately poor, even more aren't earning enough to be financially independent. And it's a problem we will be dealing with for years.

Legal Aid Safety Net Stretched Thin

Adam Doster — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:33 -0700

Fighting your way through the legal system is difficult enough for those with social and economic capital. For the poor, it can be an impossible and demoralizing task.

Yesterday, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) -- a publicly-funded entity that supports more than 900 legal aid offices across the country -- released a new report on what they call the American "justice gap." The results are disheartening. Legal aid clinics turn down an estimated half of their potential indigent clients (about one million people in total) because of insufficient resources. This piggy-backs off research published in July by the Center for Law and Social Policy, which estimated (PDF) that less than 20 percent of the legal needs of low-income Americans are being met.

The LSC report formulated their estimates via research conducted in seven states -- not including Illinois. However, the paper updates data the organization collected (PDF) in 2005, during which Illinois was surveyed.

Like others around the country, our state's legal aid safety net has huge holes. While the average low-income household (at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Level) faced 1.7 legal needs per year, only 16.4 percent of those needs were met. Part of the problem is outreach: Only 23 percent of eligible Illinoisans knew free legal aid existed. The other problem is one of resources. In 2003, the equivalent of 280 full-time legal aid lawyers serviced the entire state (PDF) -- a ratio of one legal aid lawyer for every 4,752 legal problems faced by the low-income Illinoisans.

The recession has further battered the patchwork of law agencies and non-profits taking on these duties, which were underfunded to begin with. While Illinois' share of federal funding from LSC jumped (PDF) from $11.5 million to $12.7 million between 2008 and 2009, funding administered through the state-based Lawyers Trust Accounts plummeted from a record high of $12.5 million in FY 2009 to $8.5 million this year. The ongoing budget crisis in Springfield has left local advocates uncertain about what the future holds. "It's chaos," says Diana White of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, which lost one $900,000 grant this year to sign up people for social security disability benefits. "We have no idea what's going on." Legal aid agencies are also concerned that private law firm donations will decline in light of the economic downturn.

At the same time, demand is skyrocketing. Nationally, LSC reports that the number of people who qualify for assistance has grown by about 11 million in just two years. Back in Chicago, White says that the phone line at her organization's office at 35th and State Street is totally jammed by 10:30 am every morning."People call," she says, "and they just get the busy signal all day."

In the meantime, aid providers are trying to get the most out of the scraps thrown their way -- obtaining settlements when appropriate, working with community-based groups to target their outreach, and putting in endless hours. But until state and federal lawmakers build comprehensive civil legal assistance systems, the problems of indigent defense won't be solved.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user Tidewater Muse.

Census Data Shows Poverty Growing In Illinois

Adam Doster — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:24:34 -0700

About three weeks ago, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual poverty report (PDF). While not devastating, the results proved that the average American was less financially secure in 2008 than any year in recent memory. Median income declined about $2,000, the poverty rate rose from 12.7 to 13.5 percent, and the number of Americans without health insurance jumped as well.

The Census Bureau has now broken down the figures by state, releasing that data today. Like other regions of the country, Illinois families scuffled during the Bush years. Indeed, the state's poverty rate grew from 10.7 percent in 2000 to 12.2 percent in 2008 (equal to 1,532,238 million people, including 525,880 children) and median household income declined by $3,968. The Social Impact Research Center translated the data into a digestible fact sheet, which can be read here (PDF).

There are two pieces of context to think about when looking at this data. First, the way we define poverty is ludicrous. While a huge population of the state's residents are counted, many more struggle to make ends meet even if they don't qualify for public assistance. It's also important to keep in mind that these figures were tallied in 2008, before the recession spread across the entire economy. Next year's totals will be far worse.

How can we right the ship? The American Prospect's Mark Schmitt gave his thoughts earlier this month. And the Heartland Alliance's Doug Schenkelberg offers a few insightful suggestions today for how policymakers and activists can take real action to mitigate poverty across Illinois. Read his whole post at the Heartland's blog.

Study: Illinois Working Poor Falling Behind

Adam Doster — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:30:22 -0700

Responding to a new report from the Center for American Progress a few weeks back, One Story Up blogger Megan Cottrell emphasized the need to change the way the federal government measures poverty in America. Few would argue that the formula for determining how much income people need to survive in the 21st century economy is outdated. But public officials have plenty of self-serving reasons to keep the poverty count low. After all, acknowledging the flawed formula would only expose the gaping holes in the nation's social safety net.

Researchers at the Social Impact Research Center (formerly the Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty) are tired of hiding the economically insecure. In a new report, "Getting By & Getting Ahead: The 2009 Illinois Self-Sufficiency Standard," the nonprofit examines the true cost of everyday expenses in the Land of Lincoln -- housing, food, child care, health care, transportation, taxes, and discretionary spending -- and then identifies the threshold for financial independence. According to their research, the average single parent with a pre-schooler and a school-age child in Illinois must earn $23.22 per hour ($15 more than the prevailing minimum wage) to reach self-sufficiency. In Chicago, the standard jumps to $24.80. And a review of their work only confirms the struggle faced by Illinois' working poor.

More than one million non-senior citizen households earn less than $49,030 a year, the baseline annual salary required to make ends meet without public assistance. Moreover, upwards of 650,000 households earn more than the current poverty level but less than the self-sufficiency standard. On the Heartland Alliance blog, Tim Klein makes a keen observation: "For these families, near-impossible decisions must be made":

Do you cut housing costs by moving into more affordable housing, but risk your family's safety since those units are typically in high-crime areas? Or, do you cut back on child care, but then risk losing your job since you'd then have to constantly scramble to find someone to watch your child while you are at work?

Do you buy less food, allowing your family to go hungry, or do you cut down on health care, putting the entire family at risk?

Accompanying the report's release is a helpful new website offering plenty of additional resources to interested citizens and policymakers. These include a web-based calculator that "will help you budget and plan for the true cost of living in your community" and fact-sheets synthesizing the data for over 100 cities across the state. Be sure to check it out.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user litherland.

Will Illinois Forgo Millions More In Food Stamp Aid?

Angela Caputo — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:39:55 -0700

Yesterday, we flagged new research estimating that 305,000 Illinoisans were spared from poverty this year thanks to the federal stimulus' investment in the social safety (unemployment benefits, food stamps, etc.). As we've pointed out before, food stamps can play a crucial role in providing economic stimulus. Not only do the enhanced benefits help put food on the table for millions of struggling families, they also provide a much-needed boost to local businesses and the overall economy. But is Illinois doing all it can to ensure we reap the full benefits of the program?

Perhaps not, according to the Washington D.C.-based Food Research and Action Center (FARC). While food stamp enrollment grew in Cook County by 31 percent between 2005 and last year -- from 592,295 to 778,323 -- the anti-hunger policy group reports (PDF) major gaps in enrollment in the region. At least 141,843 eligible households failed to enroll in the program as of 2007 (the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture data available). By not getting those people signed up, Illinois left an estimated $85 million in federal food stamp money on the table that year.

"We can do better," Illinois Hunger Coalition's Diane Doherty tells us. But that's going to require some leadership at the state level and a commitment to boost -- not cut -- human services outreach. Doherty explains via email:

Maybe if the members of the General Assembly can see that any reduction in DHS staff and services will also mean a reduction in the amount of federal money that is transformed into $1.83 in the local economy for every $1 in federal food stamp money ...

[W]e cannot afford to lose any of the gains we have made which will be inevitable if we downsize DHS offices or take them out of neighborhoods with high poverty rates.

As far as we know, the Quinn administration's troubling plan to "consolidate" 17 human service offices still remains on the table. Before making any future decisions on this front, Quinn and lawmakers ought to thumb through FRAC's report.

Number Of The Day: 305,000

Angela Caputo — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:26:29 -0700

Since the first stimulus dollars went out the door, we've been doing our best to track the impact of the federal funds on Illinois' economy. Schools have been spared massive cutbacks, unemployed workers have been thrown a lifeline, and increased food stamp allowances have ensured that low-income families can put dinner on the table. Taken together, these human investments have spared six million Americans -- including 305,000 Illinoisans -- from slipping into poverty in 2009, according to a report (PDF) released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) yesterday.

It's worth noting that CBPP's latest report only weighs the benefits of the stimulus spending so far -- enhanced unemployment insurance, tax credits for low- and moderate-income families, increased food stamp allowances, and a one-time "bonus" checks issued to retirees, veterans, and the disabled -- which accounts for only $205 billion of the estimated $787 billion Congress authorized under the bill. In addition to giving the overall economy a jolt, CBPP's Arloc Sherman explains, this type of spending has strengthened the social safety net at exactly the time it is needed most:

The recession has affected family income and poverty status in two major ways. First, it has exposed more families to the risk of poverty by increasing unemployment and underemployment and thereby reducing their earnings. Second, it has increased participation in key income-stabilizing programs — such as unemployment insurance and food stamps — that the stimulus bill temporarily expands further. Failing to account for either of these changes would understate the role of the stimulus in protecting families from income loss and poverty.

Coalition Organizes Against Wal-Mart's "Race To The Bottom"

Angela Caputo — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:58:46 -0700

It's no secret that Wal-Mart has been making inroads at City Hall. But in those South Side neighborhoods targeted by the company for new stores, there's still of skepticism over the mega-retailer's intentions. Today, the newly-formed Good Jobs Chicago coalition -- made up of clergy and community organizations -- showed up at City Hall to let aldermen know that three years after Mayor Daley vetoed the big box living wage ordinance, they still want to see Wal-Mart raise its wages and benefits before elected officials support any expansion.

This time around, organizers are looking for a legally-binding community benefits agreement from city officials that requires Wal-Mart to pay fair wages, make health care affordable, extend workers the right to organize, and sell locally-grown food. "It's the role of government to ensure its citizens that you should not have to work a 40-hour week and still be living in poverty and then have to rely on the government for food stamps and Medicaid," St. Sabina's Rev. Michael Pfleger said. Watch:

Representatives of Southside Organizing for Unity and Liberation (SOUL) pointed out today that, while they agree with Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. (21st Ward) that jobs are sorely needed in their communities, they take issue with the notion that any jobs -- particularly those with poverty wages -- will suffice. "At $8 an hour, that's $210 a week," Rev. Booker Vance said of the minimum wage handed out by many big box retailers. "Multiply that by four and that's not even enough to make rent on the South Side of Chicago. And that's not including food." Ironically, Brookins -- Wal-Mart's chief advocate in the City Council -- has refused to take the recommended 17 furlough days from his $110,000 a year (part-time) job, recently telling a CBS reporter, "Unless they suspend my child support payments, I can't afford it."

Wal-Mart workers, of course, make only a small fraction of that aldermanic salary. And many of those employees can't afford the basics, such as adequately feeding their families, the Illinois Hunger Coalition's Diane Doherty tells us. "Too many of our people who are working are hungry," she says. And that's only tipped more working people into government programs, such as food stamps, where the numbers continue to surge.

"We don't want these jobs to be a race to the bottom," Action Now director Denise Dixon said today. "'We tell any employer that wants to bring jobs into our community, 'Come on. But bring good jobs with you.' "

Study: Pay Violations Rampant In Chicago

Adam Doster — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:15:46 -0700

For months, the good folks at the Chicago-based Interfaith Worker Justice and elected officials like Rep. Phil Hare have been leading the fight to protect low-wage workers from wage theft. Unfortunately, it's not the only type of abuse many low-income Americans face on the job. Based on a survey of 4,387 workers in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, a new study (PDF) released yesterday by 11 labor scholars and social scientists found that prevailing labor protections "are failing significant numbers of workers."

How many? Sixty-eight percent of the workers interviewed said they experienced at least one pay violation in the previous work week, ranging from unpaid overtime, to pay rates below the minimum wage, to being pressured not to file workers’ compensation claims. Out of a typical weekly salary of $339, surveyed laborers were cheated out of $51, equal to a substantial 15 percent pay deduction.

The authors recommend strengthening government enforcement of employment and labor laws -- something Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is attempting to do by bolstering the staggeringly gutted Wage and Hour Division -- and establishing equal status for immigrant workers. Most importantly, they urge lawmakers to "update legal standards for the 21st century workplace."

No force can better protect against exploitation than unions. The nation's labor laws should more easily allow workers the opportunity to organize if they so choose. Evidence suggests they would.

Social Service Providers Wait, Nervously, For New Contracts

Angela Caputo — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:13:04 -0700

Last Friday, Gov. Pat Quinn laid out in broad terms his plan to divvy up $3.4 billion (PDF) in state appropriations to cover state services over the next year. While the picture he painted wasn't as severe as the 50 percent budget scenario floated earlier this summer, the spending reductions are sure to cause a good deal of pain among non-profit providers, particularly those who are still owed payments for last year's budget. Yet the uncertainty isn't quite over for the individual agencies that have been waiting for this process to shake out since the new fiscal year began on July 1. At the moment, they are expecting to receive their contracts from the state by the end of the week. Once those have been delivered, we'll be able to track the full effect of these cuts.

During a roundtable discussion on WTTW's Chicago Tonight yesterday, leaders from some of the state's largest social service providers emphasized how the state's failure to cover prior payments has weakened their financial foundation considerably. "I'll tell you about our rainy day fund. It's the fund that we've been digging into constantly for several years," said Lutheran Social Services director Dan Schwick. "Our COO advised me today that we sold more of the seed that's supposed to be growing our programs, and we're using it for the actual operations to preserve services today ... In last fiscal year we spent close to $100,000 in interest on lines of credit." "Because the state hasn't paid you," co-host Carol Marin asked. "Exactly," Schwick answered.

Nonprofits have been working with Illinois' dysfunctional government for decades. But with the state's finances -- and leadership -- clearly off the rails, Lutheran Social Services is contemplating cutting its ties with the state. That would cut deeply into services provided to 70,000 residents by one of the state's most historic and respected organizations. "We're under a mandate with our board of directors to see if we can continue to contract with the state," Schwick said on air yesterday, "because the state has been an unfaithful partner for so long."

Because human services have been aggressively outsourced to save money, reducing these grants sets a dangerous precedent. As Anthony Cole of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependency Association explained during the WTTW segment, turning the funding spigot off now will ultimately cost Illinois taxpayers more in the long run. "We cannot afford to ignore these problems," he said.

For more on the situation facing Illinois' social service providers, read Doug Schenkelberg's blog post from today, as well as this new brief (PDF) from the Sargent Shriver Center on Poverty Law. You can watch the full WTTW segment below: