Main

Raising RI Coalition - Kick off Event - 2024-03-19

Before 2021, Rhode Island went 30 years without increasing the benefits provided through RI Works, the cash assistance, and the work-readiness program for low-income children and their families. Rep. Arthur Handy and Sen. Melissa A. Murray, who have been pushing to improve the program for years, have introduced legislation that would boost benefits and link them to the federal poverty limit so their value keeps pace with the changing economy. The legislation, which was the subject of a State House event today backed by supporters in the Raising RI Coalition, also aims to prevent needy children from losing their benefits if their parent is sanctioned and to restore eligibility to lawful permanent residents without a years-long waiting period. “No child deserves to be raised in deep poverty. RI Works is supposed to be a lifeline for children and families, but it can’t be when its rates are left to stagnate and it cuts off children for their parents’ missteps. We have fortunately made some progress in the last few years strengthening the program, but decades of nickel-and-diming it have diminished it to a point where it’s not actually capable of keeping kids from being raised in poverty. Rates and eligibility should be linked to economic reality, so RI Works can help children escape the cycle of poverty that can trap them their whole lives,” said Senator Murray (D-Dist. 24, Woonsocket, North Smithfield). “Impoverished kids should never be a political football, but that is exactly what has happened to them for decades. Since the 1990s, the focus of most changes made to RI Works has been to prevent the ‘wrong people’ from using it and to keep people from staying on it,” said Representative Handy (D-Dist. 18, Cranston). “Our focus needs to shift to fixing how we are preventing the program from actually achieving its purpose of lifting children out of poverty. All children deserve a decent chance at a healthy, successful life, and RI Works needs genuine, sustained support to provide that to those born to families living in deep poverty.” The legislation would help the families of the 5,000 Rhode Island children who receive RI Works benefits this year, and ensure cash benefits keep pace with the times by setting them at 50% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Currently, cash benefits equal only about 35% of the FPL– just $721 a month for a family of three. That family would receive $1,036 monthly if the benefits were 50% of the FPL right now. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the federal block grant, can be used to fund the proposed increase of the monthly benefit amount, the cost-of-living adjustment, and the repealing of full family sanctions. The bill would also repeal a law that punishes the whole family if a parent is sanctioned under the program. Currently, a family’s case is closed and the entire family, including children, lose the RI Works benefit if a parent is sanctioned three times during their lifetime. According to the Raising RI Coalition, sanctions harm children, fall disproportionately on parents who have significant barriers including physical and mental health challenges, limited education, and domestic violence, and do not improve program compliance. Reopening cases is an administrative burden for the Rhode Island Department of Human Services. The bill would also eliminate the five-year waiting period for immigrants with lawful permanent resident status. “Rhode Island must address the systemic issues of poverty to become a more prosperous state. There is no other option. Children in poverty — especially those who experience poverty as young children and for extended periods — are more likely to have physical and behavioral health challenges, experience hunger, have difficulty in school, become teen parents, and earn less or be unemployed as adults,” said Paige Clausius-Parks, executive director of Kids Count. “The RI Works Program is intended to serve as a safety net and workforce development program for Rhode Island’s most vulnerable children and families, but there are too many holes in this net. House Bill 7686 and Senate Bill 2337 championed by Rep. Handy and Sen. Murray can keep Rhode Island moving toward the goal of ending child poverty in Rhode Island.” In December 2022, 70% of RI Works beneficiaries were children, and 39% of the children enrolled were under the age of six. According to the 2023 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook, total expenditures for cash assistance in Rhode Island have declined steadily since the program began in 1996, and are now less than 15% of what they were in 1996. In 1996, the state spent a total of $126.5 million in state and federal funds. In 2022, the state spent just $18.6 million, all of which was federal funding. No state funding has gone to cash assistance since 2010. In 1996, the program assisted 18,428 Rhode Island families. In December 2022, only 3,101 families received cash assistance, an 83% reduction.

Steve Ahlquist

4 days ago
[Laughter] and I think we're committed to keep coming back until we can lift children out of deep poverty so we're happy to be here today my name is wona Nelson Davies I'm the executive director of the economic progress Institute along with rallan kid count and 50 plus other organizations we formed the raising RI Coalition and we're really proud um to join forces to help on improving the rhod island Works program I want to start a little bit with our why why is improving the rod Allan Works prog
ram important I've been reflecting a lot on Reverend um Dr Rend Martin Luther King Jr this year and in his last speech the night before he was assassinated he reflected on the parable of the Good Samaritan and he challenged the audience in that speech to ask a question when there are others who need our help like that person under the roadside need at the garitan help and the question is if we do not help them what would happen to them and so when we have children and families in the state of rh
od Island living in extreme deep poverty I would like us to ask ourselves that question I would like the general assembly members Governors when we are introducing bills and supporting bills when we're putting together a state budget I would like us to ask the question if we do not do something to lift Children and Families out of poverty in the state of Rhode Island what would happen to them and so we are grateful that we have legislative Champions who have asked themselves that question and ha
ve taken the charge to lead please give it up for Senator Murray and representative hany who have taken the charge to lead um this effort I would also like to recognize other legislative um Champions and sponsors who are in the room Senator aosta representative hany I already um recognized representative Bennett Senator yui fusa representative Donovan and I'm looking in the room I'm going by the list so if I don't see you I know you're here representative Cruz representative Bolan um and senator
faldi thank you all for being here and joining us today so in true Epi fashion I want to start by sharing some numbers 30 it took 30 years to increase the cash benefits from 30% of the federal poverty level to 40% in 2021 second number 35% that 40% % increase we got in 2021 is now at 35% value because of effli that's a 5% decrease $721 per month that is the cash assistance a family of three have to rely on monthly based on what they're currently receiving in the RH Island Works program we are t
alking about people who are living in deep poverty 5,000 that's the number of children who are receiving RH Island work benefits and so we the members of the rising R Coalition are back because there's still more left to be done we are here to one protect vulnerable populations from inflation and ensure that they don't do not burn um bear the burns of economic instability by increasing the monthly benefit to a mere 50% of the federal poverty level and incorporating that crucial and critical cost
of living adjustment we will be taking concrete and intentional steps to do something to help RH Islanders we are back to push for the repeal of the full family sension this is punitive and it is not based on Justice and is not based on compassion it disproportionally impact Children and Families already burdened by significant barriers we are we are back we are back to remind ourselves that legal permanent residents children and families are also rhalan residents by extending the rhalan works
benefit to LPR families we are not only upholding our values of fairness and equality but we are joining the rank of 13 other states who have done this and so we are back to ask ourself that question if we do not help the poorest in our state what will happen to them we ask that you join us we're going to be heading to the floor after this to ask ourself that question and now I would like to call my partner my friend the executive director of the rhalan kids count on paage clas Park to join me u
p here thank you aona and thank you everyone for being here this afternoon for this kickoff event I also want to thank Jessica Vega the senior policy Analyst at Rhode Island kids count there she is waving in the back and diva nir from economic progress Institute for all their hard work to get us here this afternoon so wayona started us off by asking the question why and here's why I think this is so important children in poverty it impacts all of us and none of us should talk tolerate any child
living in conditions in which they do not have the resources they need to survive and thrive children in poverty especially those who experience poverty for extended periods of time are more likely to have physical and behavioral health challenges experience hunger experience difficulty in school and earn less or be unemployed as adults children in poverty are also less likely to be enrolled in preschool more likely to attend schools that lack resources and have fewer opportunities to participat
e in extracurricular activities in December of 2022 70% of all word Island Works beneficiaries were children this is a children's program and 39% of the children enrolled in Rhode Island Works were under the age of six these are families that need our help and they are in every single city of our community with Black Island being the only exception the raising Island Coalition we are grateful to speaker Siri Senate President Regio and governor mcke for these past years of partnering with us for
improvements to Rhode Island Works however there's still some notable gaps that we must continue to work on Senate Bill 2337 by Senator Murray and House Bill 7686 by representative handy provide positive steps forward so that we can reach the goal of ending child poverty in Rhode Island this bill as you heard wh said would do three things it would protect our poorest children from inflation by increasing the monthly benefit amount to 50% of the federal poverty level and include a cost of living
adjustment it would undo the harm we're doing to our children by repealing the full family sanction and it would support the well-being of our immigrant families by restoring the eligibility to lawful permanent residents here's another reason why Rhode Island has disinvested our State dollars in Rhode Island works the total expenditures for our cash assistance program combining both our federal and our State dollars has decreased by 85% between 1996 and 2021 right now this program is 100% funded
through the federal block grant called tanif we only spend 14% of our federal block grant on cash assistance this is significantly lower than the national average of 22% and because we're no longer putting in our own money to help our families in deep poverty it causes a strain on the pain of program so critical programs like cash assistance and child care are pinned against each other creating a scarcity of resources however the reality is Rhode Island works and child care are both critically
important because they build and they sustain and support the workforce of our state we need to have both and we can have both if we invest in our families we are so thrilled that raising Rhode Island and right from the start campaign are partnered together because we understand that this cannot be one or the other we must invest in both so thank you to the right from the start campaign for joining us for our state's economy to be more prosperous we must address the systemic issues of poverty if
we want to increase the income of all Rhode Islanders we must remember all Rhode Islanders we must remember our families in poverty we must get them into work by improving our Workforce Development program like Rhode Island works I want to thank Senator Murray and representative handy for being our strong Champions year after year here and I'd like to invite Senator Murray for a few remarks thank you thank you so much Paige and I want to thank EPI and kids count and the raising Rhode Island Coa
lition which is over 50 plus organizations every year it gets larger so as you all know Rhode Island works as the state's cash assistance program for children or their and their parents or caregivers including grandparents and a work Readiness program for the adults Rhode Island Works gives parents the training and ability to become future childcare workers medical workers and other desperately needed employees it helps families get off of assistance and obtain a better quality of life it's a Li
feline for women trying to escape a domestic violence situation increasing the RH Island's work the RH Island Works benefit can break the cycle of poverty by providing parents with Education and Training opportunities leading to well-paying secure jobs and can help end deep TR poverty in our state so you know this bill protects Rhode Island Children and Families from Deep poverty and the effects of inflation by increasing the benefit amount and adding a built-in costly living adjustment that wou
ld follow increases in the federal poverty level without that cost of living increase the current and any future Investments we make will continue to lose value the bill undoes harm to children by eliminating the full family sanction which falls disproportionately on parents who have significant barriers including physical and mental health challenges limited access to Transportation or experiencing situations like domestic VI like domestic violence that may prevent them from program compliance
full family sanction due to non-compliance hurts the children of these families by no fault of their own and this bill supports the well-being of immigrant families by eliminating that 5-year waiting period for LPR residents a waiting period that was not originally included in the program that was added in 2008 so last year I offer the following scenario to my general assembly colleagues but I really think that it Bears repeating because it's something that we really need need to think about ima
gine for a moment having to live on only your general assembly stipend now imagine having to raise a child on only that stipend how about two and you're thinking well that's not possible yet the current Rhode Island Works benefit for a family of three is just $721 a month not only is it a mere half of the stien we receive it's just 35% of the federal poverty level 35% of what the federal government says you need to survive never mind Thrive and unlike Rhode Island Works families we get a cost of
living increase so three years ago we made a historic increase to this program the first in 30 years however because we did not include a cost of living adjustment for these vulnerable families much of that progress has been wiped out by inflation the effects of living in poverty on young children are significant and long lasting they're at greater risk for cognitive emotional health related problems detremental effects on Executive functioning below average academic achievement poor social emo
tional functioning developmental delays behavioral problems asthma and so much more children in poverty are more likely to have higher rates of school absenteeism and how do we expect children to learn 365 when they are hungry or cold are unsure of where their family is going to sleep that night we have $98 million of unspent tanif funds that we can in use to increase this benefit amount and I understand we want to have reserves set aside to continue benefits in the case of an emergency but how
much longer are we going to make these families wait how much longer are we going to make them languish in poverty what is the plan these children can't afford to wait another 30 years they can't afford to another 5 years these families need help now and honestly if we don't address the issue of child poverty everything else we do in this building is just AB Band-Aid it is time to adequately fund Rhode Island Works break the cycle of poverty for these kids and only we as legislators can make tha
t happen we have the funds do we have the political will who's with me now I would like to introduce representative art handy who has um introduced these bills probably longer than I for at least the past five or six years or however long it's been I I actually don't know how long it's been um so that's a bad sign I suppose for the bill um but but thank you Senator Murray and thank you for your leadership in the Senate I really think it's it's been vital to the the the the success we've had um b
ut as uh as all all the fol folks before me have said we really have still some really important work to continue to do um wono talked about that 5% number going from 40% to 35 but if you really take that and what that means that's effectively a 12 a half% cut to the amount of money those folks are getting think about if you making a lot more more likely not than than these uh these families had to deal with a 12 and a half% pay cut um that that's what we're talking about right here and so that'
s why that is it's so vital that we really get this anchored at a higher higher percentage first of all the 50% number but second that we also protect that number with the cola um it really is just a huge huge impact and and as Senator Murray had said I think that a lot of my colleagues unfortunately don't don't maybe have a full appreciation of really what we're talking about this is not these aren't big numbers we're talking about but small amounts make a big difference for folks at this kind
of a perspective um if you really look at what your real basic needs are they likely far outpace the the benefit that we're talking about right now and so then if you just take that number it it just um it's just sort of boggling if if you just take some time and really really drill in drill down into it I think folks start to appreciate it but I um but you have to take the time and do that so I urge my colleagues um whether you're watching or whether I talk to you next week when I'm going to co
ntinue to bug people about it um to really to to do that to spend a minute really think about what we're we're talking about here you know if you're talking about $9,000 a year for most of us that's an inconceivable number uh to try to live on so um something I remember I used to say when I was working on these kinds of bills was you know we're all in this together because that was a sort of phrasing that you'd hear from people trying to pull me along to do something I didn't necessarily want to
do so much and I but I think it's a really key thing um and maybe that's the the the the sort of counterweight to the to the question that we're asking is that's that's the answer to certain degrees we're all in this together we're a community um whether you know just because somebody's um not a citizen doesn't mean they're not part of our community they're not our next door they are our next door neighbors and things like that so I think it's really vital there and those some same parents that
we're using these sanctions on which by the way data doesn't demonstrate that those sanctions even really work so not only are they sort of really inappropriate and wrong in a lot of ways they're also not really demonstrated to even work these are again these are our neighbors these are our communi so we really need to step up and and make these kinds of changes um I could go on and on about it but I think I think we've already kind of gotten through those pieces but I really do fundamentally b
elieve um intellectually emotionally every which way every every that this really is a fundamental need that we have to take advantage of and as Senator Marie said I mean if we're not doing this what are we doing um so I I want to um I want to thank all of you for for for continuing to work with me be a part be have my back as I'm working on this I'm look definitely I I want to make sure I have all your backs as we're fighting for this um and I want this to be the year where're we make a win on
this um so with that I want to introduce uh Mira Morisette from the Genesis Center um who's going to uh continue to help us understand more about this problem more hi my name is Martha marisette and I am a former member of the CCAP as going through poverty and inflation and it's very wrecking on how we have to perceive being helped the least possible it will be an honor that the CCAP benefits could continue to help us and help the families because going through poverty is not something easy and
it's something like everybody has said um children go through behavioral problem problems and developmental problems and it's something that we should see that we all need help on especially all the families that are very are very in need and like I said I am very happy for all the help that I did receive back then with them and going through sanctions it was something hard having to wait for having to wait periods of time three and four months just to wait to be able to get some assistance but
it's like when you get it you're you're gasping for air and it's like it's a relief so I would be very happy if you guys could continue to help the families that are in need thank [Applause] you and unfortunately P Santiago R couldna make it today well first of all I want to thank Martha Moret for being here to speak about the r Island work [Applause] pram I think she's one of the most important person in this room who could talk about her experience so I encourage everyone to go up to her talk
to her um learn a little bit more about what she had to go through through the family sanction that no child or no family should have to go through so Pastor Santiago Rodriguez could not be here today but we have Jody from the Genesis Center who has been a huge support of the raisin R Coalition and a huge support to get Martha out here to close us out with a prayer come on up I'll stand with you thank you for coming today let us pray for the poor hungry and neglected all over the world that thei
r cries for Daily Bread May Inspire works of compassion and mercy among those to whom much has been given amen than amen okay so the moment you've all been waiting for so if you haven't got a raising Rhode Island t-shirt yet please make sure you get one beautifully designed by Jessica here um so make sure you grab a t-shirt because what we're going to do next is we're going to go out into the house floor that is where our or senate floor either one that is where our elected officials are there u
m and it's it's normal so this is normal for people to go out onto the floor and talk about the bills that really matter to them so we'll be going out and you can find folks who are there at their desk walking around Milling around and introduce yourself and you can say I'm here for the Rhode Island Works program you have your talking points the sheets were right on your um chairs there if you want to know more about the program but really you're going to talk about yourself like why is this imp
ortant to you as we to started off why do you think it's important for us to improve the Rhode Island work program how does poverty impact the children and the families that you know that you work with and your neighbors speak from the heart and let them know and say hey we really hope that you will support representative handy or Senator Murray's Bill if you see someone that has the button on that says raising Rhode Island it means they are already a co-sponsor of the bill it means they already
support it so if you see those folks it's always nice to say thank you thank you for your support they need to hear from us too so they have um you know our support so say thank you to anyone with the circle on if they don't have a circle go ahead introduce yourself they are here to hear from you okay you are not going to bother anybody don't forget they work for you and they need to hear from you and to know why this is so important okay so if you haven't gotten a t-shirt please make sure you
pick one up also on the uh chairs is a map of who who's sitting in what seat so if you want to know match names with faces you don't have to study it but some folks like us like that kind of stuff um but just go introduce yourself and have a good time okay any questions before we go off are you guys pumped oh boo here's pump all right let's do it let's go tell them all right thanks everyone [Music] he

Related articles

Comments