JOE INSCORE
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This is part 2 of a 3-part series touching on poverty in the City of Magnolia. The series focuses on issues within the city, poverty on a personal level, organizations in place to help, and seeks answers to an ongoing dilemma throughout the country.
Since the War on Poverty began with the Great Society programs of the 1960s, all levels of government — federal, state, county, and city — have expanded programs and joined in the fight to eliminate poverty and help those in need. These programs now go by a term many refer to as “The Safety Net.” They form a variety of layers that helps people based on their circumstances. Another layer of help is available through the private sector with churches, private organizations, and non-profit organizations.
If one has a job, but that job is low income and doesn’t pay enough to get one above the poverty line, there are programs in place to reward and encourage the worker, and also to help people who work and have young children. Two of the most successful programs along these lines are the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which rewards people for working, and the Child Tax Credit (CTC), which helps the working poor who have children. These are federal programs that come in the form of tax credits issued as refunds by the Internal Revenue Service. There is also a separate tax credit for each child in the household.
A number of experts have lauded the EITC for keeping people working and reducing the poverty rate. The CTC helps people offset the cost of childcare, which can be so expensive as to make it counterproductive to work in some instances. These credits seek to keep people in the workforce, which has added benefits for all concerned. For instance, the longer a person works somewhere, the more likely that person is to advance to a better-paying job. According to experts, working also has the added benefits of being good for our health and well-being, builds confidence and self-esteem, and contributes to a person’s overall happiness. Having a job can create a great sense of accomplishment.
For people who’ve lost their jobs due to the closing of factories or businesses, the state and federal governments have teamed up to provide unemployment benefits. These are normally short-term payments that seek to bridge the gap between a person losing their job and obtaining another. Over the past several years, however, the benefits have been extended for longer periods of time due to the Great Recession of 2008. These benefits are provided through the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services.
People living in poverty, especially those with children, have numerous benefits they can access. For food security, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps, is the first line of defense against hunger. The Arkansas Department of Health also runs a program that offers food assistance to pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants, and children under five years of age called the WIC program. It’s funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. Families must meet income guidelines set at 185 percent of poverty level, have a nutritional need, and live in Arkansas.
For low income children who attend school, the Arkansas Department of Education Child Nutrition Unit administers the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Special Milk Program, the Afterschool Snack Program, the Seamless Summer Program and the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Grants. A combination of federal, state, and local monies go to make sure children who attend school are not held back by hunger or a lack of nutrition.
Medicaid provides health coverage to people with low incomes, including eligible adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults, and people with disabilities. The program is administered by the states but must follow federal guidelines. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides health coverage to eligible children through both Medicaid and separate CHIP programs. Generally, this is for children up to age 19 in families with incomes too high to qualify them for Medicaid. In Arkansas, a program called AR Kids First offers a comprehensive package of benefits with Part A in conjunction with Medicaid, and Part B which provides coverage for families with higher incomes. Dental care is also one of the benefits provided under AR Kids.
The Columbia County Health Unit also administers a variety of other programs including immunizations, family planning and pregnancy testing, pre-natal care, nutrition counseling, and other preventive programs needed by people living in poverty.
The availability — or lack thereof — of affordable and decent housing is another big issue for people living below the poverty line, and reduced cost housing is one of the programs administered by local government. The Magnolia Housing Authority has a number of units that are available or currently rented to low-income or elderly people who fall within program guidelines, and it also administers housing vouchers and other programs to assist people in need of housing.
A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) assist in the fight against poverty. The Area Agency on Aging has programs that assist the elderly in obtaining benefits under a number of programs to help alleviate poverty. There are several Community Development organizations in Magnolia and Columbia County that sponsor Head Start programs and offer transportation and utility assistance. Magnolia Specialized Services has programs to assist developmentally disabled children and adults in the area, from education and child care to housing.
Abilities Unlimited is a non-profit that provides vocational training, adult development, basic education and life skills, job placement, hot meals, and a number of other services to people in need in Columbia County. It operates a retail store, recycling center, and offers contracting to provide a number of other services to the community along with jobs for its workers.
Churches and religious organizations also help in the fight, providing emergency food, shelter and clothing to those in need. Southern Christian Mission provides all these services, and The Stew Pot at the First United Methodist Church provides meals three times per week. Other churches in the community also provide food and clothing. The Salvation Army is another private religious charity that offers hunger relief, shelter, disaster services, and other assistance for the poor, including emergency financial aid. Regional food banks and commodity distribution through local non-profits also make food available to those people in need.
There is a dizzying array of programs and assistance available to those living in poverty, and navigating that system can be problematic for people who have reduced mental capacities or who possess little education. Solving those problems and getting people the help they need to climb out of poverty will be addressed in the third part of the series.
Part 3 will conclude this series on Friday, June 30.