Less Relief, More Risk for the Single Poor

With much fanfare, our nation is undertaking one of its largest social experiments: reforming the welfare system. Another less heralded social experiment will soon be implemented: a cutback that will alter the support system for single poor adults. This quieter change threatens to jeopardize the minimal stability that some people receiving assistance have achieved.

In Los Angeles County, there are 84,000 indigent people eligible for support under the county’s General Relief program. General Relief provides a monthly grant of $212, food stamps and access to health care. In return, able-bodied individuals must perform mandatory community service. Starting in February, half of these individuals have been limited to receiving aid for five out of 12 months. If they can’t find work after five months, they will automatically lose their cash benefits and cannot reapply again for another seven months. What will happen to them?

First, it is necessary to understand who they are. Women constitute 40%; men and women over 50 make up 30%. More than 70% are African Americans and Latinos. Many live outside the downtown area.

In the past several years, there has been a concerted effort by nonprofit social services and housing providers to find housing alternatives for people with minimal incomes. Throughout Los Angeles, scores of buildings have been reclaimed to provide housing for persons with incomes below the poverty line of $7,890. However, even when the purchase and rehabilitation of structures is debt-free as a result of public financing, the incomes of people on General Relief are insufficient to cover basic operating and management costs of such housing. Without public subsidies to help cover operating costs, these clean, decent and affordable housing units are out of the reach of the extremely poor. And while some nonprofit sponsors have been successful in securing federal rental subsidies, those generally are for persons with disabilities.

Some of those affected by the cuts have physical or mental disabilities but are unable to qualify as disabled under Social Security guidelines because of misdiagnoses. Thousands of individuals currently housed in stable situations may be forced back onto the street, where the cycle of homelessness will begin again. They will face a future with little hope.

What can we do? First, as a community, we need to reinforce our investment in basic housing. Cities and the county need to provide rent subsidies for people who need additional time to find employment and for those unable to work.

We need to do all that we can to see that single people get access to job training and placement, as people with families do. At the outset, we can make sure that all parents on General Relief who do not have custody of their children are encouraged to take advantage of the new training and support services funded by $3 billion in block grants under President Clinton’s welfare-to-work initiative.

As a caring community, we must be concerned with the single poor adults who seldom appear on our public radar screen except during the holiday season. For their sake and the health of our community, we must act responsibly and we must act soon.