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Public
assistance decreasing, poverty increasing
BY
JAMILA A. JACKSON
While
the number of Takoma Park households on public assistance
decreased by 46 percent from 1990 to 2000, the number of families
below the poverty line increased by 58 percent.
In 1990
the U.S. Census Bureau determined that 4.6 percent of Takoma
Park households received public assistance, and 5.3 percent
of families were below the poverty level.
Recently
released data from the 2000 Census revealed that Takoma Park
households receiving public assistance had dropped to 2.5
percent, but families below the poverty line had increased
to 8.4 percent.
Richard
Larson, Director of the Office of Policy and Research for
the Maryland Department of Human Resources Family Investment
Administration, questioned the accuracy of the data. He said
the numbers could be off for a variety of reasons.
"The
sample may not be accurate," Larson said. He said individuals
report about themselves to the Census and that some sample
populations may be small.
This city's
2000 population of 17,299 residents was a 3.6 percent increase
since 1990.
Over the
decade, the number of foreign-born residents increased 38.5
percent. Of the nearly 5,000 foreign-born residents of Takoma
Park, more than 44 percent moved to the city during those
10 years. Nearly 50 percent of those foreign-born residents
are Latino.
Violeta
Ruiz, Client Services Coordinator for CASA de Maryland, said
that she agrees that the increase in immigrants in Takoma
Park has affected the percentage of those living in poverty.
"A
lot of them are afraid," Ruiz said. "They fear that
if they're waiting for immigration papers, applying for
assistance may affect them."
CASA de
Maryland is a Takoma Park-based advocacy organization that
helps primarily low-income, Latino families with job placement,
translation of documents and legal services.
"Sixty
to seventy percent of women eligible for assistance are not
applying because of a number of barriers — language,
hours of operation and fear," said Mary Wendeln, Director
of Social Services for CASA of Maryland.
Public
assistance offers a variety of support, including temporary
cash assistance, food stamps, child care assistance, medical
assistance and housing assistance, according to the Maryland
Department of Human Resources.
If the
annual income of a family of three does not exceed $14,150,
the family is considered below the poverty level, according
to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A family
of four must earn more than $17,050, and a family of five
must earn more than $19,950 to avoid a poverty classification.
Almost 9 percent of Takoma Park families earn less than $15,000.
Households
have to be very close to the poverty line before they are
allowed to receive food stamps, Larson said. The application
for food stamps will be denied if the family's income
is more than 130 percent of the poverty level.
"You
have to be next to destitute to receive assistance,"
Wendeln said.
Maryland's
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families state plan, which was
effective in 1999, was designed to lead recipients of aid
to financial independence. The TANF plan is the same as welfare
reform, Larson said.
The federal
welfare reform law banned some immigrants from receiving food
stamps, Wendeln said. New Maryland guidelines allow legal
immigrant children living with permanent U.S. residents to
receive food stamps.
"Immigrants
come here and do mostly service jobs," Ruiz said. "But
when they become unemployed, they don't have options."
"Job
search is part of the reform," Larson said. "The
Family Investment Administration helps families develop the
skills necessary to get a job and helps them get work experience.
Sixty-three percent of those in Maryland who have gotten off
of assistance have done so because they got jobs."
The percentage
of families receiving public assistance in Takoma Park exceeds
the percentage in Maryland. Almost 6 percent of Maryland's
households received public assistance in 1990. By 2000,
that dropped to dropped to 2.4 percent of households.
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