In Response

[mandarae85]

I'm giving up facebook for Lent. I waste way too much time on it. Time that could be better spent elsewhere. Lent is like New Year's though. Unless you are giving things up for the right reasons, then it is a rather meaningless gesture. But, I try to give things up at Lent that are a regular, but unnecessary, part of my life so that when I want to

Comments

from the viewpoint of a Hamilton County Job & Family Services worker...

[anonymous]

I've been avoiding this because I feel I am not as well informed in terms of research as others might be, but I consider myself to be more informed than most when it comes to real life application of this

a few more details

[anonymous]

I took a few minutes and did some counting of some of my current cases:

- 10 cases
- 26 adults in 19 different homes/locations caring for 34 children
- 5 of them have a job
- 4 of those five have a full-time job
- None of them are working for minimum wage

Of those 4 individuals working full time, they consist of two married couples who are caring for grandchildren/nieces/nephews and they are not on any form of welfare. The other individual who works is an 18 year old mom who is still living with her father who is receiving assistance so she doesn't qualify herself.

So, the individuals who are working are not on welfare. The individuals who don't work all receive some form of welfare (food stamps, SSI, Section 8, cash assistance, etc)

-Anna

Re: a few more details

[anonymous]

How do these people slip through the system? What is it they say that fools the government, when clearly the people working for the government are not fooled?

Also, in your professional opinion, how many of these welfare cases are legit? I know nothing about this area, and I want to learn.

-Zach S

Re: a few more details

[anonymous]

These people aren't slipping through the system, they know the rules and they're playing by them. It's the rules that are the problem. I don't work directly in any of the programs that provide these services, but I work WITH those people, and they have no control over things, they're given a set of guidelines that they must follow and they do, even though they often know things aren't right.

I do not feel comfortable answering the question about how many cases are legit because of the fact that I don't work directly in that system. I'll try asking around with some of the people who do work in it and see what kind of answer I can get.

-Anna

I DO know that there are legit cases, there are people who just need some help in a tough time, they're having trouble getting back on their feet. In just the same way as in Children's Services, not all of my cases are families who have directly and purposely abused their kids, it's sometimes families who know they can meet the needs of their children and call asking for help.

[anonymous]

Amanda

[mandarae85]

I don't think you hate poor people. I don't think that at all, and I'm sorry if that is the implication you got from my words.
If you go back to my original post and reread it, you will see that the whole point behind my post was that I wish people would actually SEE other people.
Whether it's true or not, when you speak or write about certain things, this included, you come across as being so well studied in it that you have gotten lost in the academic or political aspects and have forgotten or neglected the human aspect. I was simply expressing my frustrations with that, because in reality we are arguing on different planes.
So, I'm sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean to.

[anonymous]

Amanda,

Don't worry, you didn't offend me. I was pretty sure what you meant to say, but it's always good to clarify.

And I appreciate the feedback...I would really like to be able to present my ideas in such a way that people don't have to question whether I really care about the poor or not. After all, I really do think there are better ways to help them, and that's what I'm trying to figure out how to explain.

- Ryan