For the sake of the children, let’s not balance the budget on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens. If we are looking at this as strictly a money issue, the purported $200,000 savings that will deny children and families vital social services will end up costing society and taxpayers much more in the long run.
In an article in yesterday’s Brattleboro Reformer, Howard Weiss-Tisman detailed the impact to child and youth care services if the state’s projected budget cuts go through.
Windham Childcare Association Executive Director Sadie Fischesser traveled to Montpelier last week to try to save 12 financial assistance counseling positions across the state.
At the same time social services agencies across the state are crying out for support, Governor Douglas touted a new plan involving technologies that take the human factor out of human services.
I have been a Vermont foster parent, and I continue to work on legal cases involving children. The families with whom I work need the one-on-one connection with a counselor. They need support and direction.
The change is expected to save about $200,000 and Fischesser said the change would set back early child care.
“To make the system work families have to know how to access funding,” Fischesser said.
The state has already eliminated some positions and opened up a phone bank for other services, but Fischesser said there have been problems.
I know there are problems. One of my cases this year involves a grandmother and her 3-year-old granddaughter. Getting any social services aid has been challenging. Getting legal help was impossible since Have Justice Will Travel lost its grant in the southern part of the state. If some of my clients have a cell phone, they certainly do not have the money to stay on hold indefinitely and with their hourly-wage jobs actually have no time to call let alone understand the maze of systems one must negotiate to get counseling, assistance, and necessary court representation. People need real one-on-one assistance and direction, not an automated system that takes that help one step further away.
While families are crying in need, the Governor Promotes Dept for Children and Families’ New Benefits Center.
According to the Douglas administration press release
Waterbury, VT- Governor Jim Douglas is encouraging Vermonters to use the Department for Children and Families’ (DCF) new Benefits Service Center and interactive website to access benefits such as 3SquaresVT (formerly food stamps), fuel assistance, health insurance, and phone assistance.
“You can call 1-800-479-6151 or go to myBenefits.vt.gov to find out about available benefits, track your application, and access information about your case,” said Governor Douglas. “And you can do all this when it’s most convenient for you – during the day, at night, or on weekends. Starting in June of this year, you will also be able to apply for benefits online.”
The counselors meet with parents who are trying to access different state programs, and the Douglas administration has suggested replacing the counselors with a phone bank.
The clients I see and talk to need more not less. More service now means that a child is well cared for, has adequate food and housing and is therefore able to focus and learn in school. I spent almost 10 years teaching teenagers who seemed unable to succeed academically. In every case, something happened to them in elementary school so that these children did not learn to read. As they got older they acted out and many had significant disciplinary issues. Teaching them to read changed their lives, even those who had some trouble with the law.
If we don’t look at the morality of taking away vital services from innocent children, then let’s look at the tax burden of fighting crime. Incarceration costs $75,000 for every woman and $45,000 for every man. My five years as a newspaper journalist and police reporter showed the revolving door. Investing our tax dollars now in vital family services to our most vulnerable will save significant money later. The Governor likes to be seen as tough on crime. How tough is it to cut vital services and set up a pattern that will most likely drive people further into a hand to mouth existence. Cutting one-on-one support, changing it to internet and phone banking makes these services out of reach to those who need them most.
It is worth noting that the DCF online benefit application feature will not be available until sometime in June.
Also, and it’s almost funny that the governor’s online press release doesn’t have a live link to the new website he was touting.
Thank you, Maggie, for your wise input, as usual. I think the key to Maggie’s comments is that they are informed by experience. Many times, those who dream up solutions to problems have never experienced the point of view of the folks involved in the programs that are deemed problems to be solved. (I have been guilty of this myself.)
I do not reject the need to do some things differently nor do I dispute that there are limits to what Vermonters can afford. Yet, we must be careful that “sweet” technological solutions can cut both ways: they can make an experience better but they can also erect new barriers to participation.
Case in point: I recently tried to help a relative apply to the State for health insurance. This individual came to me with the application form, and I found it confusing, non-intuitive and, well, frustrating. I could be of no help, and I am a pretty literate and experienced individual. Eventually, this relative found a very humane and experienced person who works for the self-insurance arm of a major health care provider. This person assisted in completion of the form and commented, “You know, I am in the health insurance business and I find this confusing.”
Sometimes, technology helps and sometimes it hurts. For instance, in the private sector, contrast the self-help experience of Amazon with the unbelievable “hair ball” offered by the airlines. At the State level, there was a time when dealing with DMV was one of the most frustrating experiences imaginable. Yet, the other day I had to get a duplicate registration, and instead of waiting in line, I used the self-service kiosk. It was a breeze.
Technology, despite what many assert, is never neutral. An 800 number or a website can improve services or it can undermine them. Plus, we have to be careful that the illusion of a technological fix is not simply a propaganda device to undermine program delivery.
That health insurance application is a simple technology: pen and paper. Yet, its structure can be a barrier to participation: People get confused and give up. And, I might never have believed it unless I had actually seen it.
I found the sprightly announcement in the paper chilling, to say the least.
Is that they can’t make a racket the way a corporation with a lobbyist and an ad budget can.
Tuesday, one of the governor’s employees was on the Mark Johnson show explaining how sick leave hurts America. A caller pointed out that his taxpayer funded job had sick leave as a benefit, but that didn’t phase Douglas’ guy one bit.
We should make the threat that any candidate who does not stand up for people will face a budget where all state employees paid over Vt median income will get no sick leave or health care from the taxpayers. Let them show us how it’s done!