Outraged Welfare Punishes Work and Saps Dignity From the Desperately Poor? Please Sign My Petition!

[daredtowork]

Last edited Fri Aug 22, 2014, 12:15 PM - Edit history (3)

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/work-while-on-welfare?source=c.em&r_by=11132229

I'm on General Assistance welfare, which is the form of welfare people get if they are single, childless, and thus not eligible for all the "family-oriented" forms of the social safety net. I qualified for this because I was disabled but it was taking years for my SSI case to process. G.A. goes directly to my landlord, leaving me no cash to live on. I can pay for food with food stamps, but I have no means to pay for utility and phone bills, hygiene products, toilet paper, light bulbs, stamps and envelopes, bus and train tickets, over-the-counter medications, cleaning supplies, and a hundred other non-food items that people just need to get through their daily lives. Even Social Services, the creator of these rules, imposes demands that cost money for the "welfare recipient" who doesn't have a cash income"!

This leaves only 4 choices: begging on the corner, prostitution, petty theft, under the table work.

Now someone in the peanut gallery may be asking what happens if you try to do some casual work for necessities and legally report it, as Social Services requires you to do every quarter. What happens is Social Services punishes you by every means possible, puts you through time-consuming bureaucratic hell, tortures you with all sorts of stress, and, worst of all, undermines your housing situation because it takes back any money you earn out of the check to your landlord.

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/work-while-on-welfare?source=c.em&r_by=11132229

I've been told that the General Assistance welfare rules are different for every County and every State, which is one of the reasons it's so difficult to get a unified voice on the subject and explain why people on welfare are treated worse than prisoners in Gitmo - and show how the health, psychological, and dignity outcomes are all logical consequences of exposure to crushing circumstances. But I'm sure the fundamental absurdity is pretty much the same all over, so I hope that even if you are not from California and not from the Oakland Bay Area, you will still sign my petition and help shine a light on this ridiculous Rube Goldberg machine.

Bringing the reality of welfare to light is also the first step to ending its use as a political football. Many conservatives use the obscurity surrounding welfare to imply it's some sort of secret cash machine or that people like me are living high off the hog at the tax payer's expense. I have no cash income, and I'm punished for working for toilet paper. Please help me do something about it by signing my petition.

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/work-while-on-welfare?source=c.em&r_by=11132229

UPDATE: I finally reached the goal of 50 signatures on my petition, so it can be forwarded to my political representatives. I believe the petition remains up for people to see this issue and still sign if they want, though. Please take a look - it's jaw-dropping if you think about it. Please point it out the next time a Republican says they want people on welfare to work.

[Agschmid]

1. Just a kick, everyone should at least give this a read.

[daredtowork]

3. Thank you again.

This sort of thing is unbelievable until you've been there.

I know I couldn't have imagined it until I was inside it. The "social safety net" is like some crazy mind-bending parabola that you almost need to be on drugs to survive. And don't even get me started on the physical health problems this situation sets you up for. :0

[Kalidurga]

2. Some people don't even get that

If you get a case worker who has no sympathy for an invisible disability like fibromyalgia or you have a sleep disorder or something like that then you might be "lucky" to get food stamps.

[daredtowork]

4. case workers

The case workers in Oakland are like machines. They don't "care" about anything. They just process the forms for the one or two programs they deal with. They don't provide any additional information on what you should do to deal with your situation if you've lost everything. Need shelter for the night? Gotta figure that one out for yourself!

Ps. I sympathize about the invisible disabilities. I was having trouble getting people to understand the mobility problems and neuropathic issues inherent in my genetic disorder, and I initially had to get G.A. under a "depression" exception. Then my eyes hemorrhaged, and since I was legally blind, it made it easier to underscore that I was disabled. The State is definitely all about the Deny if they can get away with it. Now thanks to the Affordable Care Act, my eyes are being treated, so I actually have some hope of getting off G.A. The irony here is this little job was my first step toward that.

This might make you laugh/cry:
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/social-security-denies-gregor-samsas-disability-claim

[daredtowork]

5. Back in a bit

This is a bit ironic, but I have to go to a workshop on how work impacts SSI and Medi-Cal. Back in a bit to check for comments/questions.

By the way, I left something important out of my petition: there is only 3 day turn around time for getting your work documentation to Social Services!!! They really don't expect you to turn in anything.

[Sissyk]

6. You put a bit of work in this petition, daredtowork.

So, I am kicking this thread and recommending your work.

Good luck to you!

[daredtowork]

10. It was more the energy of desperation

I had made the argument so many times, it sort of comes out in order (with a couple typos that unfortunately MoveOn.org will not let me edit after the fact). But this was not a prepared statement. This is the result of the kind of argument that goes on in your head hundreds of times while you are tromping back and forth from the Social Security office (or while looking for some over-burdened nonprofit agency that will help you deal with them) and wondering why the things they are.

I want to write a book on the topic to introduce people to the "hidden world" controlled by this bureaucratic maze, but the darned thing keeps coming out as a pile of rants.

[Neoma]

73. You need help writing it then.

An outside hand that can look at the facts rather than the emotional outcome stemming from the situation.

[daredtowork]

75. Unfortunately I couldn't edit once I posted it

This particular petition is aimed at the one situation I know: the rule that takes 10% out of the landlord's check if someone on General Assistance legally reports work they do.

I think a better petition (and one that could use better planning/writing) would incorporate more rules and more forms of welfare. Perhaps it could even incorporate more counties than Alameda.

I was going to talk to a group of law students about my situation next week, and I'm thinking of proposing the idea of a more "developed" petition that would be focused on the rules rather than my particular situation. They would be more equipped to write such a thing than I would since they would have more access to the rules.

The down-side is they wouldn't have the actual experience of being on welfare, and even people who work with people on welfare often don't understand all the implications of the rules they are subjected to. For instance, offering someone various "services" may lead to more stress than they are worth if the person has no means of transportation to get to the services, or if the appointments are offered at conflicting times with both being supervised by "tough love" types testing whether you will get there on time.

Or they don't understand that "discounts" on bills or meds mean nothing to people who have zero cash income. Also, people with zero cash "income" can't "save up" or "prioritize" for the things that five different "advisers" with your best interests at heart think you should be focusing on.

And these are all issues besides the massive paperwork, the conflicts in the paperwork, the short deadlines for you (but big delays when it comes to the government getting anything done for you), the speed at which the money you depend on gets cut off vs. how long it takes and how much red tape is involved in getting things restarted, how no one ever returns your calls or answers your questions, how you are too scared to clarify things or read the small print because it might "open a can of worms", how every tiny bit of money you get requires so much work that it makes a mockery of being too disabled to work...I could go on and on about the stress, the indignity, the crazy-making contradictions...

In short, the experience and the impact won't be apparent in the laws. Actual people on welfare need to be involved in interpreting their impact and framing such a petition.

[Rhiannon12866]

7. K&R! Signed, Tweeted and passed on!

See, it did pay off, and you're now on The Greatest Page, only takes five recommendations. Great job!

[daredtowork]

11. Thank you so much for holding my hand. :)

What is The Greatest Page?

I had to go to a workshop required by the Department of Rehabilitation, so I missed everything that happened 15 minutes after I posted this. But I did get 12 more signatures! 13 more to go!

[Rhiannon12866]

15. Anytime, my friend!

Just glad to see that you got to post your petition. You did a great job with it and the thread. Hopefully, you'll get at least that many more. This is certainly something DUers will support.

As for The Greatest Page, it's comprised of those threads that have received 5 or more recommendations for the past 24 hours. Members often check it out to see what are the most worthwhile and popular threads, so threads there are apt to get more views whether or not they have dropped down the page in a particular forum. Here's the link, though you can access "Greatest" or "Latest" (most recent) by clicking the links at the top.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=greatest_threads

[daredtowork]

17. Ooh I see

Well I have additional thanks for all the people who recommended my thread then. Unfortunately I think I did a better job with the title of this than the actual petition. I'm almost to my goal, though. I thought this would be the place to find support, and I'm relieved to find out that was true.

[Rhiannon12866]

18. I agree that DU is a great place to come with this

And you also chose the right forum since General Discussion gets the most traffic of any forum here. And each time anyone posts on this (or "kicks" it), it goes back to the top of the page.

[daredtowork]

19. Agschmid recommended it!

I was overwhelmed by all the topics and wasn't quite sure where this fit. Activism? Democracy? Justice?

Anyway, now I'm holding out hope I could get my 50 signatures by tomorrow. Maybe even tonight.

Hope I can stay awake that long. T_T

[Rhiannon12866]

20. Well, here's another "kick" for you and I'll be around for awhile

And you got the best advice. We're all here to help. Any other questions you have, just ask.

[daredtowork]

21. In speaking of questions

I'm now here to answer any. I know people must have some. Misunderstandings regarding welfare abound. I only know about the situation regarding single people without children, but I'd be happy to try to elucidate any dark and mysterious areas.

[Rhiannon12866]

22. DUers are particularly well informed, but if they have questions, they won't hesitate to ask

If you want to add additional explanation, that would be fine. And many, like me, are immediately supportive of anything that comes from MoveOn.

[daredtowork]

23. There's a difference between political information and social information

When I was working, I was also a well-informed progressive with socialist leanings who thought I knew a lot about the stresses of the everyday life of the poor. As it turned out there are a lot of things you genuinely can't grok unless you've done it. The paperwork is incomprehensible to people with advanced degrees in the humanities and literature: but you also have a distinct interest in not understanding what it says. There is a chance that most of the people working in the system aren't paying attention to the finer details, either: everything is working on rote, and you don't want to draw attention to anything unless it is working against you.

I was amazed to find out that, in my area there is not a "last ditch" poverty program. If you're not disabled, you can only receive General Assistance welfare 3 months out of the year. That 3 months goes by very fast. What are people doing the rest of the time? In Oakland: begging, prostitution, gang and criminal activities...?

The women have to have children so they can get onto a "family" program. Isn't that the direction we as a society wanted them to go?

But that is very correct poverty reasoning when you have no other resources.

By the way, General Assistance is a LOAN, not free money. And it's only $336/month if it goes directly to a Landlord (still a piddling amount compared to real rents in the San Francisco area - you can only use this if you are already IN housing or if you go into INSTITUTIONAL housing). If you take cash instead of the Landlord deal it turns into a few bucks a month. So if you're homeless, you can actually get a few bucks in cash from General Assistance for tampons, aspirin, and bus fare (but since you're freezing your ass off on the street, you will probably prefer to spend the money on something that will make you forget your pain).

But the greatest thing you cannot see from the outside is the sheer level of unnecessary paperwork, the eternal time-consuming monitoring, the continual wire-tripping that always defaults to screwing things up for the welfare recipient, so the welfare recipient has to scramble to get things fixed while the State hopes this time they will just go away after being cut off. I'm so sick of things defaulting to General Assistance and Food Stamps being cut off because the time lag for getting that stuff fixed is not only stressful and time-consuming, it represents a real time spent without food and resources - and possibly a risk of losing housing because rent wasn't met. These bureaucratic rules and contradictions create so many GAPS! That's what people need to understand, and why they need to put more autonomous control into the hands of the people who are ostensibly being helped: control "from above" not only repeatedly fails, it fails in a way that puts real lives at risk.

[Rhiannon12866]

25. Thank you! Those are excellent and very informative points!

And you're right, most people are completely unaware, even those of us who like to think we're informed. We do have members here who have had to deal with "the system," but the intricacies are lost on the majority of us. As for paperwork, I admit to being completely lost. I broke my arm several years ago and needed to turn to HR just to fill out a simple form - and I didn't even miss any work.

[daredtowork]

27. you get lost in the first hour

But you are stuck in this world for years! And it's completely draining and demoralizing!

Even those who do have to deal with "the system" only deal with one part of it. For instance, I only know of the aspect that relates to single people without children, and the aspect that relates to certain kinds of disabilities. If you are a single mother the situation is different. If you are a two-parent family, the situation is different again...

The entire thing is very fragmented, which is again how the harried voting public is kept ignorant of it.

Sadly, many people don't keep an open mind about what they might not know. Instead they get very defensive about the groove they are already in and the opinions they already hold. If you try to let them know what the situation is really like, they actually think you - a person without any income or status or anything in your life what so ever - are exerting some sort of condescending power over them simply by telling them a truth they don't want to hear. Those of us who are in a position to share our experiences don't have very much available to do so, and we really can't be mounting an offensive against the people who just don't want to hear it on top of everything else. I think that's why the truth doesn't really "trickle up". Instead the Romney-style lies trickle down and cover up the reality of what people on welfare are going through like some sort of heavy glue: nothing ever gets done about a terrible situation because not enough people realize something needs to be done.

[Rhiannon12866]

30. I can't even imagine!

And the people who really need help are often the worst equipped to deal with it, whether they're inexperienced, uninformed, not feeling well to begin with, or are dealing with those who are equally uninformed. You might want to post more about these issues in the future, since you know much more than the rest of us do, and these are issues that DUers support.

[daredtowork]

31. Yes that's the punchline

But it's also the broad brush part that Progressives do tend to appreciate: this steaming heap of caca is all coming down on those least equipped to handle it. And when they don't handle it, they just get more heaps of steaming caca coming down on them. And somewhere there are some Republicans pointing some fingers and screaming about personal responsibility, but it's kind of hard to hear because at that point you've just been constantly mired in so much caca from all directions and for so long that it's impossible to dig your way out of.

Occasionally I do go into "educate" modes, but honestly I do get worn down quickly. I have a lot going down in my life as you can see. I'm very stressed out and worn down at the end of the day, and it's also easy to get on my last nerve in that condition: and it's just not safe for the person with the lowest status in the room to be on their last nerve - only the Boss gets to be like that. XD

But I realize it is important to get this information out there, so I try when I can.

[Rhiannon12866]

32. Just do what you can, when you can, or if some particular issue comes up

As I said, DUers are pretty informed, but the issues you're talking are pretty murky even for the best informed among us. And it is painful to contemplate the lack of knowledge out there. Elections are coming up, but how many even know who the candidates are? I remember when the husband of one of my cousins asked me when we were going to have another presidential election, and he'd been fairly successful in life. DU is all about spreading information and whatever you do is appreciated.

[daredtowork]

33. This petition is a first step

In getting that murk cleaned up. If I can just get it out on the table that when people on welfare work and honestly report it, they not only aren't rewarded, they are viciously punished and threatened with homelessness, I will consider myself having done a job worth a pat on the back.

[Rhiannon12866]

34. This is something that DU can really get behind, that I am sure of

The plight of the homeless is a big issue here, as well as those who work hard but just can't make ends meet. We'll keep your petition kicked, so you can get more signatures and inform the rest of us. Thank you!

[daredtowork]

35. lol I fell asleep

I was trying to add stuff to my profile, and I fell right over on my keyboard. >.< Some of the medication I'm taking is not to be trifled with. >.<

Signature count is up to 37! Maybe when I wake up there will finally be enough! Thanks again for trying to keep me awake long enough to see if I could get some instant gratification tonight.

I hope MoveOn isn't going to come back to me with any rigamarole about the signatures needing to come from California for the CA representatives... >.<

[Rhiannon12866]

36. Well, get some sleep if you need to!

I'll give this another kick for the morning crowd before I sign off. And if you'd like to cross-post this in the California Forum, here's the link, and that is allowed. But I agree that GD is the best place for this since it'll get the most views, plus, it's moving up The Greatest Page.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1040

[daredtowork]

37. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow

I better stumble off to bed while I can still make it there, lol. XD

Good night.

[Rhiannon12866]

38. Good night, and Good Luck!

(Just quoting a progressive movie, LOL) Get some good rest and don't forget to come back...

[yeoman6987]

8. Best of Luck!

Good Luck to you. Hopefully you will find a job that you enjoy. I hope for the best for you!

[daredtowork]

13. I need a job yesterday

Getting a full time job with medical benefits that will keep me from slipping back in terms of my disability problems before the consequences hit regarding this welfare situation is the only way I can avoid homelessness at this point. I'm fantastically lucky that thanks to the Affordable Care Act, and the improved treatment I received, this is an option for me. If things were hopeless for me in terms of getting *any* job, then I would be homeless as soon as my case was out of appeal and my landlord received his first check and had to ask my why it was 10% less.

So I have that chance. But it's a very slim chance that depends on my luck and helpful the Department of Rehab is going to be this go around.

[LoveMyCali]

9. Signed!

[daredtowork]

14. Thank you so much. :)

If you're not from California, please check out how welfare actually works in your state. Your political establishment depends on your ignorance in order to get away with their grandstanding - at the expense of people who are desperately poor and miserable already. Please educate yourself for their sake.

[Katashi_itto]

12. signed

[daredtowork]

16. Thank you!

I'm grateful for every signature, and I apologize that I'm so late in coming back here to say so - I had to make an appearance at a Department of Rehabilitation workshop on SSI/SSDI work rules. I do come back better armed as a "jailhouse lawyer" of sorts for people on SSI/SSDI who want to work!

[Agschmid]

24. One more kick before bed!

[daredtowork]

28. Thank you again!

I really do appreciate your kicks! (ouch, not the one to the shins!)

[icymist]

26. Going to give this a kick for exposure!

[daredtowork]

29. Thank you!

I love the little donkey!

[Rhiannon12866]

39. Kicking for the morning crowd!

[daredtowork]

40. Good Morning and thank you again!

8 more to go! Almost there!

Have to go to a "work readiness" class in a few minutes, but I will be able to check the petition, and perhaps this forum, after that. The appointments and paperwork in my life are never done (despite being too disabled to work - I think that actually means the economy just wasn't willing to accept me as I am. Thus I get busywork and stress I am not paid for.)

Anyway, my spirits are lifted a lot by the thought that the political representatives who were ignoring me might have to look at this situation and start thinking policy change TODAY!

[Rhiannon12866]

42. No problem, just glad to see you're getting this done here.

It's an extremely worthwhile project, just hang in there!

[daredtowork]

41. Ps. I did cross-post to the California group

Hope no one is ticked off about a post-and-run since I can't reply to comments until later today. >.<

[Rhiannon12866]

43. I think that's unlikely

The state forums are pretty laid back.

[daredtowork]

44. Just got back home

Only 4 more to go!

But I'm wondering if the non-California signatures count when presenting the petition to the California political representatives. Is there a different signature threshold I need to meet for that? That's the most important one for me.

The main one I'm trying to knee in the balls here is Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, who ignored my email cri de coeur the first time, and then just routed it to an assistant who proceeded to also ignore me the second time. It's possible they think all I'm asking for is a phone call to address my particular situation when a phone call can't solve it: this is a policy matter. The rules are written in such a way that person on General Assistance welfare is punished in multiple super-harsh ways if they try to work - including the ultimate threat (taking away their housing).

I've heard His Excellency Carson is one of the good guys, but to prove that to me he needs to respond to this situation. Because it's just not to be allowed to go on, and, as I understand it, he's the fastest route to pulling the plug on it.

[Rhiannon12866]

46. I just got home, too, and I reminded another DUer I know personally to sign it

Hoping you reach your goal tonight!

[daredtowork]

48. I'm not supposed to drink caffeine, but...

I'm making coffee, anyway.

I'm staying up until I see 50 signatures!

[daredtowork]

63. Going to sleep :(

Nodding off and can't stay up any longer. It does seem strange that there haven't been 50 signatures yet when there have been so many views. It seems like such an obvious wrong thing to me, and also a source of a lot of other social malfunctions and violence downstream... :/

[Rhiannon12866]

65. Sorry, but I don't blame you

It's been a long week and you've had a long day. I'll give this one more kick before I sign off for the night and hoping you have 50 signatures by the morning...

[daredtowork]

68. Yay 50!

Thank you, Janna, for the last one!

Now I have to figure out what to do. I expected MoveOn to send me some notice about delivering the petition, but instead they sent me a "call to action" about calling my political representatives. Good luck doing that toll free with Governor Jerry Brown. >.<

I have the petition set for "automatic delivery", but now I'm unclear what that means, so I will have to ask MoveOn.org for help.

I'm still kind of surprised that this didn't raise more eyebrows, but I guess I should count my blessings there as well, because when people do eventually connect the dots on this (for instance: crime rate Oakland) there probably would be more riots - which I wouldn't want to be the cause or the center of.

But the people that are responsible for maintaining these welfare policies/laws on the local level need to be spotlighted because they are the ones creating poverty as a crisis, rather than a mere problem, at the ground level.

[LiberalElite]

45. signed & kicked -

this reminded me of my childhood in the 1950's - a widow in my neighborhood living on welfare in a basement apartment with her adult brain-damaged son, on welfare, tried to earn a little extra money by selling greeting cards and got into trouble with the authorities.

[daredtowork]

47. Thank you!

Three more to go! Almost there! Almost there! It will be tonight! I can feel it!

[Starry Messenger]

49. Signed and shared on twitter.

I'm in the Bay Area, lived in Oakland for 17 years, never knew about this crap!

[daredtowork]

51. Thank you so much!

Very few people know about this crap: it's totally invisible if you've never been on welfare.

Moreover, welfare is different depending on what county you are in, depending on whether you have children, depending on whether you are disabled, etc. Because it is impossible to speak about in a unified way, you need strong advocates for people on welfare at the LOCAL level. If you don't have those strong advocates, you get crap convoluted contradictory policy, like what happened in Oakland: and the people who are suffering are the least equipped to handle it. You can only hope the worst that will happen is that they will slide into homelessness or commit suicide: more likely they will see the easy way out is to rob you at gunpoint.

[gvstn]

50. Signed and kicked.

[daredtowork]

52. Thank you!

One more to go!

Confetti and brief sense of empowerment ready!!!

[daleanime]

53. Kick....

[daredtowork]

54. TY

Or should I say "ouch"?

[daleanime]

55. Ooooops.....

sorry about that.

[daredtowork]

56. Keeping me alert

For that 50th sig!

[historylovr]

57. Signed this morning.

I think our "safety net" is designed so people can fall through. I hope you get some traction with this. Good luck!

[daredtowork]

58. Thank you!

I'm not sure what will happen with it. Actually I'm kind of nervous about it, because I don't want it to gain any sort of publicity that focuses on me and ruins whatever chance I may have to get out of my personal situation. If this gains "journalist" traction, then I would be used for the agendas of others, and there would be a lot more hurting me than helping me. Sorry if that sounds selfish, but my life sucks already, and all I want is to recover my health and be working in a low key steady job like a normal person.

On the other hand I do want to raise awareness of this SITUATION and get this fixed at the POLICY level. And if there is any way I can possibly help do that as a knowledgeable informant, I'd like to. I'm willing to put a lot of work and energy into that outcome. I just don't want my image raised on anyone's flag (or burnt as anyone's effigy).

[daredtowork]

59. Am I going to have to call my Mom?

It's midnight where she lives, and she's extremely elderly and without Internet access at home, and doesn't drive, so I don't know where she would find a computer or how she would get there...and it's up hill in the snow both ways!

[gvstn]

60. Let me kick again.

This really is important because it is true and demonstrates how "safeguards" against abuse of the social safety net actually hurt those in need of it.

I urge those who have read but not signed to read again and consider signing.

[daredtowork]

61. hanging in there

Just need 1 more signature to get this petition delivered to political Powers That Be, or so the MoveOn.org FAQ tells me.

Confetti still ready!

[daredtowork]

62. You'd think some Republicans would be now running scared for being outed

After all, they always say they want people on welfare to work.

Well, here's what happens when they do.

Let's try writing some policy/rules that make sense first!

[gvstn]

64. Please look at the original post again.

I live in a sate that has no State sales tax. So I barely understand exemptions from sales tax on the premise of being a "necessity". But some states actually tax toothpaste and toilet paper as non-essential items on grocery store lists. Almost all Sates consider soap a luxury as per tax law.

It is true you could get away without buying toilet paper and use cloths instead. But you might use 8-12 cloths on a bad day and then have to launder them. If you have a machine you might only be charged for the water, sewer and electricity costs to clean those cloths. If you don't have a machine you would be using lots of water and some boiling process to clean those cloths. Don't even think about a laundromat as an economical solution. Either is far greater expense than using toilet paper and bathing that day or the next. So why would any State consider such item a non-necessity?

These are the daily decisions someone on a severely limited income has to make. They seem extreme but they are not. We can't change local tax laws which call some "essential" items non-essential, today, but we can try to change laws that make it impossible to receive welfare benefits while you try to improve your situation and earn something to get you through the month. Daredtowork has described the the situation well. Please, sign the his/her petition because it deserves to be seen.

[daredtowork]

76. food stamps and necessary "non-food" items

To clarify the source of this problem in Oakland: if you are on General Assistance, and you have no direct cash income, then the only means you have of getting stuff from the store is "food stamps". However, these can only be used to buy food ($180 worth of food a month if you qualify for the full amount).

You can't buy non-food necessities with food stamps, like toilet paper.

However, there are some creative ways you can stretch the concept of "food" to cover your other needs. For instance, baking soda is "food". You can brush your teeth with that. Lemon juice and vinegar are both food. Combine those with baking soda, and they can meet a lot of your cleaning needs. I've joked with people about how I can acquire the ingredients of many of the latest "natural ingredient" facial masques, but I can't get tampons. In speaking of which - you have no way of dealing with it if anything is ruined because of your period. >.>

There are also household "hardware" items that you don't want to lose/break while you're on welfare: nail clippers, razors, tweezers, scissors, cookware. You won't be able to replace worn out sheets, or other things you'd replace periodically.

I ran into some trouble recently because I started taking a medication which caused me to drastically lose my coordination. Within a few weeks, I'd broken all my plates and ceramic cups, and I wasn't in a position to shop for new ones!

I was told there is now a "motion" to give General Assistance money to the welfare recipient instead of to the landlord, but I doubt that will help much. While in theory that puts cash in hand to buy toilet paper, the couple hundred "discretionary dollars" that remain for the month won't be enough to pay rent anywhere in the area. It will be a case of false "choice" leading to homelessness. Being able to buy toilet paper will be cold comfort if I'm living under a bridge.

[scorpiogirl]

66. Signed and kick!

My family and I were recently on Calworks. My husband and I managed to find jobs starting on the same day almost two months ago. The deal was as soon as our household income reached $895 we had to report it. We were getting $730 a month on our cash ebt from Calworks. We got food stamps as well that we get to keep for another five months as transitional. The $730 didn't even cover our rent, nevermind the rest of it. In the end, they took it away completely, no sliding scale of any sort, all or nothing. We are full time working poor. If we didn't get the food stamps, we'd be in big trouble. It's mind-boggling the way they run the whole thing. So spread out that it's not 100% effective for anyone.

I hope things get better for you, for everyone.

[Rhiannon12866]

67. Thanks so much for signing!

Thanks to you, the OP now has 50 signatures! I am so sorry that you're facing this, just hope this action begins to help you and so many others.

[scorpiogirl]

69. Thanks Rhiannon!

It's the least, and unfortunately, the most I can do right now.

[daredtowork]

70. Thanks again Rhiannon for boosting and Scorpiogirl for signing!

Calworks is actually double General Assistance: that's only $336/month, which I will have to pay back once I'm working or from SSI when I get that. I was so shocked when I found out that was the maximum: I can't imagine a landlord in the Bay Area taking that! The only way to hold out is to promise (hope) that there will be more SSI money coming down the road.

And then, after you've made this very fragile arrangement with your landlord - who wanted nothing to do with the Government because he knew they would screw up the check half the time (and the check did get stopped or go missing for several months at least 3 times since I've been on it)...after all that...for that rent check to become VARIABLE???!!!! Just because you tried to improve your situation and do a little work and legally report it?!

I'm still in shock over this. Why aren't more people raising this as an issue? Why isn't it all over Rachel Maddow or at least Daily Kos? There just seems to be some lack of connect. Some general lack of understanding in the "mainstream" world of what it means morally, philosophically, politically, intellectually, spiritually, and existentially that when people on welfare try to work it is PUNISHED WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE.

How to get through with that message?

[daredtowork]

71. Kicking Myself to Raise Awareness of this Issue

I got the signatures I needed for my petition, but I'm sticking around a bit and kicking this to raise awareness of the issue of welfare rules punishing people who try to work and honestly report it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

72. signed

[daredtowork]

74. Thank you!

I'm going to leave that petition up so anyone who wants can pile on and say it's wrong to punish people on welfare for trying to work and honestly reporting it.

For people in that situation there is no choice other than begging, prostitution, crime, gang activity, or, the ultimate way out, suicide. It's a riot waiting to happen. But when it happens, the politicians will be able to cover up why because no one understands that this kind of ridiculous bureaucracy amounts to the inhumane treatment of people at the poverty level. People will just wring their hands and gape, "We don't know why it's happening..."

Well, here's someone trying to pass that information upward, through that barrier that separates the people who have never been in the system from those who are trapped there.

In Oakland, CA people on welfare who try to work and who legally report are punished for it, and their housing arrangements are undermined.

How long do you think it will be before that fuse catches fire?

[daredtowork]

77. Informational Kick Only

I already have the 50 signatures I needed - thank you all!

This is an informational kick just to keep this post active a few days so more people can learn about the fact that people on welfare are punished (with EXTREME PREJUDICE) when they try to work and legally report it in Oakland, CA. They aren't just put through scary bureaucratic hell, it undermines their housing by reducing the rent paid to their landlords.

This is unacceptable and must be changed.

It also makes all politicians who claim they want people on welfare to work, and people on welfare are just shiftless and lazy, outright liars. It seems to me they are writing the laws to make it LOOK like that is true, and shamelessly destroying lives to further their propaganda.

[daredtowork]

78. Another Informational Kick

Hopefully this isn't considered tacky on DU.

I'm no longer begging for petition signers. Thank you to those who helped me reach the 50 I needed. Of course the petition remains up for all those who want to indicate they believe that people on welfare should be able to do some work and report it legally without being punished by the disruption of their housing.

I do want to raise awareness of this issue, and I'm willing to bet Oakland, CA isn't the only place that is getting away with crazy welfare rules just because the situation is completely hidden from the mainstream world.

So for information purposes I would like to kick up this thread for a while so people can see it and learn what "welfare" is really about.

[Rhiannon12866]

79. Good job!

And thanks for all your hard work!

[daredtowork]

80. Morning Pre-Coffee Informational Kick

Once again, not asking for anything: thank you all who got my petition to 50 signatures. I believe that means that it has already been sent to the political representatives I designated.

This kick is just to keep this thread around for a few days so people will see an important issue that usually remains invisible, and may be at the root of many social rifts, including Ferguson: General Assistance welfare rules that are so badly written they actually PUNISH people people for trying to work by jeopardizing their housing!

While I can only shine a light on what is going on in Oakland, CA, I'm sure similar shenanigans go on everywhere. If Republicans can get away with grandstanding against Food Stamps in the house, can you imagine what they get away with in a thousand different ways at the LOCAL level where no one sees what is going on because the news doesn't report it and people living "mainstream" lives just don't care?

Who wants to bet the Oakland, CA welfare rules have been f'd up on purpose somewhere along the way to "incentivize" disabled people who can barely move, much less work, to get off welfare? To stop being "welfare queens" with their $337/month *loan* that goes directly to their landlord, their $180/month food stamps, and their $0 in cash income to pay for utility bills and toilet paper?

[smirkymonkey]

81. K&R!

Congratulations on your 50 sigs. I just read this now, but thank you! It was very informative and enlightening.
:kick:

[daredtowork]

82. Thank you for reading!

This is an afternoon self-kick to spread the word that in Oakland, CA people on General Assistance welfare can't work without being PUNISHED with EXTREME PREJUDICE - capped off with jeopardizing their housing by reducing the check to their LANDLORD by 10% every month.

The wrongness of this is epic! It must be broken through the barrier that normally makes the world of "welfare" invisible to the world of "normal". Politicians are grandstanding about how people on welfare need to "get a job" every day! Well, look what happens when they do! And I believe this little "contradiction" is deliberate: it is meant to drive people on welfare into despair so they will magically go somewhere other than Oakland or kill themselves or otherwise disappear. But what really happens is they resort to alternative ways of getting cash to survive: begging, prostitution, crime, gang activity, etc.

OAKLAND IS CREATING THE VERY PROBLEM IT CLAIMS TO SUFFER FROM!

This is not something that people who have never been on welfare will have ever encountered, so please give a read/listen. And if you have the time, energy, and political will, please take some action to object to this ridiculous situation.

[daredtowork]

83. Morning Informational Kick - Getting an Invisible Problem on the Table

No one knows how welfare works because:

1) It's too complicated. People have their own busy lives to worry about. They will worry about welfare when they are on welfare. (i.e., when it's too late.)

2) It's too fragmented. Every county has a different program. People in different family situations or in different "exception" groups are in different programs, so no one can speak with a united voice about it.

3) The media writes about what its audience "wants to hear", and they don't care about welfare since it doesn't normally touch their own lives. Also the real story is too complicated to convey in the short sound-byte form most media is conveyed in these days.

4) Our "political representatives" are deliberately hiding the truth about welfare! That's because it's in their political interest to obscure the truth! As long as no one knows what the truth is, they can say anything they want about welfare when election season runs around. Moreover, if they need to juggle their budget, they can always tap the desperately poor because no one really knows that is happening their, and they don't have the lobbyists and big media/PR voices to depend them. It is literally taking cans of milk from babies to hang flower baskets in downtown Oakland. The rich tech sector, who could be helping with the welfare chaos at the bottom if they knew something about it are the ones that need to be pleased with tax breaks, hand outs, tschotskes, and such.

This information needs to break through somehow. And mainstream America, who has never had the need to fall back on welfare yet, needs to garner the political will to learn about how it works - at least in their local area.

[UglyGreed]

84. Just saw your thread

Signed and I wish you the best of luck!

[daredtowork]

85. Thank you!

I'm happy just to have gotten 50 signatures (that allowed the MoveOn.org petition to be formally presented to the political representatives who had been ignoring my emails). But I thought I should do "informational kicks" for a few days because this situation is invisible to people who have never actually been in it.

[UglyGreed]

86. No problem

I'll look for the thread in coming days and kick it up if need.

[UglyGreed]

87. Kick

[daredtowork]

88. Why thank you!

I was just coming here to do a morning informational kick, and you took care of it for me!

[daredtowork]

89. A Peek Into the Welfare World People On the Outside Rarely See

Here is my morning informational kick of this post.

Are you wondering what is wrong with welfare and why it's a trap?

Are you wondering whether the proper work incentives are in place? (The answer is NO!!!)

Are you wondering if politicians are telling you the truth when they talk about welfare: either all they do to "help" or all that people on welfare are "getting away with"? Or do they say whatever the heck they want because no one knows how welfare works...?

Are you wondering what resources people "on welfare" really get? (If you're single in Oakland, CA, it's certainly not cash you can go around spending).

Are you wondering why there are so many "mentally ill" people on welfare? Why they make so many "bad decisions"? Why all the academics are talking about people on welfare not having the "bandwidth" to recover from their bad situation? Why "those people" are whining all the time?

Are you wondering why you see people begging, prostituting themselves on the corner, setting up homeless encampments, joining gangs, and committing crimes when you pay taxes for "social services" and there should be "programs" to get them off the street?

If you ever wondered any or all of these things, please read my petition. It will show you EXACTLY what the problem is! You might even consider signing my petition and letting the world know that this is a dehumanizing, unconscionable situation that shouldn't be going on in a civilized nation.

[daredtowork]

90. Evening informational kick

Want to actually open your mind to some information and take action to do something about absurd welfare rules that inhibit work for a change?

Here's your chance.

Or you can go back to exchanging missiles in "meta" threads over positivity and negativity. Sigh.

[daredtowork]

91. Morning Informational Kick

Interested in learning about how welfare works, or rather how absurd it is and why it turns the people on it into stressed out exhausted zombies? Check out my petition.

Interested in the fact that welfare punishes people who try to work with EXTREME PREJUDICE when all the politicians say they want people on welfare to work? Check out my petition.

Tired of complaining about political apathy and actually want to take some action to stop something that's wrong? Check out my petition.

Thank you.

[annabanana]

92. Still accepting signatures, so KICK (& faced & tweeted). . . .n/t

ps to "newbie"..

n/t means there's no text below the subject line. (saves time when browsing)

Of course, telling you this in the body of the message makes the "n/t" above a lie

sorry

[daredtowork]

93. Thank you for reviving this!

Yes, my petition is still accepting signatures. I dream of a landslide of them letting Oakland, and the welfare system in general, know that punishing people for trying to work by threatening their housing is unacceptable.

Situations like this are what will cost the U.S. the right to speak as a moral authority on Human Rights. As long as we condone treating human beings like this, we will not be able to persuade other nations that their own human rights violations are any big deal. We're making it "business as usual" to keep a segment of the population living in Third World conditions.

I'm also asking questions about whether these absurd welfare policies are deliberate. Are they intended to push the poorest to "go elsewhere"? Where is elsewhere?

[daredtowork]

94. Wa, Kriss Worthington Signed my Petition T_T

Finally a local politician notices me. T_T

He's not my council representative, but he's the first political representative to even wave in my direction. Thanks Kriss!

By the way, I voted for you when I was at U.C. Berkeley, and spoke to you when you were working the tables! ;D

[daredtowork]

95. A bunch of people signed my petition!

So I'm kicking this up yet again to see if I can get it to 100.

If you believe people on welfare that goes directly to their landlord should be able to work a little to get basic necessities - work and legally report it without being punished or their housing undermined - please sign petition.

If you believe welfare should be about helping people get out of poverty instead of driving them into homelessness (and often MAKING them both physically and mentally ill in the process through all the stress it causes) - please sign petition.

If you don't think the U.S. should be engaging in human rights abuses and outright mental and physical torture against it's own citizens - not at Gitmo but right here on U.S. soil - please sign my petition.

Fixing welfare will turn everything around in the U.S., from the bottom up.