But being numb to homelessness has social costs that are greater than people realize. “Letting a lot of people become homeless it is not smart move,” Roman said of the fact that the stimulus monies that have kept homelessness at a steady rate are running out.
“It is costly in terms of causing an increase in health care costs, causing poor performance in schools, and making it hard to reduce unemployment.”
Yet, investigators also found that doubled-up households (people living with other families) increased by 13 percent between 2009 and 2011. In addition, the number of severely housing cost burdened families (defined as families below the poverty line paying 50 percent or more of their monthly income on housing) went up by 22 percent in the same time period.
Forget that their parents are out of work. That they can’t afford to go to the movies. That they’re living in shelters or crowded houses with family members and friends.
Opposition to welfare programs has been primarily in the United States. Members of both the Republican and Democratic Party (as well as third parties such as the Libertarians have favored reducing or eliminating welfare. The landmark piece of legislation which reduced welfare was the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act under the Clinton administration.
The annual cost for homeless inpatient care in the region is $70 million, according to the county Department of Health Services.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) is pushing a new amendment that would make it more difficult for people to receive food stamps by restricting eligibility requirements and eliminating a planned $9 billion funding increase for the program…
Source: http://thinkprogress.org
“Hospitals have new financial imperatives and incentives under the Affordable Care Act to reduce readmissions and to link with outpatient services to manage chronic diseases,” he said.
The Republican Study Committee, the House GOP’s conservative caucus, is lobbying party leaders to include big cuts to food stamps, Medicaid …
Source: http://motherjones.com
Making a transition to civilian life after duty as a US Coast Guard seaman who boarded ships in the Persian Gulf looking for weapons of mass destruction was not easy for Christopher McDonald.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — While most other states are limiting expectations as they try to recover from the recession, Gov. Jerry Brown is dreaming of a bright future for his native California.
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Association Against Homelessness in America 