Here in Seattle, a poverty income means you're making too little for most housing assistance programs other than stuff like Section 8.  Section 8 is so overworked that it does lotteries randomly to pick who gets to be on its very long (think years) wait lists.  There are only 1 or 2 other programs that'll take you with a poverty level income and few buildings between them that really work if you have a physical disability - most of them "senior complexes".  Otherwise, you're at the mercy of whomever offers a rent that is, for Seattle, "cheap" and whatever they're renting - often a studio, hotel rooms are pretty popular too or living way out of town (like half way to Tacoma which means a half hour away on a good day for traffic if you're driving yourself).  The studio I'm renting, in a building with recurrent problems with stuff like drug dealers and even prostitution, has no parking, no dishwasher or garbage disposal, the security seldom works, and the laundry room only works "sometimes" is $550 and is "miraculously cheap for Seattle".  This is the sort of housing we're expected to live in here - and people get angry if someone dares lobby for more affordable housing.

This is what it has been like in many of the small towns where I've lived.  Both parents working at least 2 part time jobs - and making *just* enough to disqualify the family from any assistance but not nearly enough to honestly survive upon because it's NOT a livable wage and if the Federal Poverty Line were being accurately figured, it'd likely be a subpoverty income for their family size.  Worse, part of why it's a mish-mash of part time jobs is because that's a prime way of making sure that an employer doesn't have to offer any benefits - so the parents don't have things like sick leave or health care.  And to claim that education, particularly higher education, it realistically necessary for many of the jobs where it's a job requirement is just absurd.  You don't need a BA or BS to type any more than you need a high school diploma to flip a burger.  Everyone but the bosses seem to know this - and all the burden of the extra education does is add the costs of paying of student loans if the person bought into the idea of education beyond high school in hopes of a "good job" but without managing to get and keep one.

A livable wage and universal health CARE (note that's CARE and NOT insurance) would in combination go miles toward ending poverty for many.  Correcting how our assistance programs operate (starting with a faster and more guaranteed way to always meet one's basic food needs - something food stamps has never done) and adding a functional housing program would likely take care of it for the rest, if at the root of all that was a more accurate way to determine poverty than the current Federal Poverty Line.

But you can't blame the poor when so many jobs are designed to keep one in poverty.

Danetta, absolutely spot on!  Our assistance programs seem to be designed to assure their own continuance.  TANF allows a single Mom with 3 children approx $360 a month plus food stamps and Medicaid for the children.  She can't get to a place where she can even pay rent, utilities, childcare or transportation on $360/month!  How is she ever to become self-sustaining? 

Where I live, our Section 8 funds for new applicants have been "frozen" for months and there is an 18-24 month wait, if and when, the funds are released. 

Our county ECIP (Energy Crisis Intervention Program) funds have been reduced, making it necessary for the community action organization which manages the program to eliminate 10 county ECIP workers and require the people in crisis in these 10 counties to try to get help through the central office, which has one, very busy, phone line. 

I have heard stories of Food Stamps arbitrarily reduced (and increased) without any explanation.

With the latest increase in the minimum wage, our Experience Works programs CUT THE HOURS of the workers in order to stay within budget -- effectively wiping out any advantage of the minimum wage increase!!!!! 

I have seen clients whose Medicaid spend-down takes more than half of their monthly disability benefit, leaving them little to live on each month, but they are afraid to lose their Medicaid because of their health issues.

I don't know what can be done about these injustices to the poor.  We sit in on meetings and talk about what's wrong, but we can never get to the part of the conversation that deals with solutions. 

I am frustrated!  I search the internet for programs that seem to be working in other places, but frankly, there's not a heckofalot of good news out there.

As Leigh says, "What are we going to do?"

I have no idea what to do beyond letter writing, phone calls and rallies in the streets. 

It's like what you describe in all too many places.  Seattle holds "lotteries" to decide who gets on their Section 8 wait list - but they kind of try to keep it a secret when the lotteries will be and even when they DO hold one, it's just to get a spot on a wait list that's still YEARS long. A family, if still in the area, is likely to be bankrupt or homeless by that time unless they quickly perfect the "art" of living with half or so of their around poverty income going to rent.

DSHS (the "welfare" department here in WA) plays that food stamp game you described quite regularly.  For no reason they'll reduce your food stamps or increase them and may the Force, the Lord and any and all other higher powers be with you should you dare to question it unless you're one of the few who has a calm, rational, contact in the social worker pool who knows the laws, policies and regulations and who ideally is or is close to being a supervisor - because they're very likely to retaliate against you by playing worse games in another of the types of assistance you receive.

As to spend downs, I'm not sure about your state, but at least here in WA, you just have to prove you HAVE the bills not necessarily that you've paid them.  Might be worth checking.  Because here you can often show them the bills and get credit for the spend down while many of the providers will write off the balances as charity care if you're willing to apply for such.

Which brings us to another "welfare department game".  Did you know that there are "loopholes" that can be used for the purpose of medical assistance to declare families involving senior or disabled adults to be multiple families of one?  This is what DSHS pulled with us and while every advocacy agency we've spoken with and even CMS has said that what they've done is "ethically wrong", "at least technically a violation" and "morally reprehensible" - there's no way to fight it until someone at DSHS will admit to more than "it's policy" for WHY they did it, as in admit WHICH law or policy says they can do what they did.  So for almost the entire 3 years I've had Medicare, we've been paying my Medicare deductibles and coinsurance out of a below poverty income (as figured by the out of touch FPL) while my spouse gets full Medicaid without a spend down.  There's something really wrong with that.  But with how retaliatory DSHS can be and how desperately the health care is needed by us both, we're scared to death to fight - esp. considering that without that tidbit of info the ONLY way that MIGHT work is for someone to front the money (and an attorney) and take the matter to Federal Court, starting with a subpoena of their reasoning for the decision.

 Danetta, not to beat a dead horse, but you have put your finger right on the sore spot --- we are told that "it's policy" but you can't get to the policy-makers to find out if intent and practice are compatible and what to do if you think someone is an exception to the "policy".

If a client files an appeal, at least here where I live, she might as well walk around with a big sign saying, "TROUBLEMAKER" on her chest.  I have even been told by my superiors to "never tell a client to file an appeal", which is totally against policy! (Until last month I was employed by a non-profit agency).  Granted, my superior was just trying to protect the client from that "retaliation" you talked about --- but, yegads! it's like telling the client, "hey, suck it up, you have no recourse!"  I just find that very hard to do.

Anyway, thanks for participating in this thread with me --- and I'm going to look into the spend-down issue, so thanks for the tip.  We are organizing some meetings here with our senior and disabled citizens to talk about spend-down and I appreciate the input.