Budget Proposal Cuts

In our current economic state, it is more important than ever to improve employment rates. The homeless are to blame for a good portion of the unemployment rate. If the CUTS program was to be accepted, the unemployment rate would drop, drastically. A secondary goal of CUTS, which goes hand in hand with the other objectives, is to employ the homeless at landfills across America. Their work would entail searching for waste products. They would only have to salvage 100 lbs of trash a week in order to stay employed and housed.

Every New Yorker has the right to a safe and affordable place to live in. New York’s shortage of affordable housing has reached a crisis point. Poor and elderly people throughout New York City are at a greater risk of homelessness and forced low-income residents do not have food or medical care to stay in their homes. A sinful structure of homelessness in New York City is New York’s shortage of affordable housing. Millions of New Yorkers are desperate to find affordable housing and tens of thousands are forced to live either in dirty shelters or on the streets. Recent data indicates that nearly 60,000 people, including more than 23,000 children, stay in the city’s main homeless shelter system (Guelpa). A small amount of poor renter households received a housing subsidy from the local government. Little assistance is being provided which means that most poor families and individuals that seek assistance

For the past fifty years the shift from meeting the housing needs of the poor through government projects-based housing to a more individual approach, has been slowly implemented. Housing vouchers now enable underprivileged populations to move from high-poverty, segregated neighborhoods to more un-segregated, low-poverty neighborhoods. Low-poverty neighborhoods have less crime, better opportunities for employment, and more diverse schooling options. Some housing advocates however, contend that housing assistance is unnecessary and is an income subsidy that should be combined with other social safety nets (Clark, W. 2008).

There is a large population of low-income individuals who are aged, handicapped, or otherwise in the low-income group of individuals who need assistance in obtaining appropriate housing and who, without the benefits of Section 8 subsidized housing would be homeless or living in inhumane conditions and many of these children and the elderly. Section 8 subsidized housing is a HUD program that assists

One of the causes of homelessness in Baltimore City is lack of affordable housing, this includes subsidized housing from the state. Lack of affordable housing in Baltimore City is due to an increase luxury housing and Baltimore’s decrease desire for rental housing (Mayor’s Office of Human Services, 2013). Available housing is not proportional to the wages of people living in Baltimore City. Nearly half of renters in Baltimore spend 35% of their income or more on their rent. The waiting list for Baltimore City opened in 2014 and 74,000 households applied for 25,000 available slots for up to six years to own a voucher (“Homelessness in Baltimore,” 2017). For the extremely poor population there are only 42 available homes for over 100 people who identify with the population (Public Justice Center, 2015). Therefore, Baltimore needs to make affordable housing for their population or there should be an increase in jobs and wages. However, the private sector is not interested in developing houses for the low-income population because it is not profitable compared to selling a building to a company to make luxury housing (Richman, 2015).

Poverty is present in today’s U.S. social system. For example, as Lesser states in the Clearinghouse Review, “Forty-six million Americans live in poverty” (1). Lesser then goes on to say how forty-six million Americans living in poverty correlates to almost one in every three single-parent families is poor (1). This is a daunting fact as it applies to today’s economic context with “rising unemployment rates and mortgage crises driving more individuals and families to seek the support of a cash-strapped social welfare structure” (Grijalva 1). With this in mind, many legislators are discussing the topic of poverty in the political realm. In order to tally the score of representatives the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law conducted its sixth annual Poverty Scorecard. “The 2012 Poverty Scorecard grades the voting record of every U.S. senator and representative on the most important poverty-related votes in 2012” (Lesser 1). The 2012 votes covered a range of topics such as budget and tax, food and nutrition, health care, housing, and many more (1). The results of the 2012 Poverty

On June 26, 2015, the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services released a bulletin clarifying that existing Medicaid policy allows reimbursement for housing related activities for persons with disabilities, older adults needing long term services and supports, and persons experiencing chronic homelessness.1 This announcement is in alignment with CMS’ commitment to help states expand home and community based living opportunities as encouraged by the Affordable Care Act and the Americans with Disability Act as well as the ruling in Olmstead v L.C. 1 The goal is to promote and provide community integration for these identified populations.1 Additionally, it is the

Although most American citizens do not typically notice government programs in their daily lives, implemented policies have major effects on American citizens. It is estimated that around 1.35 million children suffer from homelessness due to their families living on the streets (Crook). With this massive housing conundrum, the United States government should increase funding for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Increased funding would decrease homelessness by lowering the crime rate, educating students, and improving American living conditions.

This all seems great, a savior program that allows people who cannot afford to pay rent normally. Section 8 is utilized by the elderly, disabled, and families with and without children but is it really a golden program? Stated above, section 8 provides for vouchers for all types of apartments and even condos in certain states; however, are these opportunities open to all races? 41.6 percent of African Americans are on housing assistance programs, as in this county’s displaced history on minorities, the voucher program produces elements that affect minorities. Although African Americans make up the overall higher percentage when it comes to housing assistance programs, according to National Low-Income Housing Coalition, surprisingly Caucasians make up 49 percent of the project-based section 8. Yet, National Low-Income Housing Coalition mentions that African Americans as of 2010 shows that black and Hispanic public housing residents are four times more likely than their Caucasian counterparts public housing residents to live in high-poverty neighborhoods. Black and Hispanic voucher recipients are about three times as likely as their white counterparts to live in high-poverty neighborhoods. Analyzing this data; furthermore, as of 2010, 28 percent of white voucher recipients live in the lowest poverty neighborhoods! Reviewing this data Caucasians obtains overall nationwide more voucher approvals that African Americans living in the highest of poverty neighborhoods and that comes

Eligibility cuts, are cuts that eliminate eligibility for certain categories of households. States will have to cut an average of 10 million people from the program each year from 2021-2026. States also have the choice by lowering the income by providing less money to the programs every month. To achieve a 29 percent overall the House will have to lower the SNAP income limit to a solid 68 percent of the poverty level. The current federal limit is 130 percent of the poverty level. The benefit cuts are cuts that come across the board, states would have to cut an average of more than $40 person per month in 2021-2026. This would require to set the maximum amount to 77 percent of the cost plan for the Thrifty Food Plan, the Agriculture Department, to estimate the cost of nutritional food. With this being such a change families of four will have a significant cut in their families budget. The benefit cuts will cost a family of four nearly $165 per month or close to $2,000 per year

In Fiscal Year 2016, the area median income for Chicago was $76,900. Because Housing Choice Vouchers are intended to assist low income families, eligibility for vouchers is limited to households whose income does not exceed 80% of area median income, which was approximately $61,520 in 2016. More importantly, distribution requirements specify that at least 75% of Section 8 vouchers must go to households designated as “very low income,” meaning that their income does not exceed 30% of the area median income. In 2016 in Chicago, the figure constituting 30% of area median income was approximately $18,456. Complainant’s annual income, excluding the Section 8 voucher, was $8,796, thus placing her within the very low income threshold for housing seekers. Therefore, it appears that Respondent’s minimum income policy excluded over 75% of Section 8 voucher holders. As such, this facially-neutral policy has a disparate impact on persons with a Housing Choice Voucher as a source of

The educational gap between low-income children and the average American presents a serious problem that has only been perpetuated through government-funded public housing projects. Indeed, this divide eventually translates to a disparity of college acceptance rates and job placement rates. Thus, the academic success of children from low-income families directly threatens their upward mobility. A continued shift toward increased tenant-based housing would give families the opportunity to move out of their economically segregated neighborhoods and choose the neighborhood that best meets their children’s needs. Indeed, despite the Housing Choice voucher program’s current flaws, in each of the case studies, the housing choice vouchers have resulted

Two public policies that have been passed within the last fifty years that have shaped our social and political consciousness are Affordable housing and SNAP. Affordable housing “In general, housing for which the occupant(s) is/are paying no more than 30 percent of his or her income for gross housing costs, including utilities. Please note that some jurisdictions may define affordable housing based on other, locally determined criteria, and that this definition is intended solely as an approximate guideline or general rule of thumb”(HUD.GOV). Affordable housing is for people of low income. Many people that are able to receive Affordable Housing also are able to receive SNAP. SNAP or Food Stamps are “any of the coupons sold or given under a federal program to eligible needy persons and redeemable for food at designated grocery stores or

In 2016 Obama's 2010 opening doors: a federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness results in homelessness among veterans dropping by 36%. Following the gains made in helping homeless veterans, the president announced he will seek 11 billion over the next ten years to aid homeless families.

Furthermore, the declining availability of public assistance has also increased the number of families that are in poverty or homeless. Fewer families are receiving the help they need. There were once many federal and state assistance programs that were available for those in need, but because of budget cuts, most of the funding for these programs have been cut or eliminated. As a result of loss of benefits many continue to struggle. In Anna Quindlen’s, “Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Kids, Quindlen states how “[a] study done in San Diego in 1998 found that a third of homeless families had recently had