One of our organizational goals is to move toward the day, as quickly as possible, when the minimum wage inside Central Dallas Ministries is a "living wage."
But, what exactly does that mean in real dollars?
Often, in such discussions, people will throw out a range of $12-$15 an hour.
John Greenan, Executive Director of the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, sent me a link to what follows as it appeared on Aaron M. Renn's provocative blog, Urbanophile.
Poverty is complicated when you are living in its midst. Poverty is awfully hard to escape, harder than the vast majority of Americans can even begin to understand.
What follows should give us great pause.
Megan Cottrell: Don’t Fall in the Poverty Trap – You May Never Get Out
[ Megan Cottrell's One Story Up blog might be one of the most important in the United States. It is certainly a must-read for anyone in Chicago. She covers housing and poverty, two un-glamorous subjects that have all but been abandoned by newspapers. These aren't topics beloved of urbanist blogs either, but they are critical to understanding our cities and building successful lives for all citizens. As Megan notes, the phenomenon she describes affects up to 40% of all Chicagoans. I encourage you to check out her work. ]
Until you earn about $40,000 a year, you’re pretty much stuck in poverty, an economist’s numbers show.
In fact, until you get past $40,000 a year, any raise or higher paying job you get might actually sink you deeper into poverty.
Take a look at this story from economist Jeff Liebman, who now works in the Obama Administration.
The poverty trap is still very much a reality in the U.S.
A woman called me out of the blue last week and told me her self-sufficiency counselor had suggested she get in touch with me. She had moved from a $25,000 a year job to a $35,000 a year job, and suddenly she couldn’t make ends meet any more. I told her I didn’t know what I could do for her, but agreed to meet with her. She showed me all her pay stubs, etc. She really did come out behind by several hundred dollars a month. She lost free health insurance and instead had to pay $230 a month for her employer-provided health insurance. Her rent associated with her section 8 voucher went up by 30% of the income gain (which is the rule). She lost the ($280 a month) subsidized child care voucher she had for after-school care for her child. She lost around $1600 a year of the EITC. She paid payroll tax on the additional income. Finally, the new job was in Boston, and she lived in a suburb. So now she has $300 a month of additional gas and parking charges. She asked me if she should go back to earning $25,000.
To continue reading and to view a very revealing graph, click here.
Showing posts with label Texas public policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas public policy. Show all posts
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Friday, April 24, 2009
Secession
Texas Governor Rick Perry got everyone fired up last week at a tax day "tea party." You can read The Dallas Morning News report on the event and the Governor's involvement in it here.
Talk about something that makes you go "hmmmm"?
The last time a state leader talked about secession was right before the Civil War when South Carolina took steps to lead the entire South out of the Union. The breach in the fabric of the Republic that followed in 1861 had been preceded in 1832 by the so-called Nullification Crisis, a conflict based largely on differences of opinion about federal protective tariffs and economic policy at the time, with a obvious connection to the institution of slavery.
I'm wondering how this talk of and sympathy for secession as a state fits into any guidelines for "how to be patriotic" as citizens at the beginning of the 21st century?
It also seems most curious, but possibly not so outlandish on second thought, when one considers how the State of Texas ranks on "quality of life" issues for those at the bottom of the economy.
I understand that Jay Leno had some fun at our Governor's expense last week (watch the monologue here). No doubt a sure sign that Mr. Perry has made the "big time" on the national political stage!
Ain't politics something?
This post is dedicated to the memory of Morris Franklin James (April 24, 1920-December 16, 2007). We love you, daddy. Rest in peace.
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Monday, March 30, 2009
Housing Trust Fund for Texas--new hope!
The Texas Legislature will likely consider a positive and dramatic expansion of the state's Housing Trust Fund. Currently, Texas places a meagre $5.8 million annually into the fund. Now Senator Royce West and Representative Yvonne Davis have drafted bills that would establish a flat document recording fee of $10 on real estate transfer/sale documents. Such a fee would generate an estimated $30 million (conservative estimate) annually to the Housing Trust Fund.
The Housing Trust Fund makes funding available for the development of much needed affordable housing for low-income families in Texas. Those of us who work in the field of affordable housing recognize the pressing need for these funds and, even more, for the creation of a steady, sustainable stream of funding for this important purpose.
Unfortunately and, in my view, inexplicably, Texas realtors oppose even this small fee increase that would fund this important work. Housing Texas provided the following page of "myth and fact" about the pending legislation relative to this important issue.
Review what follows and then contact your state senator and representative to express your support for the legislation:
THE HOUSING TRUST FUND--REALTORS’ ARGUMENTS: MYTH AND FACT
Myth: The Housing Trust Fund bills before the Texas Legislature (S.B. 950 and H.B. 3163)
will create a “real estate transfer tax” on home sales.
Fact: S.B. 950 and H.B. 3163 will establish a flat document recording fee of just $10 on the first page of real estate documents. THIS IS NOT A TAX.
Myth: The proposed document recording fee will add to the cost of housing, and keep low income families from affording homes.
Fact: A $10 fee is minor compared to thousands of dollars in existing fees on real estate
transactions. It should not be the determining factor in whether a family can afford a home.
When compared to the average realtors’ fees on a home sale, $10 is minuscule. (If it is enough to make our break a home sale for a family, they clearly are not financially prepared to purchase a home.) The average real estate agent commission on the sale of a $200,000 home is $10,000 (based on a 5% commission rate). In addition, “administrative” fees and another $3,975 in title and closing costs bring total fees on the transaction to over $14,000.23.
Myth: The Housing Trust Fund is bad for realtors’ business.
Fact: Not only is the Housing Trust Funds a major economic stimulant that spurs additional private investment, adds to the tax base and creates local jobs, but it is actually good for realtors’ business. If funded at $30 million per year, the Housing Trust Fund could provide home buyer assistance to 3,000 households who otherwise may not be in the market to buy a home. Assuming the homes are resold every even years, realtors could generate over $64 million in realtors’ commissions over the next 30 years. This figure is based on the statewide, average loan of $108,231 for homes purchased under the home buyer assistance program, not factoring in likely home appreciation.
With $30 million per year, the Trust Fund could provide owner occupied home repair to 1,000 households, elevating the value of these homes by an average of 250 percent. Assuming a modest initial home value of $60,000, values would be increased by $90,000, or a total increase of $90 million for all homes repaired with Housing Trust Fund dollars. In resale, this would represent $4.5 million in realtors’ commissions.
Myth: Realtors are always opposed to generating revenue for housing trust funds from the real estate industry.
Fact: Individual realtors have endorsed the Texas Housing Trust Fund Campaign and housing trust fund campaigns in other states.
.
The Housing Trust Fund makes funding available for the development of much needed affordable housing for low-income families in Texas. Those of us who work in the field of affordable housing recognize the pressing need for these funds and, even more, for the creation of a steady, sustainable stream of funding for this important purpose.
Unfortunately and, in my view, inexplicably, Texas realtors oppose even this small fee increase that would fund this important work. Housing Texas provided the following page of "myth and fact" about the pending legislation relative to this important issue.
Review what follows and then contact your state senator and representative to express your support for the legislation:
THE HOUSING TRUST FUND--REALTORS’ ARGUMENTS: MYTH AND FACT
Myth: The Housing Trust Fund bills before the Texas Legislature (S.B. 950 and H.B. 3163)
will create a “real estate transfer tax” on home sales.
Fact: S.B. 950 and H.B. 3163 will establish a flat document recording fee of just $10 on the first page of real estate documents. THIS IS NOT A TAX.
Myth: The proposed document recording fee will add to the cost of housing, and keep low income families from affording homes.
Fact: A $10 fee is minor compared to thousands of dollars in existing fees on real estate
transactions. It should not be the determining factor in whether a family can afford a home.
When compared to the average realtors’ fees on a home sale, $10 is minuscule. (If it is enough to make our break a home sale for a family, they clearly are not financially prepared to purchase a home.) The average real estate agent commission on the sale of a $200,000 home is $10,000 (based on a 5% commission rate). In addition, “administrative” fees and another $3,975 in title and closing costs bring total fees on the transaction to over $14,000.23.
Myth: The Housing Trust Fund is bad for realtors’ business.
Fact: Not only is the Housing Trust Funds a major economic stimulant that spurs additional private investment, adds to the tax base and creates local jobs, but it is actually good for realtors’ business. If funded at $30 million per year, the Housing Trust Fund could provide home buyer assistance to 3,000 households who otherwise may not be in the market to buy a home. Assuming the homes are resold every even years, realtors could generate over $64 million in realtors’ commissions over the next 30 years. This figure is based on the statewide, average loan of $108,231 for homes purchased under the home buyer assistance program, not factoring in likely home appreciation.
With $30 million per year, the Trust Fund could provide owner occupied home repair to 1,000 households, elevating the value of these homes by an average of 250 percent. Assuming a modest initial home value of $60,000, values would be increased by $90,000, or a total increase of $90 million for all homes repaired with Housing Trust Fund dollars. In resale, this would represent $4.5 million in realtors’ commissions.
Myth: Realtors are always opposed to generating revenue for housing trust funds from the real estate industry.
Fact: Individual realtors have endorsed the Texas Housing Trust Fund Campaign and housing trust fund campaigns in other states.
.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Nonsense: Lost retail dollars in the midst of our economic crisis
Getting purchasing power into the hands of the residents of Dallas County sounds like a fairly good thing to do these days. It sure seems that way to me.
This fact led me to check in on my friends at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to gather some financial data on the state's adminisitration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) here in Dallas County. (Brief aside: it is interesting that the State of Texas doesn't use the program's correct name in reporting its own numbers in administering the benefit to Texans--evidently in Texas we call it "Food Stamps").
Here's what I found.
For March 2009. Dallas County reported out 105,691 SNAP households representing 258,122 individuals. The average benefit per month turned out to be $277. Assuming that the program will function at about this level for the year, Dallas County participants will receive $351,316,884 to spend on groceries at local grocery markets across the county.
Officials estimate that only 67% of eligible Texans receive the SNAP benefit to which they are entitled. If you apply this estimate to Dallas County (an extremely conservative approach to this research question), it means that 157,748 households are eligible for the benefit, but 52,056 households are not taking advantage of the opportunity.
Put in retail buying power terms, Dallas County will miss out on $173,036,674 that could flow through our depressed economy at a time when every dollar counts.
The manner in which the Texas Health and Human Services Commission administers the SNAP initiative should be brought under review by the Texas Legislature.
Leave the poor aside for a moment.
Thanks right!
Forget the poor children (all 153,510 of them who were served in March 2009).
Forget the senior citizens (all 16,543 of them served this month).
Just think of the loss to area food retail and wholesale stores this month and over the course of the year!
Afterall, $173,036,674 is not "chump change." Just ask the manager at your grocery store next time you are there.
How foolish can we be?
(To check out the data, go here.)
Credit where credit is due: thanks to my friends in Austin at the Center for Public Policy Priorities and to Senior Policy Analyst, Celia Hagert in particular for this post.
.
This fact led me to check in on my friends at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to gather some financial data on the state's adminisitration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) here in Dallas County. (Brief aside: it is interesting that the State of Texas doesn't use the program's correct name in reporting its own numbers in administering the benefit to Texans--evidently in Texas we call it "Food Stamps").
Here's what I found.
For March 2009. Dallas County reported out 105,691 SNAP households representing 258,122 individuals. The average benefit per month turned out to be $277. Assuming that the program will function at about this level for the year, Dallas County participants will receive $351,316,884 to spend on groceries at local grocery markets across the county.
Officials estimate that only 67% of eligible Texans receive the SNAP benefit to which they are entitled. If you apply this estimate to Dallas County (an extremely conservative approach to this research question), it means that 157,748 households are eligible for the benefit, but 52,056 households are not taking advantage of the opportunity.
Put in retail buying power terms, Dallas County will miss out on $173,036,674 that could flow through our depressed economy at a time when every dollar counts.
The manner in which the Texas Health and Human Services Commission administers the SNAP initiative should be brought under review by the Texas Legislature.
Leave the poor aside for a moment.
Thanks right!
Forget the poor children (all 153,510 of them who were served in March 2009).
Forget the senior citizens (all 16,543 of them served this month).
Just think of the loss to area food retail and wholesale stores this month and over the course of the year!
Afterall, $173,036,674 is not "chump change." Just ask the manager at your grocery store next time you are there.
How foolish can we be?
(To check out the data, go here.)
Credit where credit is due: thanks to my friends in Austin at the Center for Public Policy Priorities and to Senior Policy Analyst, Celia Hagert in particular for this post.
.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Friday, July 11, 2008
Amazing new resource
The Center for Public Policy Priorities sent me a link to an amazing new tool for calculating the impact of "work supports," those public program benefits designed to assist hard working, low-income people, such as child care assistance, health insurance, the Earned Income Credit, food stamps and other public resources.
The "Texas Family Resource Simulator" will allow you to find out and create customized graphs illustrating how family resources and expenses change as earnings increase, taking into account public benefits.
A project of the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University, with help from the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the tool is very enlightening.
Check it out at www.nccp.org/tools/frs.
To learn more about the Center for Public Policy Priorities, visit http://www.cppp.org/.
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The "Texas Family Resource Simulator" will allow you to find out and create customized graphs illustrating how family resources and expenses change as earnings increase, taking into account public benefits.
A project of the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University, with help from the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the tool is very enlightening.
Check it out at www.nccp.org/tools/frs.
To learn more about the Center for Public Policy Priorities, visit http://www.cppp.org/.
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Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Can't we beat this???
States can be a lot like people. Operating philosophies produce certain results. Neglect tends toward tragedy and amazingly disturbing outcomes.
Here's how bad things are in Texas these days: The Dallas Morning News ran a multi-page, feature report in its Points section last Sunday with the headline, "The bottom line" (December 23, 2007, 1P, 4-10P) chronicling the social nightmare that is playing out in the overly proud Lone Star State.
Want a study in the extended consequences of "trickle down," laissez-faire public policy?
Come to Texas.
The state is a model of how not to do it in just about every category related to the prevention and relief of human suffering and societal injustice. Talk about the power of a system gone wrong.
Here's how the editorial board of paper leads the story:
"Hidden among Texas' great abundance--the booming businesses and mega-malls--are statistics that all of us would just as soon ignore. But the state can't afford to forget the faces behind those numbers. . . . No liberal blog or legislator is spinning these numbers. In fact, they aren't even new. They are simply compiled from statistics published by sources including the Texas state comptroller's office, the U. S. Census Bureau and other government agencies. . . . Looking at the statistics, it's almost impossible to comprehend how a state with such a healthy bottom line has crashed to the bottom in so many social areas. How many lives must be ruined before we get the picture?"
Consider the facts, just the facts, about Texas:
Here's how bad things are in Texas these days: The Dallas Morning News ran a multi-page, feature report in its Points section last Sunday with the headline, "The bottom line" (December 23, 2007, 1P, 4-10P) chronicling the social nightmare that is playing out in the overly proud Lone Star State.
Want a study in the extended consequences of "trickle down," laissez-faire public policy?
Come to Texas.
The state is a model of how not to do it in just about every category related to the prevention and relief of human suffering and societal injustice. Talk about the power of a system gone wrong.
Here's how the editorial board of paper leads the story:
"Hidden among Texas' great abundance--the booming businesses and mega-malls--are statistics that all of us would just as soon ignore. But the state can't afford to forget the faces behind those numbers. . . . No liberal blog or legislator is spinning these numbers. In fact, they aren't even new. They are simply compiled from statistics published by sources including the Texas state comptroller's office, the U. S. Census Bureau and other government agencies. . . . Looking at the statistics, it's almost impossible to comprehend how a state with such a healthy bottom line has crashed to the bottom in so many social areas. How many lives must be ruined before we get the picture?"
Consider the facts, just the facts, about Texas:
- A child is born in poverty every 7 minutes
- A child is abused or neglected every 10 minutes
- First in teen births and the most repeat teen births in the U. S.
- 25% of Texas' children are born into poverty
- 49th in the number of working poor (that is, Texas is second in the number of people who work and remain poor)
- $14,700--the average annual income of the poorest 20% of Texas families
- $203,200--average annual income of the richest 5% of Texas families (13.8 times as high as the poorest 20%)
- 16% of Texans live with hunger or in fear of starvation, just ahead of New Mexico and Mississippi
- 48th in the nation in state and local government expenditures for public welfare--$808 per capita
- Second highest Gross Domestic Product in the U. S.
- Number 1 in cancerous emissions into the air and toxic chemicals into the water.
- Ranks 50th in the number of insured people in the nation--5.5 million Texans are not covered by health insurance or 24% of the population (compared to 15.7% for the U. S.)
- 1st in the U. S. in executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976
- 2nd highest incarceration rate
- 60% of children under Texas Youth Commission supervision come from low-income families
- 83% of these children have IQs below 100
- 41% experience serious mental health issues
- 52% come from families with a history of criminal behavior
- 76% have parents who are separated or never married
- 34% of Texas high school students drop out--8th highest in the U. S.
- 49th in verbal SAT scores and 46th in math
- Texas ranks 41st in per capita spending on students in public schools, compared to 25th in 1999. [Did I hear someone say, "No child left behind"?]
- 8th largest GDP in the world--$1.1 trillion in 2006
- 1st in number of shopping malls in the nation
- 12th in church or synagogue attendance
Not a pretty picture.
If I'm a Texas preacher today, I figure I have a few things to bring up with my congregation.
If I'm a Texas legislator, after I take a long look at myself in the mirror, I figure I've got a few things to work on.
If I'm a citizen of the state, and I am, I figure I need to be engaged at several levels.
.Thursday, April 26, 2007
Real World
At times our conversations and debates concerning public policy leave us "stuck" in abstractions and theoretical concerns. After all, most of us here have the luxury of conversation about what are, for millions of other people, matters of life and death, literally.
Just this week I received a comprehensive report from the Children's Defense Fund of Texas (CDF) on how Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) work or, in far too many cases, don't work in Texas ("In Harm's Way: True Stories of Uninsured Texas Children").
The format of CDF's report is brilliant.
Woven among the typical statistical analysis provided by such reports are the stories of real life people--men, women, children and families. These stories make the report "live."
Issues addressed include matters of recertification, income limits, delays in the process, impact of the value of owned vehicles, etc. Basically, the report educates us about what consumers of these insurance products already know all too well: they are not set up to serve the most in the best manner. Attepmts to contain costs by erecting barriers to useage can prove to be deadly.
The report is dedicated to the memory of Devante Johnson.
Here's his story as told by the CDF report:
Thirteen-year-old Devante Johnson had advanced kidney cancer and could not afford to be without health care coverage. But last year, that is exactly what happened, when Devante spent four desperate months uninsured while his mother tried to renew his Medicaid coverage.
For years, Devante and his two younger brothers were covered by Medicaid. Texas families who qualify for Medicaid or CHIP are required to renew their coverage every six months, and Devante's mother, Tamika, had tired to get a head start by sending in her paperwork two months before Medicaid was set to expire.
The application sat for six weeks until it was processed and transferred to CHIP, because an employee believed their family no longer qualified for Medicaid. At that point the paperwork got lost in the system. Tamika grew more and more desperate as she watched her son get worse. "I did everything I possibly could," Tamika said. "I would literally get off the phone in tears, crying because they [CHIP employees] frustrated me so much."
For four months, Devante went without health insurance as employees unsuccessfully attempted to reinstate his coverage. As a result, he could no longer receive regular treatment and had to rely on clinical trials for care. Meanwhile, his tumors grew. Time was running out.
It wasn't until a state representative intervened that Devante's coverage was immediately reinstated. Two days later, Devante was able to start a promising new treatment. But, it was too late.
Devante Johnson died on March 1, 2007.
____________________
The "bottom line" of the CDF report on Texas is very simple and straightforward. Every child in the state who is uninsured should be enrolled in either Medicaid or CHIP today. Making this policy decision is smart for children and for every Texas taxpayer.
Beyond being smart, such a strategy is the right, just and compassionate thing to do.
[Read and/or download the full report at: http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/
DocServer/InHarmsWay.pdf?docID=3961.]
Just this week I received a comprehensive report from the Children's Defense Fund of Texas (CDF) on how Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) work or, in far too many cases, don't work in Texas ("In Harm's Way: True Stories of Uninsured Texas Children").
The format of CDF's report is brilliant.
Woven among the typical statistical analysis provided by such reports are the stories of real life people--men, women, children and families. These stories make the report "live."
Issues addressed include matters of recertification, income limits, delays in the process, impact of the value of owned vehicles, etc. Basically, the report educates us about what consumers of these insurance products already know all too well: they are not set up to serve the most in the best manner. Attepmts to contain costs by erecting barriers to useage can prove to be deadly.
The report is dedicated to the memory of Devante Johnson.
Here's his story as told by the CDF report:
Thirteen-year-old Devante Johnson had advanced kidney cancer and could not afford to be without health care coverage. But last year, that is exactly what happened, when Devante spent four desperate months uninsured while his mother tried to renew his Medicaid coverage.
For years, Devante and his two younger brothers were covered by Medicaid. Texas families who qualify for Medicaid or CHIP are required to renew their coverage every six months, and Devante's mother, Tamika, had tired to get a head start by sending in her paperwork two months before Medicaid was set to expire.
The application sat for six weeks until it was processed and transferred to CHIP, because an employee believed their family no longer qualified for Medicaid. At that point the paperwork got lost in the system. Tamika grew more and more desperate as she watched her son get worse. "I did everything I possibly could," Tamika said. "I would literally get off the phone in tears, crying because they [CHIP employees] frustrated me so much."
For four months, Devante went without health insurance as employees unsuccessfully attempted to reinstate his coverage. As a result, he could no longer receive regular treatment and had to rely on clinical trials for care. Meanwhile, his tumors grew. Time was running out.
It wasn't until a state representative intervened that Devante's coverage was immediately reinstated. Two days later, Devante was able to start a promising new treatment. But, it was too late.
Devante Johnson died on March 1, 2007.
____________________
The "bottom line" of the CDF report on Texas is very simple and straightforward. Every child in the state who is uninsured should be enrolled in either Medicaid or CHIP today. Making this policy decision is smart for children and for every Texas taxpayer.
Beyond being smart, such a strategy is the right, just and compassionate thing to do.
[Read and/or download the full report at: http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/
DocServer/InHarmsWay.pdf?docID=3961.]
Monday, April 23, 2007
God stuff in the State Capitol
They're at it again in Austin.
You can read all about it in yesterday's edition of The Dallas Morning News ( "One State Under God," by Karen Brooks, A1, Sunday, April 22, 2007).
Defending God and "His values" can be tough work in such a secular place as Texas and in such a "godless environment" as the halls of our state house, right? Serious business protecting the "In God We Trust" and "under God" heritage of the Lone Star state.
But, never fear, God's cause has lots of help from lots of courageous warriors this session!
Why, this session has produced bills dealing with offering Bible classes and prayer in public schools and declarations of the state's faith in public places. On more than one occasion, members of the legislature have risen to proclaim and affirm Texas' unshakable commitment to Judeo-Christian values, while, on at least one occasion, protesting the involvement of a Muslim cleric who had been invited to offer a prayer in the Senate chamber.
I always find these debates and such efforts curious and a bit amusing.
Curious, because the lawmakers shouting the loudest for keeping God and the values of our Judeo-Christian heritage at the center of the public square are also those most opposed to extending justice, opportunity and assistance to the poor, the weak and the marginalized--actions and policies that are central hallmarks of the faith of both Jews and Christians through the centuries (as in "Judeo-Christian values").
Any careful study of the voting records of many of our legislators comparing their stances on "values issues" with their votes on major, social policy matters, such as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or Medicaid or prison reform or any number of Health and Human Services issues, undoubtedly would reveal an inverse correlation.
Amusing, because those making the most noise for God don't seem to know what God cares about most.
You can read all about it in yesterday's edition of The Dallas Morning News ( "One State Under God," by Karen Brooks, A1, Sunday, April 22, 2007).
Defending God and "His values" can be tough work in such a secular place as Texas and in such a "godless environment" as the halls of our state house, right? Serious business protecting the "In God We Trust" and "under God" heritage of the Lone Star state.
But, never fear, God's cause has lots of help from lots of courageous warriors this session!
Why, this session has produced bills dealing with offering Bible classes and prayer in public schools and declarations of the state's faith in public places. On more than one occasion, members of the legislature have risen to proclaim and affirm Texas' unshakable commitment to Judeo-Christian values, while, on at least one occasion, protesting the involvement of a Muslim cleric who had been invited to offer a prayer in the Senate chamber.
I always find these debates and such efforts curious and a bit amusing.
Curious, because the lawmakers shouting the loudest for keeping God and the values of our Judeo-Christian heritage at the center of the public square are also those most opposed to extending justice, opportunity and assistance to the poor, the weak and the marginalized--actions and policies that are central hallmarks of the faith of both Jews and Christians through the centuries (as in "Judeo-Christian values").
Any careful study of the voting records of many of our legislators comparing their stances on "values issues" with their votes on major, social policy matters, such as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or Medicaid or prison reform or any number of Health and Human Services issues, undoubtedly would reveal an inverse correlation.
Amusing, because those making the most noise for God don't seem to know what God cares about most.
Here's one for the books. One bill introduced in this session would ban chemical dependency treatment clinics within 1,000 feet of a church. The same bill bans prostitution within that same distance from a house of worship.
Hmmmm. Maybe I misunderstood the real meaning and purpose of faith, the Torah and the Gospel. Who is protecting who from whom?
Hmmmm. Maybe I misunderstood the real meaning and purpose of faith, the Torah and the Gospel. Who is protecting who from whom?
Such a bill would make it less convenient for church goers to visit their family members recovering in such facilities!
As for prostitution, I thought that was against the law in Texas already? And, never mind that Jesus would have welcomed such women to his table and inside his band of merry disciples. And by the way, why wouldn't a church consider housing a drug treatment center?
Of course, politicians simply reflect the will and worldview of their constituents. And that is the problem. It's not the legislators that are the main issue--though a bit of independent leadership would be refreshing.
Here's the issue: Somehow lots of church folks have missed the major point of the faith.
Of course, politicians simply reflect the will and worldview of their constituents. And that is the problem. It's not the legislators that are the main issue--though a bit of independent leadership would be refreshing.
Here's the issue: Somehow lots of church folks have missed the major point of the faith.
Throughout the Bible, it is very clear that caring for the poor, the weak, the alien and the oppressed is much more important to God, and those who speak for God, than are personal expressions of religious devotion. In fact, according the Bible, such expressions of faith are always considered hypocritical and counterproductive in view of how the poor are treated by people who claim to be devoted to God.
In view of the clear ethical and moral priorities of the holy writings of Judaism and Christianity, and considering the nature and opportunities afforded us in our constitutional democracy, every value proposition related to personal piety and religious devotion would be best left to individuals to apply as conscience directs.
At the same time, those values relating to the quality of life we craft together as a state community should be worked out in the public square to the benefit of the weakest and most needy among us. Such would be the response of a faith-filled state.
People of faith are not called to fight the world or withdraw from it or shut it out or despise it. My faith tells me we are called to love it, serve it and welcome it to a God of love, light, hope and joy.
In my view, when people of faith walk in the way of the faith, there will be no need for publicly endorsed prayers, school-sponsored Bible study (unless it is as literature) or religious statements etched in stone or carved in wood.
People of faith are not called to fight the world or withdraw from it or shut it out or despise it. My faith tells me we are called to love it, serve it and welcome it to a God of love, light, hope and joy.
In my view, when people of faith walk in the way of the faith, there will be no need for publicly endorsed prayers, school-sponsored Bible study (unless it is as literature) or religious statements etched in stone or carved in wood.
Our lives will be our sermons and everyone we seek to influence will hear us loud and clear without even a word being uttered.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Nourishing Our Children: a "pro-quality-of-life" movement
Rev. Gerald Britt serves as Vice President of Public Policy and Community Program Development here at Central Dallas Ministries.
On Saturday, March 3, 2007, Gerald spoke to the Connections 2007 Child and Adolescent Advocacy Conference, an annual event in Dallas sponsored by the Women's Council of Dallas County and Children's Medical Center.
Gerald entitled his speech, "Nourishing Our Children."
I think you will benefit from reading it.
______________________________
NOURISHING OUR CHILDREN
There once was a sociology professor who, when taking his afternoon constitutional, came upon a young mother spanking her child in the front yard. He stopped at once and patiently, but firmly, confronted the young woman. "You must not spank your child," he said, "you will traumatize him. You must love them."
That weekend, the professor was working on his driveway, spreading new cement. Suddenly, this young woman’s son and some of his friends ran through his yards and ran right through the fresh cement. The professor angrily ran after them, shouting and threatening to give them a good spanking. The young woman saw this happen and said, "Professor, I thought we were to love our children not spank them." To which the professor replied, "I love children in the abstract, but not in the concrete!"
This is why we are here today. We represent, care for and work with families and communities, whose interests are in the plight of our children, children whose futures must be considered uncertain at best and bleak at the very worst. According to the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, 17.8% of children under the age of 18, live in poverty across the U.S. In Texas, 23.2% of those of the same age range are living in households that qualify as poor. That means that 23% of our children are in families struggling to make it on $20,000 a year in a family of four, according to 2006 Federal Poverty Guidelines[1]. Precious little could be more shameful.
Our challenge is to change the nature of conversation regarding children, from abstract political rhetoric, to aggressive, creative, substantive public policy proposals and recommendations that will lead to the reforms that will result in better health care, education and job opportunities for parents now and for children if they or we, for that matter, are to have a real future. These are our children, and we can no longer afford to love them in the abstract. Our children are the embodiment of our hopes and dreams. They are the beneficiaries of our legacies and the heritage of our families and communities. We want these children to have lives that are healthy, happy and whole.
Truly nurturing children means that we provide them with the hope that comes through being educated. When I say educated, I mean really educated. We are not educating children by teaching them to be proficient test takers. We are not educating children when we don’t expose them to art and music at a young age. We are not educating them when we don’t teach them to appreciate, learn from and apply the lessons to be learned in great literature and history. And we can never teach them if we do not believe they can learn, and learn at high levels.
Children living in low-income neighborhoods experience unequal access to quality education compared to children who live in higher income neighborhoods. In Texas where property taxes help fund public school districts, children who attend public school in low-income communities have fewer dollars per student spent on them than public schools in higher income communities. Disparities in school funding lead to inequalities of available resources across school districts, including up to date text books; science-lab equipment, computer, music, and sports equipment; field trips and other extracurricular activities, taken for granted in wealthier communities.
We cannot nurture children if they are not healthy. Our children swing between obesity and food insecurity. In our most distressed neighborhoods, choice, affordability and transportation are issues, even when it comes to food. Grocery stores that sell wholesome, nutritional food at affordable prices are in scarce supply, while cheap fast food choices are stacked upon one another leaving encouraging diets that consist of fried fish, fried chicken, barbecue and hamburgers, along with assorted chips and soft drinks.
We cannot nourish our children, if we don’t nourish them physically. Implementing a ‘testocracy’ in our schools has taken away things like gym class and recess. The absence of safe parks and the presence of crime, the overpopulation of stray animals, and poorly equipped recreation centers, leave our children few options when it comes to creatively occupying themselves.
We cannot nourish our children if we do not tend to their overall health. Regular immunizations, doctor check ups, dental hygiene are all problems for the poor. Without health insurance, CHIP or MEDICAID, the most routine health care problems are brought to the primary care physician of last resort: the emergency room doctor.
But most importantly, we cannot nourish children, unless we provide opportunity for their parents. While Leave No Child Behind is being acknowledged as a relatively effective strategy for successful public education, we are forgetting that if we leave parents behind, we place every child at risk of being left behind.
While poverty itself may not cause negative outcomes in children, it often co-occurs with many stressors that may be harmful: stressors such as single parenthood, four or more children in that child’s household, and the lack of a high school diploma or GED by the child’s parent. One study found that only 22% of poor children experienced poverty with no other risk factors (the aforementioned ‘stressors’). About half experienced poverty plus one other risk factor; almost a quarter experienced poverty plus two other risk factors; and 5% experienced all the risk factors. Negative outcomes associated with poverty, plus two or more of these risk factors, include behavioral and emotional problems and problems in school. Among children ages 6-11, 18% of those who were considered at high risk (exhibiting three or more risk factors) also exhibited a high level of behavioral problems (compared to 6% of other children), and 32% exhibited low school engagement (compared to 14% of other children[2]).
We cannot even think of eliminating poverty among children, apart from what we do for the adults in the households in which they live.
Consider these facts:
·One third of Texas families are classified as low income and 41% of Texas workers work at jobs that pay a median hourly wage of $10 or less[3].
·The Lone Star State ranks close to the bottom in providing essential support services such as affordable health care and adult education[4].
·Texas has the most restrictive limit on unemployment insurance in the nation[5]
·Texas is nearly last in providing adult education[6]
·Texas has the highest number of adults without a high school diploma or a GED[7]
·Texas ranks 45th in the number of unemployed adults in the Workforce Investment Act[8]
·Our state has over 53% of low income families with at least one adult without health insurance[9].
There is no such thing as rich children growing up in a home of poor adults. Adult poverty impedes the cognitive development of children and their ability to learn. It contributes to behavioral, social and emotional problems. It can lead to poor health as well. Research tells us that the risks posed by poverty are greatest among children who experience poverty when they are young and among children who experience persistent deep poverty[10].
And so, our challenge is to nurture our children by beginning a "pro-quality-of-life" movement.
This is a movement which seeks to make textbooks more available to our children than guns; this is a movement that seeks to make well-balanced meals more the norm for our children than drugs and alcohol; this is a movement that wants to make early childhood development programs and after-school enrichment more accessible than opportunities for mischief and crime. This is the movement that wants to improve and build more public schools, colleges and universities, than prisons. This is a movement that wants jobs that pay a living wage, so that parents can model dignity and self-worth as they provide for their children.
This "pro-quality-of-life" movement spans the length and breadth of our cities and communities. And it must be based on the understanding that if all children don’t have a future, none of us has a future.
In one of my favorite Peanuts cartoons, Lucy demands that Linus change TV channels and then threatens him with her fist if he doesn’t. "What makes you think you can walk right over her and take over?" asks Linus.
"These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually, they’re nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."
"Which channel do you want?" asks Linus.
Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can’t you guys get organized like that?"
The only way that we are going to change the political channel to which Texas is tuned, is for us to organize. Politicians and public officials must see advocates for Texas children that look like Texas. Texas is Black, white and brown. Texas is affluent, middle class and poor. Texas is North Dallas, Plano and South Dallas. It is Houston’s Fifth Ward, the East Side of San Antonio and the Colonias. If legislation is not passed that it is good for all of us, then it is not good for any of us.
The voice of the "pro-quality-of-life" movement must be heard. It must be heard if ours is to be a true democracy. It must be heard if people in distressed and blighted communities are to have hope. It must be heard if our children are truly to be educated. It must be heard if third world islands are not to be permitted in the midst of the great waters of our large urban centers.
This voice must be heard if "justice is to run like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
This voice must be heard if our children are to be nurtured and their very lives are to be rescued from marginalization and the annihilation of poverty and despair.
[1] Center for Public Policy Priorities, “Texas Poverty 101” Policy Brief, February 2006
[2] p. 7 The Status of Women and Girls in Dallas County: A Review of the Academic Literature,
Prepared by: Elizabeth Fawcett, Frances Means, Rodney A. McDanel, and Susan Eve August 2002
School of Community Service, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
[3] Center for Public Policy Priorities, Austin, Texas – News Release, “Many Texas Families Work Hard But Struggle to Make Ends Meet”
[4] ibid
[5] ibid
[6] ibid
[7] ibid
[8]ibid
[9] ibid
[10] National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health. “Who are America’s Poor Children?: Why child poverty matters
On Saturday, March 3, 2007, Gerald spoke to the Connections 2007 Child and Adolescent Advocacy Conference, an annual event in Dallas sponsored by the Women's Council of Dallas County and Children's Medical Center.
Gerald entitled his speech, "Nourishing Our Children."
I think you will benefit from reading it.
______________________________
NOURISHING OUR CHILDREN
There once was a sociology professor who, when taking his afternoon constitutional, came upon a young mother spanking her child in the front yard. He stopped at once and patiently, but firmly, confronted the young woman. "You must not spank your child," he said, "you will traumatize him. You must love them."
That weekend, the professor was working on his driveway, spreading new cement. Suddenly, this young woman’s son and some of his friends ran through his yards and ran right through the fresh cement. The professor angrily ran after them, shouting and threatening to give them a good spanking. The young woman saw this happen and said, "Professor, I thought we were to love our children not spank them." To which the professor replied, "I love children in the abstract, but not in the concrete!"
This is why we are here today. We represent, care for and work with families and communities, whose interests are in the plight of our children, children whose futures must be considered uncertain at best and bleak at the very worst. According to the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, 17.8% of children under the age of 18, live in poverty across the U.S. In Texas, 23.2% of those of the same age range are living in households that qualify as poor. That means that 23% of our children are in families struggling to make it on $20,000 a year in a family of four, according to 2006 Federal Poverty Guidelines[1]. Precious little could be more shameful.
Our challenge is to change the nature of conversation regarding children, from abstract political rhetoric, to aggressive, creative, substantive public policy proposals and recommendations that will lead to the reforms that will result in better health care, education and job opportunities for parents now and for children if they or we, for that matter, are to have a real future. These are our children, and we can no longer afford to love them in the abstract. Our children are the embodiment of our hopes and dreams. They are the beneficiaries of our legacies and the heritage of our families and communities. We want these children to have lives that are healthy, happy and whole.
Truly nurturing children means that we provide them with the hope that comes through being educated. When I say educated, I mean really educated. We are not educating children by teaching them to be proficient test takers. We are not educating children when we don’t expose them to art and music at a young age. We are not educating them when we don’t teach them to appreciate, learn from and apply the lessons to be learned in great literature and history. And we can never teach them if we do not believe they can learn, and learn at high levels.
Children living in low-income neighborhoods experience unequal access to quality education compared to children who live in higher income neighborhoods. In Texas where property taxes help fund public school districts, children who attend public school in low-income communities have fewer dollars per student spent on them than public schools in higher income communities. Disparities in school funding lead to inequalities of available resources across school districts, including up to date text books; science-lab equipment, computer, music, and sports equipment; field trips and other extracurricular activities, taken for granted in wealthier communities.
We cannot nurture children if they are not healthy. Our children swing between obesity and food insecurity. In our most distressed neighborhoods, choice, affordability and transportation are issues, even when it comes to food. Grocery stores that sell wholesome, nutritional food at affordable prices are in scarce supply, while cheap fast food choices are stacked upon one another leaving encouraging diets that consist of fried fish, fried chicken, barbecue and hamburgers, along with assorted chips and soft drinks.
We cannot nourish our children, if we don’t nourish them physically. Implementing a ‘testocracy’ in our schools has taken away things like gym class and recess. The absence of safe parks and the presence of crime, the overpopulation of stray animals, and poorly equipped recreation centers, leave our children few options when it comes to creatively occupying themselves.
We cannot nourish our children if we do not tend to their overall health. Regular immunizations, doctor check ups, dental hygiene are all problems for the poor. Without health insurance, CHIP or MEDICAID, the most routine health care problems are brought to the primary care physician of last resort: the emergency room doctor.
But most importantly, we cannot nourish children, unless we provide opportunity for their parents. While Leave No Child Behind is being acknowledged as a relatively effective strategy for successful public education, we are forgetting that if we leave parents behind, we place every child at risk of being left behind.
While poverty itself may not cause negative outcomes in children, it often co-occurs with many stressors that may be harmful: stressors such as single parenthood, four or more children in that child’s household, and the lack of a high school diploma or GED by the child’s parent. One study found that only 22% of poor children experienced poverty with no other risk factors (the aforementioned ‘stressors’). About half experienced poverty plus one other risk factor; almost a quarter experienced poverty plus two other risk factors; and 5% experienced all the risk factors. Negative outcomes associated with poverty, plus two or more of these risk factors, include behavioral and emotional problems and problems in school. Among children ages 6-11, 18% of those who were considered at high risk (exhibiting three or more risk factors) also exhibited a high level of behavioral problems (compared to 6% of other children), and 32% exhibited low school engagement (compared to 14% of other children[2]).
We cannot even think of eliminating poverty among children, apart from what we do for the adults in the households in which they live.
Consider these facts:
·One third of Texas families are classified as low income and 41% of Texas workers work at jobs that pay a median hourly wage of $10 or less[3].
·The Lone Star State ranks close to the bottom in providing essential support services such as affordable health care and adult education[4].
·Texas has the most restrictive limit on unemployment insurance in the nation[5]
·Texas is nearly last in providing adult education[6]
·Texas has the highest number of adults without a high school diploma or a GED[7]
·Texas ranks 45th in the number of unemployed adults in the Workforce Investment Act[8]
·Our state has over 53% of low income families with at least one adult without health insurance[9].
There is no such thing as rich children growing up in a home of poor adults. Adult poverty impedes the cognitive development of children and their ability to learn. It contributes to behavioral, social and emotional problems. It can lead to poor health as well. Research tells us that the risks posed by poverty are greatest among children who experience poverty when they are young and among children who experience persistent deep poverty[10].
And so, our challenge is to nurture our children by beginning a "pro-quality-of-life" movement.
This is a movement which seeks to make textbooks more available to our children than guns; this is a movement that seeks to make well-balanced meals more the norm for our children than drugs and alcohol; this is a movement that wants to make early childhood development programs and after-school enrichment more accessible than opportunities for mischief and crime. This is the movement that wants to improve and build more public schools, colleges and universities, than prisons. This is a movement that wants jobs that pay a living wage, so that parents can model dignity and self-worth as they provide for their children.
This "pro-quality-of-life" movement spans the length and breadth of our cities and communities. And it must be based on the understanding that if all children don’t have a future, none of us has a future.
In one of my favorite Peanuts cartoons, Lucy demands that Linus change TV channels and then threatens him with her fist if he doesn’t. "What makes you think you can walk right over her and take over?" asks Linus.
"These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually, they’re nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."
"Which channel do you want?" asks Linus.
Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can’t you guys get organized like that?"
The only way that we are going to change the political channel to which Texas is tuned, is for us to organize. Politicians and public officials must see advocates for Texas children that look like Texas. Texas is Black, white and brown. Texas is affluent, middle class and poor. Texas is North Dallas, Plano and South Dallas. It is Houston’s Fifth Ward, the East Side of San Antonio and the Colonias. If legislation is not passed that it is good for all of us, then it is not good for any of us.
The voice of the "pro-quality-of-life" movement must be heard. It must be heard if ours is to be a true democracy. It must be heard if people in distressed and blighted communities are to have hope. It must be heard if our children are truly to be educated. It must be heard if third world islands are not to be permitted in the midst of the great waters of our large urban centers.
This voice must be heard if "justice is to run like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
This voice must be heard if our children are to be nurtured and their very lives are to be rescued from marginalization and the annihilation of poverty and despair.
[1] Center for Public Policy Priorities, “Texas Poverty 101” Policy Brief, February 2006
[2] p. 7 The Status of Women and Girls in Dallas County: A Review of the Academic Literature,
Prepared by: Elizabeth Fawcett, Frances Means, Rodney A. McDanel, and Susan Eve August 2002
School of Community Service, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
[3] Center for Public Policy Priorities, Austin, Texas – News Release, “Many Texas Families Work Hard But Struggle to Make Ends Meet”
[4] ibid
[5] ibid
[6] ibid
[7] ibid
[8]ibid
[9] ibid
[10] National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health. “Who are America’s Poor Children?: Why child poverty matters
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Mental Health Services in the Lone Star State
More "good news" on the status of public health in Texas:
· Mental illness is a leading cause of disability in the U.S.
· One in five Texans (20%)faces some form of mental illness.
· Texas ranks 49th in per capita spending on treatment of mental illness.
· Inadequate community-based mental health programs increase the likelihood that persons with mental illness will wind up in the criminal justice system.
· Approximately 900,000 adults in Texas met the DSHS mental health priority population definition in 2005, yet less than half in greatest need received mental health services.
· Forty-six percent of ER visits have behavioral health issues as a basic or contributing factor.
· Untreated mental illness results in increasing pressure on state and local resources.
· Community-based services reduce the rate of costly care in emergency rooms, hospitals, jails and prisons, and reduce the need for transportation to state hospitals for stabilization.
· Every $1 spent on mental health services saves $5 in overall health care costs.
· In Fiscal Year 2005, Texas average monthly emergency room costs were 27% lower for Medicaid clients receiving needed community mental health treatment than for those who received no such treatment.
· In Fiscal Year 2005, Texas average monthly emergency room costs were almost 35% lower for Medicaid clients receiving needed substance abuse treatment than for those who did not.
· Untreated mental illness costs Texas $16.6 billion per year.
· Treatment for mental illness is highly successful. (Depression: 80%, Panic Disorder: 75%, Schizophrenia: 60%, Heart Disease: 45-50%).
[Mental Health Association of Greater Dallas]
If you live in Texas, you might want to pass this information along to your State Senator and your House Member.
· Mental illness is a leading cause of disability in the U.S.
· One in five Texans (20%)faces some form of mental illness.
· Texas ranks 49th in per capita spending on treatment of mental illness.
· Inadequate community-based mental health programs increase the likelihood that persons with mental illness will wind up in the criminal justice system.
· Approximately 900,000 adults in Texas met the DSHS mental health priority population definition in 2005, yet less than half in greatest need received mental health services.
· Forty-six percent of ER visits have behavioral health issues as a basic or contributing factor.
· Untreated mental illness results in increasing pressure on state and local resources.
· Community-based services reduce the rate of costly care in emergency rooms, hospitals, jails and prisons, and reduce the need for transportation to state hospitals for stabilization.
· Every $1 spent on mental health services saves $5 in overall health care costs.
· In Fiscal Year 2005, Texas average monthly emergency room costs were 27% lower for Medicaid clients receiving needed community mental health treatment than for those who received no such treatment.
· In Fiscal Year 2005, Texas average monthly emergency room costs were almost 35% lower for Medicaid clients receiving needed substance abuse treatment than for those who did not.
· Untreated mental illness costs Texas $16.6 billion per year.
· Treatment for mental illness is highly successful. (Depression: 80%, Panic Disorder: 75%, Schizophrenia: 60%, Heart Disease: 45-50%).
[Mental Health Association of Greater Dallas]
If you live in Texas, you might want to pass this information along to your State Senator and your House Member.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Action item: CHIP and the Texas Legislature
Last week the the House Health and Human Services Committee of the Texas House of Representatives approved CSHB109 and passed it along to the full house for a vote. The proposed legislation aims to reform Texas' Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). On the Texas Senate side basically the same provisions will be put forward in Senate Bill 81.
The bill includes a list of improvements that will help provide medical coverage to the children of low-income, working families across the state.
It eliminates the current 90-day wait period for uninsured children who are eligible. It restores the annual (12 month) certification requirement so that parents no longer have to go through the process twice annually. The proposed bill also raises the allowed "wealth" of a family to $10,000 liquid assets, plus reasonable values for up to two automobiles. The legislation also allows for the calculation of net income after deductions for child care and some work related expenses, as well as child support costs.
The proposed plan also adds an estimated $59.1 million in state revenue to the CHIP budget, while increasing the federal match as a result of the state's increased commitment to improving health care for children in Texas.
The bill will also restore funding for outreach so that the coverage can be more adequately marketed across the state.
Action: contact your Representative in the Texas House now and urge support for CSHB109. Contact your State Senator now and urge support of SB81.
If you don't know who your House and Senate members are, visit http://www.house.state.tx.us/welcome.php and http://www.senate.state.tx.us/.
The bill includes a list of improvements that will help provide medical coverage to the children of low-income, working families across the state.
It eliminates the current 90-day wait period for uninsured children who are eligible. It restores the annual (12 month) certification requirement so that parents no longer have to go through the process twice annually. The proposed bill also raises the allowed "wealth" of a family to $10,000 liquid assets, plus reasonable values for up to two automobiles. The legislation also allows for the calculation of net income after deductions for child care and some work related expenses, as well as child support costs.
The proposed plan also adds an estimated $59.1 million in state revenue to the CHIP budget, while increasing the federal match as a result of the state's increased commitment to improving health care for children in Texas.
The bill will also restore funding for outreach so that the coverage can be more adequately marketed across the state.
Action: contact your Representative in the Texas House now and urge support for CSHB109. Contact your State Senator now and urge support of SB81.
If you don't know who your House and Senate members are, visit http://www.house.state.tx.us/welcome.php and http://www.senate.state.tx.us/.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Brace yourselves, poor folks. . .one more time
Just about every time the State of Texas decides it's time to "reform" anything related to health and human services, poor folks should prepare to take it on the chin.
That's why the headline in the "Texas & Southwest" section of Saturday's edition of The Dallas Morning News caught my eye: "State plans Medicaid experiment" (Saturday, January 27, 2007, page 3A).
On Friday, Governor Rick Perry, "key GOP lawmakers," and Albert Hawkins, Texas' health and welfare czar, met with U. S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. No doubt Medicaid financing poses a formidable challenge to the state, given that 25% of the state budget is earmarked for funding the health care delivery system designed to serve the poorest of our residents.
According to the report, the Governor wants to:
That's why the headline in the "Texas & Southwest" section of Saturday's edition of The Dallas Morning News caught my eye: "State plans Medicaid experiment" (Saturday, January 27, 2007, page 3A).
On Friday, Governor Rick Perry, "key GOP lawmakers," and Albert Hawkins, Texas' health and welfare czar, met with U. S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. No doubt Medicaid financing poses a formidable challenge to the state, given that 25% of the state budget is earmarked for funding the health care delivery system designed to serve the poorest of our residents.
According to the report, the Governor wants to:
- Offer subsidies to small businesses to fund the purchase of health insurance for their employees.
- Give "customized" benefit plans to certain groups of Medicaid patients.
- Transfer part of the funding to "savings accounts" for the patients.
I will reserve judgment until all of the details are revealed and worked through during this session of the Texas Legislature, but I have noted a trend following the announcement of these kinds of plans.
First, the cost involved is often covered by reducing overall benefits to the poor, and sometimes those who need help the most are cut off.
The last time Medicaid was "reformed" in Texas, benefits were cut, people found it harder to be certified and private industry got involved in trying to administer programs. The result to date has been a disaster, and I happened to be in on one of the original planning groups for Accenture, the private company contracted to "improve service and access" to the poor. Hasn't happened.
Second, whenever government begins suggesting private insurance as a remedy for bulging health care costs, I counsel my low-income friends to head for cover!
President Bush's current plan for a health care overhaul includes inducements in the form of tax breaks to motivate more Americans to buy private insurance. According to Dr. Ron Anderson, President and CEO for the Parkland Health and Hospital System, Dallas' public health care institution, the costs associated with these tax breaks would be covered by cuts in funding to hospitals like Parkland that treat the poor and uninsured. Dr. Anderson estimates that under such a plan the loss in Medicaid revenue to Parkland could be up to $83 million annually.
One note of concern for me, as I read the report, is the fact that our Governor asked Secretary Leavitt for "as much leeway as states can be given to tinker with Medicaid." I'd love to know the definition of "tinker" here. One thing I do know, shifting around already limited Medicaid funds never seems to benefit the poor.
I'll stay tuned, but I'm not optimistic.
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