PLATFORM : Meet the New Exurban Nomads--Families Skidding Into Welfare

I had heard of children sleeping in cars, eating in soup kitchens, but I hadn’t met any until the first ones came to Valley Re-start in June, 1990--two little girls, 4 and 7. They lived with their parents in a car while the dad looked for a job better than the one he had, 30 hours a week at minimum wage.

Families like these might be able to maintain themselves for a while, living in a substandard apartment, eating at soup kitchens and so on. But the slightest new crisis will push them over the edge, because they have absolutely no reserve.

Earlier this year, AFDC benefits were reduced by 4.5%. Believe it or not, this reduction has pushed numerous families into crisis. In the last week of September, our shelter saw 28 families in one afternoon. Most were not homeless--not yet. They needed a bag of groceries, or $15 to purchase medication for a sick child, or $35 to pay a utility bill, or $120 to help make a rent payment. These families have no way to get ahead. Any money they earn and report is deducted from their AFDC grant. Most would be delighted to have a full-time job if they could find decent child care.

On Oct. 1, families on AFDC saw another cut in their benefits. A family of three with a monthly grant of almost $700 in 1990 has been reduced to about $625. If Proposition 165 passes, they will be further reduced, to $507 or $468, depending on the way the measure is interpreted. In any case, it doesn’t matter, because 165 will give the governor power to unilaterally keep reducing the grant.

What will a 25% cut do? Can agencies like ours keep up if 165 passes? Of course not. The cuts to welfare are not accompanied by increased funding for homeless agencies. We have already seen huge increases in families in need. Our budget is already stretched to the breaking point.

I have seen some desperate families in the last three years, the most desperate this year. I have seen a family living in a storage unit. I have seen hungry children eating French fries out of a dumpster. I have seen sick children whose parents could not afford the antibiotics they needed. I have seen families living without utilities. All in California. I don’t know how much more of this I can tolerate.

I am voting No on 165. For the children.