The Voices Project

Governor for a Day

CWU recently convened a group of program participants and alumnae for an advocacy workshop. We asked each woman to finish the sentence “If I were Governor I would….” These were their responses:

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“Reverse the decision to put prayer in school. In middle school incorporate finance and life skills courses to foster conscious thinking in young people so they can help themselves and be a positive voice to others.” 

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“Provide free education; fund & assist with housing; and provide free health care. Fund programs like the Woman to Woman program to help women in society to achieve their goals and acquire necessary skills.”

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“Create a housing program that would enable every family to have, and stay in their home. Provide more rent to own and first time home buyers practical programs that allow home ownership.”

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“Let people that are on SSI work when they can. We need more jobs for people that are low-income. Also, I would bring the gas prices down.”

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“My goal is to finish my BA at Cambridge College. If I was Governor I would create a program for everyone to become educated by updating themselves with new technology. I would do a survey to find out what’s going on. I would make sure everyone can be able to support themselves by creating new jobs.”

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“Make sure to oversee the safety of the population. Make sure that proofs of safety are reported to me every month. After that I would make sure that money is available for needy people who want to educate themselves”

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“Look more into the housing & Section 8 situation our state is in, as well as the lack of available jobs in the State, and Boston city violence.”

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“Provide additional funding for the MRVP and Section 8 programs to assist in eliminating homelessness. Re-allocate funding into our schools & communities. Make state schools exceptionally affordable for low-income families.”

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“Make health care free for everyone. Make food available to all people who need it. I would create a way for life skills to be used and appreciated by employers. I would pass a law that would require a pay rate that is livable.”

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“Fund organizations and initiatives that give everyone the opportunity to advance themselves with the services they may need and that are free, readily accessible, and helpful.”

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“Come up with more programs like Crittenton Women’s Union to educate and uplift people who want to change their situations. Get the word out to more families who want to become more self-sufficient.”

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“Bring back subsidy housing. If I were Governor I would change pay wages for women, and equalize wages by a work strategy.”

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“Take women’s and children’s issues seriously. I would make sure women were paid well for the hard work that they all do. I would make sure childcare was in their work place. I would also allow money to be spent on their housing and educational needs. I would also make sure that no doors were ever closed on them or any help that they may need. I would see to it that their health, education, job, housing, and financial needs were being met to help themselves and their families.”

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“I would extend the TAFDC timeframe benefits to 5 years for individuals who are currently working at a higher education and the individuals must maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher.”

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“Provide free tuition and living expenses for low-income individuals to receive at least an AA or equivalent.”

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“I would mail information to everyone about programs like Woman to Woman. I would choose one day where women who have been through programs like this can say how their lives were changed. The women’s stories will be aired on national television, commercial free.”

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“Affordable housing; funds for programs for low-income people; education and jobs.”

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What would you do?

Flexible and Quality Childcare - a Tool to Succeed

Over the past few decades, women have achieved a rising equality and presence within the workforce. This phenomenon has prompted policymakers to drastically change their approach to creating and implementing the nation’s welfare programs. For instance, social welfare programs like the 1996 Temporary Assistance for Families with Children (TANF) have imposed work requirements for single mothers who apply for welfare and other forms of public aid. These prerequisites include an 8 week job search, followed by an assessment, and participation in an authorized activity or community service for a limited timeframe. (www.spdp.org) Logically, this amendment is proactive and fair because it makes welfare-recipients in some sense earn their publicly-provided benefits. However, they also fail to fully recognize and commit to the needs of their children. Young children, especially, need constant supervision and attention; but with the work requirement, single mothers are often unable to provide their children with constant care. Therefore, in addition to these public benefits, welfare policies should also provide flexible and quality childcare for their applicants.

Extended and formalized childcare gives single mothers the freedom to maintain higher-paying jobs for their families. Sometimes these jobs require one to work irregular hours, which could force some single parents to either give up the offer or find a babysitter willing to work at odd hours of the day. For instance, any single parent working the night shift as a pizza deliverer will most likely have no means of attaining quality childcare at such late hours of the night. He or she will probably have to depend on a neighbor or a family member if lucky; but these people can sometimes act abusive or negligent towards the child. Therefore, it is imperative that policies, which have work requirements, give parents more flexibility and formalized/professional childcare for their children. These policy amendments could include universal preschool for low-income children, increased access to high-quality out-of-school programs for youth, experimentation with longer school days or year, and paid-parental leave and at-home infant child-care programs for low-income parents during the first year of the child’s life.

One might wonder how a country, with an already staggering deficit, will be able to afford such transformational and “radical” public assistance programs. There is only one answer to that. It will pay for itself. By providing low-income, single mothers with flexible and quality childcare, their children will have exponentially better chances of succeeding and attaining stable lives. For instance, the Perry Preschool Project, the longest-running study on the effects of preschool, has shown that youngsters who undergo quality preschool turn out to be more law-abiding, earn high incomes, and have more stable lives than children who were not enrolled. This study took 123 children from poor, African-American families living below the poverty line and placed them into a preschool curriculum in order to see the short- and long-term effects of universal preschool. After approximately 36 years, these children, who are now 40-years-old have higher IQ’s, earn higher incomes, and have less incarceration rates. Furthermore, many economists show that the country will experience a $13 dollar economic return for every $1 spent on universal preschool and other youth-oriented programs. Also, studies have also shown that it is cheaper to pay single mothers to stay at home with their infants than to give them in-kind benefits while working. Because programs like the Perry Preschool Project create all-in-all better citizens, less tax dollars will be wasted on maintaining the nation’s corrupt prisons and fighting crime. Now, the nation’s money can be spent on education, health care, and the like.

Contrary to popular belief, creating a better society does not start with tax dollars or work requirements. It starts with our children. Fostering a more nurturing, challenging, and proactive environment for them is paramount to achieving this goal. As a country that prides itself on its freedom of opportunity, we should provide our citizens with exactly that. Imposing work requirements with insufficient childcare on low-income single mothers is unfair and unrealistic. We need to care for all our citizens, even the ones deemed at risk for failure. Providing more flexible and quality childcare to low-income single parents helps parents maintain their careers, benefits children and most importantly, builds a better country.

Jinyoung Chang
Advocacy Intern
Crittenton Women's Union

On My Way To Making My Dreams Come True

Last week, I graduated from Crittenton Women's Union Woman To Woman Program, a 12 week training program that teaches you computer skills and professional development to low income women in order to help them become economically self sufficient. It was overwhelming because of all the support I have gotten here. One of the components of the program is advocating for something you feel strongly about. My passion is helping victims of domestic violence and through the Woman to Woman program I learned how to do that and was able to start by writing blogs, and speaking out, telling my story to people and meeting with State Representative Linda Dorcena Forry. Now Im getting ready to begin college in September in the Human Service Work then on to work towards becomming a Licensed social worker. Also because of this organization I have opportunities I didn't even know about to do volunteer work for agencies such as Jane Doe. I think if more people knew about this organization so many others could benefit from all they have to offer. Thank you Crittenton Women's Union.

Marsha
Crittenton Women’s Union
Woman to Woman Graduate

Educational Access in Massachusetts

Across the country and right here in Massachusetts, there are many barriers to low-income people accessing education. Education level affects the kind of job a person can get, and in Massachusetts to get a job that pays a wage that can sustain a whole family most people have to have education or training beyond a high school diploma. It is especially difficult for low-income women to access this necessary education and training due to unique challenges women face. For instance, women are usually the primary care provider for their children. Also, with our country’s history of discrimination, there is still a wage gap between men and women, so women make even less than men when working jobs without self-sustaining wages. For every $1.00 that a man earns in Massachusetts, a woman only earns 77 cents.

Studies show that women without training and an education past high school have jobs that do not pay enough to support themselves and their families. The National Center on Family Homelessness found that these women need cash assistance longer than those who can access education and training. A study by the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at UMass Boston found that the welfare system in Massachusetts does not successfully aid and encourage women to access education while receiving state assistance. Knowledge about a variety of education and training programs and how to make educational efforts count towards work requirements is not widespread enough. Paperwork to get benefits such as childcare vouchers can be tricky and confusing, and caseworkers often do not fully explain a woman’s options.

In December 2007, the national Working Poor Families Project and Crittenton Women’s Union produced a report entitled “Unlocking the Doors to Higher Education and Training for Massachusetts’ Working Poor Families.” They found that there is a large gap in Massachusetts between jobs with a certain set of required skills and people who have the skills to fill these jobs. If women can get the education and training they need for these jobs they will be able to get and keep jobs that pay wages that can support themselves and their families. Women with high school diplomas and no further training often earn less than men at the same education level because the highest-paying jobs at this level are trade jobs, which are dominated by male workers. Women face special challenges in acquiring higher education, and this report recommends that the state work to increase funding for community colleges as well as provide counselors to help women balance their multiple responsibilities and achieve success regardless of their personal struggles.

While government should work to improve access to education opportunities, smaller programs can also help low-income women towards fulfilling their potential. The Woman to Woman program at Crittenton Women’s Union is a course for low-income women that equips them with the skills to get jobs that pay self-sufficient wages. On CWU’s website, there are two tools: a “Self-Sufficiency Calculator” to help people figure out their actual cost of living and the wage they need to live with no government work supports, and a “Hot Jobs” search tool that helps people find jobs that pay self-sufficiency wages. The Hot Jobs tool includes descriptions of the education and skills necessary to pursue these jobs.

One of the best ways women can find out about education and training opportunities is through friends, family, or other community members. If you have participated in a helpful program spread the word to women who you think might be interested!

Nola Kosowsky
Advocacy Intern
Crittenton Women's Union

Teachers Understanding Children Coming From Violent Homes

My name is Marsha and I am a single mother of 3 children ages 16, 10, and 3. I am currently homeless and living in a domestic violence program. I am writing because I am concerned about the way the teachers in the Boston Public Schools lack the understanding children need when they have witnessed domestic violence and/or have been abused themselves.

For example, there is a 10 year old boy who relocated to Boston and was verbally abused by a sibling’s father and witnessed his mother being assaulted by him and saw injuries to her. In school he received a lot of support, got along well with others, but often kept to himself. Upon relocating to Boston, he was placed in a classroom with over 30 other kids and no support. He was picked on daily by the other children and when he went to the teachers for help he was ignored. This caused his anxiety to escalate and he knocked his desk over. The school often waited for his anxiety to escalate before taking action and their action was to suspend him including when he reacted to another child stabbing him in the neck with a pencil. All his suspensions did was send this child the message that he is “bad.”

For a child who is being abused or witnessing domestic violence school is their only “safe place.” These children do not have the skills to cope with the violence in their home and act out of depression, anxiety, fear, anger, and self-blame. These children suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is an anxiety disorder. They often feel nervous when something happens without warning, have trouble trusting and feeling close to other people, get mad very easily, and feel guilty because they blame themselves for the abuse. The class sizes are too big, often one teacher to 35 children in one classroom which does not allow the child to receive the attention they need. The schools are only focused on their curriculum because too much focus is put on them to prepare the children for the MCAS tests.

We need more schools to take an active part in helping the children learn and use coping skills to relieve their negative feelings in order for them to be more productive. Teachers, principals and school counselors need to realize that sometimes when you have students who are witnessing domestic violence and/or being abused themselves they need to be more sensitive to the child’s needs. They need to work with the “whole” child; including physically and mentally and understand the affects domestic violence has on them. They need to be trained and prepared to assist children in coping with their different feelings like fear, anger, helplessness, and anxiety. The schools need to be more knowledgeable on anxiety disorders such as PTSD. The school district should mandate yearly trainings before school starts. They need to stop labeling the children “problems”, “trouble”, “off the walls”, “out of control”, as this lowers their self esteem and reinforces to them that they are “bad." Give them other tools they can use to relieve their bad feelings instead of “acting out”. Schools should be trained to recognize warning signs and be able to make referrals and/or provide resources to appropriate adults in child’s life.

Marsha
Crittenton Women’s Union
Woman to Woman Participant

Why Can’t I Get a Daycare Voucher?

I have not worked for two years. I had a baby. Due to my daughter's medical issue, I had to stay home with her.

When I decided to go back to work I got a job at a retail store. The job only paid $8.25 per hour. I have always enjoyed learning. I found the Woman to Woman program that offered computer literacy and workforce development for free. As I worked toward my educational goals, I was concerned about daycare for my daughter.

My husband worked a full-time job but we were still considered low income. So I decided to apply for government assistance. I qualified for food stamps but not for cash benefits. I applied for a child care voucher but I did not qualify. The Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) told me I did not qualify for a voucher because I did not qualify for cash benefits. The only way I would qualify for a voucher is if my husband and I did not work. I was I woman trying to improve my life and the government was not willing to help me. I felt sad and confused and I did not know what to do. Finally, I found an aunt to watch my daughter. I paid my aunt one hundred dollars per week which I could barely afford, I decided did a little research and discovered I am not alone.

For example:

“The budget for University of Washington’s Childcare Assistance Programs comes for the Services and Activity fee (SAF). Last year the SAF had a budget of $12 million and allocated $757,055 directly for childcare subsidies. That was not enough funding to provide voucher to 38 percent of the total applicants who qualified.” (The Daily of the University of Washington. “Childcare voucher program underfunded.” October 5, 2007.)

“Among the 11.4 million children younger than 5 whose mothers were employed, 30 percent were cared for on a regular basis by a grandparent during their mother’s working hours.  A slightly greater percentage spent time in an organize care facility, such as a day care center nursery or preschool. Meanwhile 25 percent received care from their fathers. 3 percent from sibling and 8 percent form other relatives when mothers went to work (US Census Bureau News. Press Release: “Nearly Half of Preschoolers Receive Child Care from Relatives.” February 28, 2008.)

In Massachusetts, there are 22 thousand children on the waiting list. The only time a voucher is given in a timely manor is if the mother is homeless or living in a domestic violence situation or a teen parent.

My hope is that one day people who are trying to get out of poverty will have more support. I hope that children of low income families will be able to attend a day care with structure instead of staying with relatives. To allow access to more voucher the qualifications and funding need to be increased. Massachusetts should also keep the DTA Cash Assistance and Childcare Voucher programs separate so that one is not dependent on the other. Why do I have to live in poverty to get daycare for my daughter?

N.S.
Crittenton Women’s Union
Woman to Woman Program Participant

Ways to protect our children

I am writing about children being abused. I think there should be tougher laws in Massachusetts concerning this matter. You are always hearing about this in the news. It’s still a big issue!

According to Fox News, a recent report by the Center for Disease Control reported that one in 50 U.S. infants is a victim of child abuse (www.foxnews.com). From 1987 to 1997, Massachusetts had a 98 percent increase in the number of children reported for abuse or neglect. This study came from the national database institute. They compiled 91,000 infant subjects, including 30,000 infants that were aged one week or younger. In the Massachusetts State Call to Action report, they used a sample of 1,000 children who were reportedly abused in order to study child abuse in Massachusetts. They discovered that “neglect was the most common type of maltreatment in Massachusetts in 1997, totaling about 68 percent of substantiated cases, followed by physical abuse at 24 percent.”

The national average for substantiated sexual abuse cases is 15 percent. In Massachusetts, it is only 6 percent. But even though the percentage of substantiated sexual abuse cases in Massachusetts is less than half the national average, it is still too high! (www.masskids.org)

We are supposed to trust our parents, teachers, and neighbors. But we know that some children have been victims of their abuse. How can we as a people keep all of our children safe when we know there are some parents, teachers, and neighbors that are abusing them? These adults are people who you’re supposed to trust with our children!

We should be aware that child abuse still exists. More people should be getting involved by being trained to recognize the warning signs of abuse in children. These trainings should be offered in schools. Once people are educated on the warning signs, they will be able to notify the police of child protective services when there is a suspicion of child abuse. And finally, we should have tougher laws on people who abuse children by putting them behind bars!

A. Johnson
Crittenton Women’s Union
Woman to Woman Program Participant

You Never Get Through Life Without a Struggle

I’m a twenty-three year old single mother of three. I had my first child when I was sixteen years old and was a junior in high school, I made it to my senior year but pregnant with my second child at eighteen. I ended up dropping out of school, which was a big mistake on my part. By the age twenty I had two boys and was ready to give birth to my daughter just one week prior to my twenty-first birthday. During all this I had already lived in seven different shelters before I got my first apartment.

Finally, I got some stability living in my own home. I decided to go finish school, to be a better role model for my three small children, especially for my daughter. I attended Crittenton Hastings House (which is now Crittenton Women’s Union) where I resided to get my GED. I started in April of 2006 and graduated and obtained my GED in June of that year.

I then took a break from my education for a couple of months to care for my children. I wanted to attend the Crittenton Women’s Union’s Woman to Woman program which helps low income women gain computer skills and career advancement. Due through financial and Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) regulations circumstances, I could not attend the program in the winter of 2007, so I worked a little and volunteered my time. I started a job and realized that I wanted to better myself, so I quit my job and again made a second attempt to enroll in the Woman to Woman program, which I now attend.

Even though I had my children at a young age, I still kept strong and strived to succeed in life. I am now more motivated and am ready to keep thriving to succeed and be a positive role model for my children. I am now going to graduate from the Woman to Woman program in three weeks. I also have been invited to be a guest speaker for an open house for the Crittenton Women’s Union as an alumna of their GED program. My life could have turned out worse being a misguided teen parent, but I chose to make a better life for my children. By the way you never get through life without struggle!

Unfortunately, some women are not as fortunate as I. The cause of this is that most young single mothers don’t have a support system and may not have the knowledge to get the help they need to succeed; and the Department of Transitional Assistance has so many regulations and rules that make it difficult for single mothers to thrive. The government needs to make shelters and educational programs more accessible to that help women succeed.

I think a way that this can be resolved is by getting more funding for programs such as those that helped me and advocated for me like the Elizabeth Stone House and the Crittenton Women’s Union. These programs helped me with a lot of things from interviewing, to getting a job, giving me a suitable place to live, and advocating for myself. Programs such as these needs more funding so more women like me will get the opportunity and the necessary tools to be able to succeed and provide a better life for themselves and their families.

J.M.R.
Crittenton Women’s Union
Woman to Woman Program Participant

Massachusetts used most of the money saved by Welfare Reform to help low-income families move out of poverty - APRIL FOOLS!

A new report released at the Massachusetts Statehouse on April Fools Day revealed the truth that many of us already knew - the state is spending $1.3 Billion a year less to help low-income families than it did a dozen years ago. The state made these cuts even though law makers promised that they would shift funding from the cuts in the welfare rolls to programs assisting working poor families.

The report by the Home for Little Wanderers and the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center found that the state shifted a small amount of savings into increased child care but areas such as employment services to current and former welfare recipients dropped 21.9% and other supports (aid to elderly and disabled, and SSI) dropped 22.6%.

Where did most of the savings go?  To fund tax cuts for the upper middle class and the wealthy!

While overall poverty rates in the U.S. have fallen since 1995, the poverty rate in Massachusetts remains at about 10% of all people living in the state. 

If you are as outraged as I am, join us in working to invest more in education, training, childcare and affordable housing to help families out of poverty, by signing up for the Voices Advocacy Network at www.LiveWorkThrive.org.

You can find the report called “Following Through on Welfare Reform” at www.massbudget.org

Ruthie Liberman
Vice President of Public Policy
Crittenton Women's Union

Millions of working American families struggle to reach the middle class

In a press release yesterday from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), their latest Bridging the Gaps project report shows that “One in Five People in Working Families Unable to Reach the Middle Class.” The press release summarizes CEPR’s new report, "Movin' On Up: Reforming America's Social Contract to Provide a Bridge to the Middle Class," as follows:

“At least 48 million Americans in working families lack the income needed to gain a toehold in the middle class, according to a new report released by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

"Movin' On Up: Reforming America's Social Contract to Provide a Bridge to the Middle Class" synthesizes recent research by CEPR on job quality, economic security, and unionization, and outlines a set of national policy reforms that would make it possible for more struggling families to join the middle class.

"Only 1 in 4 people in working families have a good job, one that pays $17 an hour, that has an employer sponsored health plan, and offers a pension," said John Schmitt, a report co-author.

Current poverty standards do not accurately reflect the number of people in working families who do not have an income sufficient to maintain a middle class lifestyle. The report finds that nearly half of all working families falling below a middle class standard of living have incomes that put them above the official poverty line.

The authors conclude that to bring some balance back to the economy and ensure that more people share in our nation's economic prosperity, labor market standards and institutions must be strengthened, access to post-secondary education and training must be expanded, and the system of public and private healthcare benefits must be reformed.

"Tremendous increases in economic growth and workers' education levels over the last few decades should have moved millions of Americans into the middle class, but didn't because of policy choices that increased inequality," noted report co-author Shawn Fremstad. "We must update America's social contract to make sure that the economy is working for all Americans."

Interactive:

Have you read the report? What do you think fo CEPR's proposed "New Social Contract" (pages 9 - 14))? They identify:

1. "Restoring Labor Market Institutions"
2. "Providing Universal Health Insurance and Harmonizing the Publicly Financed Structures that Help Workers Make Ends Meet"; and
3. "Provide Workers with Greater Access to Postsecondary Education and Training"

as the most influential factors in helping more Americans reach the middle class. Do you agree or disagree with this conclusion? Comment now and let us know what you think!