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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Contributor: Adding work requirements to Medicaid isn't a bad idea
Over the past 46 years that I've been part of America's job training system, work requirements for government benefits have been proposed several times. Each time these work rules have been initially denounced by opponents as 'cruel,' 'punitive,' 'blaming the victim' — with accompanying fears that benefit recipients were not ready to be employed and would lose needed benefits. Yet each time work requirements have been implemented, they have resulted in increased employment and other life benefits for a significant segment of participants, their families and local communities. Those are the metrics by which to measure success; reducing the rolls of benefit programs has not been the main goal sought by advocates of previous work requirements. The results have been documented over the years by scholars representing a range of viewpoints: Harry Holzer of Georgetown, Lawrence Mead of New York University and the professional research staff at MDRC, to cite a few. These results have been seen with work rules imposed for welfare recipients, recipients of various General Assistance benefits and parents who owe child support. They will be seen again if the proposed Medicaid work rules go forward and are implemented seriously and with purpose. Individuals on welfare and other benefit programs often need a push into the job world. They may lack confidence, have become discouraged or have no idea how to get started. Work rules provide that push. They also provide a support network for job placement and retention. America Works is one of the nation's largest job agencies serving unemployed people, referred by various government benefit programs. Each participant is assigned a job counselor and develops an individual employment plan. The counselor is to identify job openings, assist the participant in applying, advocate for the participant to employers. The counselor is also trained to be the coach whom all job seekers need: keeping spirits up through the (likely many) rejections, serving as a problem solver during the placement process and troubleshooting when job issues inevitably arise after placement. At each stage, the participant is no longer on their own. Since the early 1980s, work rules have been most extensively tested, studied and monitored in the welfare system, first as pilot projects by individual states and later under the federal welfare reform of 1996. Welfare scholars of the 1980s, including Manpower Demonstration Research Corp. President Judith Gueron would highlight how much previous welfare policies divorced from work requirements had underestimated the work orientation and strengths of welfare recipients. Researchers of welfare-to-work programs of the 1990s and early 2000s at the Urban Institute and with a consortium of university centers would confirm the widespread work orientation of welfare recipients, as well as their abilities to function in the work world. This is not to romanticize welfare-to-work. Despite the counseling and supports (transportation subsidies, child-care subsidies), a good number of participants drop out during the placement process or within a year of job placement. They do so because of chaotic personal lives or mental illnesses or developmental disabilities that the job placement system is unable to address. They do so because of an absence of a family network, or because they don't want to risk the other housing, healthcare and food stamp benefits they receive beyond the welfare payment. Even those who obtain jobs often struggle economically. At the same time, for those who are able to maintain a job, the job frequently brings values beyond the income. Jason Turner, the architect of the early Wisconsin welfare-to-work successes and later commissioner of New York City's Human Resources Administration, references the power of the job, drawing on his experiences over four decades. A job brings structure to participants in work requirement programs, somewhere to go every day. It brings a new confidence, which can translate into addressing daily life responsibilities that previously seemed overwhelming. In theory, the importance of employment is hailed across the political spectrum. In practice, though, the ties of government benefits to employment have been weakened in the past two decades — and so many opportunities to demonstrate the value of this connection have been missed. Welfare-to-work requirements have been diluted in major cities and blue states. Employment efforts for recipients of Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance have stalled. Guaranteed incomes schemes removed from employment have gained currency. The current proposed Medicaid work rules exclude Medicaid recipients with disabilities, mental health conditions and adults with young children. They also exclude the large number of Medicaid recipients who work part time or full time. None of these Medicaid recipients are at risk of losing health benefits. For the remaining group, the 'able-bodied' without young children, America has a vast workforce network at the ready to provide job placement services. No new bureaucracy is needed. It is a network of community-based agencies, workforce intermediaries and local American Job Centers, with lengthy experience in placing workers who have been outside the job mainstream. Though the first jobs that Medicaid recipients obtain will mainly be entry-level, lower-wage jobs, the recipients will be better off economically and at least on a path to the workforce system's goal of 'a job, a better job, a career.' Medicaid work rules are not cruel or punitive. They help Americans to reclaim the power of the job. Michael Bernick, a former director of the California Labor Department, serves on the state's Behavioral Health Oversight Commission. If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Adding work requirements to Medicaid isn't a bad idea
Over the past 46 years that I've been part of America's job training system, work requirements for government benefits have been proposed several times. Each time these work rules have been initially denounced by opponents as 'cruel,' 'punitive,' 'blaming the victim' — with accompanying fears that benefit recipients were not ready to be employed and would lose needed benefits. Yet each time work requirements have been implemented, they have resulted in increased employment and other life benefits for a significant segment of participants, their families and local communities. Those are the metrics by which to measure success; reducing the rolls of benefit programs has not been the main goal sought by advocates of previous work requirements. The results have been documented over the years by scholars representing a range of viewpoints: Harry Holzer of Georgetown, Lawrence Mead of New York University and the professional research staff at MDRC, to cite a few. These results have been seen with work rules imposed for welfare recipients, recipients of various General Assistance benefits and parents who owe child support. They will be seen again if the proposed Medicaid work rules go forward and are implemented seriously and with purpose. Individuals on welfare and other benefit programs often need a push into the job world. They may lack confidence, have become discouraged or have no idea how to get started. Work rules provide that push. They also provide a support network for job placement and retention. America Works is one of the nation's largest job agencies serving unemployed people, referred by various government benefit programs. Each participant is assigned a job counselor and develops an individual employment plan. The counselor is to identify job openings, assist the participant in applying, advocate for the participant to employers. The counselor is also trained to be the coach whom all job seekers need: keeping spirits up through the (likely many) rejections, serving as a problem solver during the placement process and troubleshooting when job issues inevitably arise after placement. At each stage, the participant is no longer on their own. Since the early 1980s, work rules have been most extensively tested, studied and monitored in the welfare system, first as pilot projects by individual states and later under the federal welfare reform of 1996. Welfare scholars of the 1980s, including Manpower Demonstration Research Corp. President Judith Gueron would highlight how much previous welfare policies divorced from work requirements had underestimated the work orientation and strengths of welfare recipients. Researchers of welfare-to-work programs of the 1990s and early 2000s at the Urban Institute and with a consortium of university centers would confirm the widespread work orientation of welfare recipients, as well as their abilities to function in the work world. This is not to romanticize welfare-to-work. Despite the counseling and supports (transportation subsidies, child-care subsidies), a good number of participants drop out during the placement process or within a year of job placement. They do so because of chaotic personal lives or mental illnesses or developmental disabilities that the job placement system is unable to address. They do so because of an absence of a family network, or because they don't want to risk the other housing, healthcare and food stamp benefits they receive beyond the welfare payment. Even those who obtain jobs often struggle economically. At the same time, for those who are able to maintain a job, the job frequently brings values beyond the income. Jason Turner, the architect of the early Wisconsin welfare-to-work successes and later commissioner of New York City's Human Resources Administration, references the power of the job, drawing on his experiences over four decades. A job brings structure to participants in work requirement programs, somewhere to go every day. It brings a new confidence, which can translate into addressing daily life responsibilities that previously seemed overwhelming. In theory, the importance of employment is hailed across the political spectrum. In practice, though, the ties of government benefits to employment have been weakened in the past two decades — and so many opportunities to demonstrate the value of this connection have been missed. Welfare-to-work requirements have been diluted in major cities and blue states. Employment efforts for recipients of Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance have stalled. Guaranteed incomes schemes removed from employment have gained currency. The current proposed Medicaid work rules exclude Medicaid recipients with disabilities, mental health conditions and adults with young children. They also exclude the large number of Medicaid recipients who work part time or full time. None of these Medicaid recipients are at risk of losing health benefits. For the remaining group, the 'able-bodied' without young children, America has a vast workforce network at the ready to provide job placement services. No new bureaucracy is needed. It is a network of community-based agencies, workforce intermediaries and local American Job Centers, with lengthy experience in placing workers who have been outside the job mainstream. Though the first jobs that Medicaid recipients obtain will mainly be entry-level, lower-wage jobs, the recipients will be better off economically and at least on a path to the workforce system's goal of 'a job, a better job, a career.' Medicaid work rules are not cruel or punitive. They help Americans to reclaim the power of the job. Michael Bernick, a former director of the California Labor Department, serves on the state's Behavioral Health Oversight Commission.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
York County's only homeless shelter closes after 45 years
May 9—ALFRED — With an hour to go before the deadline to leave, Kurt Frank stood outside the front door of the homeless shelter where he's been staying for the last five weeks, a pile of bags stuffed full of his belongings at his feet. York County Shelter Programs, the nonprofit that runs the county's only homeless shelter, announced last week it would shutter some of its operations because it could no longer afford to operate. Since then, residents have been scrambling to find other places to go, a task that for some felt nearly impossible. Frank, who has serious health issues and lived in a tent for a year before coming to the shelter in Alfred, will spend the next 10 days in a motel in Sanford paid for by the city's General Assistance program. After that, he doesn't know what he'll do. "I keep asking the good Lord, 'When is enough?' It's just awful," Frank, 54, said as he waited for a friend to pick him up. The nonprofit organization announced last week that it had laid off 20 of its 70 employees and would suspend some of the programs it runs for people experiencing housing insecurity in York County. The board of directors said the closure of its adult shelter is necessary because of "significant and growing financial limitations," and called the decision gut-wrenching. The closure of the shelter comes as shelter providers across Maine push for additional state funding to cover the cost of operating homeless shelters. Emergency shelters in Maine receive $7 per night per bed in state funding, although a recent study by MaineHousing found the actual cost per bed is $102 per night. SOME PROGRAMS WILL STAY OPEN Earlier this week, the York County Commissioners voted to take over operations at the York County Shelter Programs food pantry, which serves about 6,000 people each month. The food pantry is already housed in a county-owned building and clients will not see an interruption in services. The county will pull $25,000 from a contingency fund to keep the food pantry running through the end of the year. Commissioners also voted to set aside $100,000 in the next fiscal year to fully take over pantry operations and hire staff. York County Shelter Programs has operated a homeless shelter since 1980, serving about 650 men, women and children each year. There were 37 residents in the adult shelter when the closure was announced last week. Kelli Deveaux, spokesperson for the board of directors, said Friday that the family shelter will stay open until all 16 current residents find alternative housing or another organization can take over operations. Layman Way Recovery Center, a 17-bed treatment facility, currently has nine clients and will stay open until June 30. That closing date had already been scheduled in coordination with the opening of a new county-run recovery center. No new clients will be accepted at Layman Way. The nonprofit will also continue to operate its affordable housing program, which includes 24 separate properties with 117 apartment units across York County. Books ReVisited, a used bookstore in Sanford run by volunteers to support YCSP clients, will stay open. Deveaux said the organization will retain 23 full- and part-time staff members, but about 30 employees will be laid off after Friday. "These are dedicated and valued employees who have provided life changing services for those in need in York County," Deveaux said in a statement. "Their impact has been immense, and we urge the community to send the kind words and offers of assistance received by YCSP to these heroes who have done so much for others." 'NOWHERE TO GO' This week, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers from York County sent a letter to Gov. Janet Mills and MaineHousing Director Dan Brennan urging them find a way to prevent the closure of the shelter. "The closure of the York County Shelter would be the loss of a vital community resource and have a significant and long-lasting negative impact on the folks who have found support and hope there. Existing programs and resources, which are limited, may be unable to handle an influx of demand for assistance," they wrote. House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, said in a social media post that Brennan told them that MaineHousing is working to figure out options for people displaced by the closure. A spokesperson said the governor's office "is concerned and monitoring the situation in York County" and referred questions to MaineHousing. MaineHousing has been in daily contact with the shelter staff in Alfred and is assisting with funding through existing contracts and the properties mortgaged through the agency, according to spokesperson Scott Thistle. "We are so impressed with the interim administration and staff in York County, who have safely re-housed everyone staying at the adult shelter and have found a way to keep the family shelter and all permanent housing units operating," Thistle said in a statement. "We will continue to work with all interested parties on the medium- and long-term plans of reopening an important shelter operation for southern Maine." Deveaux said the board and staff have also been working with York County Community Action Corporation, Preble Street, Caring Unlimited, Seeds of Hope in Biddeford, Sanford Housing, the Sanford city manager and the York County Task Force on Homelessness to transition people to other support services. Shelter staff have also been working directly with residents to try to make alternative housing plans. Deveaux said all 37 residents of the shelter had a plan in place for housing by Friday. But some people leaving the shelter Friday said they were still trying to find long-term housing. Joanne Goodreau, who had been staying at the shelter since November, said some people at the shelter were able to move into other properties run by the shelter program, but others "were scattering." She said some people planned to go to a warming shelter in Biddeford or a larger shelter in Portland. "Some people have moved on but for the people who haven't, I don't know what they're doing," Goodreau said Thursday afternoon. "There's really nowhere to go." Staff at the Homeless Services Center in Portland have taken a high number of calls from people from the Alfred shelter, but no one had gone to the Portland shelter by Friday afternoon, a city spokesperson said. Goodreau, 62, said a friend was putting her up in a motel for a few days, but she doesn't know where she'll go after that. She said she's lucky to have a car and worries most about the older people with medical needs who have been displaced. Frank, the resident waiting for a ride from the shelter on Friday, said he's dealing with anxiety, depression and COPD on top of the stress of moving out. He said he "bawled like a baby" when staff told him the shelter would close. Frank said his only income is a monthly Social Security disability check of $1,073, not enough to afford a room through the shelter program or an apartment in the area. There are no housing vouchers available and he's waiting for a spot in an assisted living facility, he said. "If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all," he said. Copy the Story Link We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion. You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs. Show less
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Portland sues Maine DHHS over General Assistance cuts for homeless shelters
May 6—The city of Portland has filed a lawsuit against the Maine Department of Health and Human Services hoping to overturn a new rule that will cut millions of dollars in emergency shelter funding for the city. The complaint was filed in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland last week, arguing that the rule was not changed through the proper process and should be considered void. The city also asks for a temporary injunction barring the rule from being implemented while a judge considers the lawsuit. No court dates have been scheduled yet. If the rule holds, Portland leaders have said it will be difficult for the city to continue operating the shelter without a sharp tax increase or pulling from an emergency fund. "We're not just going to hope for resolution in the Legislature, we're also going to seek an answer in the court. We're not going to be passive," Portland Mayor Mark Dion said in a phone interview Tuesday. Rule 26 went into effect on April 1 and formalizes how the department determines shelter costs, 70% of which are reimbursed through General Assistance. The city has said it costs $84 per guest, per day, to operate the shelter, but based on the new rule, the state said it should only cost $48 per guest per day. The state is now using a standard known as the "zero-bedroom rate," equal to that of operating a studio or efficiency apartment for each guest. That number is adjusted annually and is based on location-specific fair market rents established by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. View this document on Scribd The state has said that Rule 26 simply formalizes an existing policy, but the city has argued that the cost of running such a large emergency shelter is not aligned with the zero-bedroom rate set by HUD. A spokesperson for DHHS declined to answer questions about the filing because it is an active legal matter. The agency has not filed any responses in court. THREE COUNTS The city's complaint outlines three requests. First, it asks that the courts overturn the adoption of Rule 26 because it should have been brought before the Legislature as a substantive policy change, rather than an internal hearing. "If they adjusted schedules, that would be fair for the agency to decide. But this is more than that," Dion said. "It should have gone to the Legislature. This was more than just a housekeeping rule." Dion argues that Portland has been substantially impacted by the rule change, especially when it comes to its budget and ability to provide shelter services. The newly proposed city budget accounts for $12 million in state and federal funding cuts, including the General Assistance reimbursement changes resulting from Rule 26. A draft budget presented by City Manager Danielle West proposes closing that gap by pulling $8.8 million from the city's rainy day fund, while still raising taxes by 6.2%. Without the rainy day funds, city leaders said the tax rate could have increased by 15.1% The complaint also asks for a temporary injunction to prevent the rule from applying to Portland. And it seeks to overturn a violation issued to the city in the fall that says its reported operating costs for the city shelter were too high. Dion said the City Council unanimously decided to pursue legal action against the state after meeting with the city's lawyer, Michael Goldman, in executive session last month. He said the session was focused simply on fighting to overturn the violation, but that the council ultimately agreed the city has legal ground to fight the rule change in court. "This is a very serious decision, but the state's actions have placed us in a very precarious position as far as the budget is concerned," said Dion. He plans to continue to petition the Legislature for more GA funding even as the case unfolds in court. "I think most everyone has come to the conclusion that we are a service center city that, for all sorts of reasons, finds itself trying to discharge a state responsibility — so it's a fair expectation that we get adequate funding from the state to carry out that responsibility," he said. Copy the Story Link We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion. You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs. Show less
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Portland city manager's budget proposal calls for 6.2% citywide tax increase
Apr. 14—The Portland city manager is proposing a $285 million general fund budget for next year that would contribute to an overall tax rate increase of 6.2% and pull nearly $9 million from the rainy day fund to account for potential federal and state funding cuts that have left the city in a tough position. City Manager Danielle West presented her budget Monday night to the City Council, which voted unanimously to refer it to the finance committee for further review after little discussion. The Portland School Board voted last week to advance a $171.1 million budget to the City Council that included a 5.3% increase in the school portion of the property tax rate. When combined with the proposed city general fund budget, that would mean a 6.2% overall increase in the tax rate. The budget's corresponding tax rate will not be clear until the city finishes its property revaluation in August and a new mill rate has been set. And the budget largely hinges on the state Legislature's decision on whether to slash General Assistance reimbursement, so the proposed budget may shift in the coming months. West said in an interview Monday afternoon that because the mill rate is expected to go down after the revaluation, taxes for the median homeowner are only expected to rise by 5.6% on the city side. After West's presentation on Monday night, Mayor Mark Dion spoke to the council about the need for more General Assistance reimbursement from the state and his hope that the use of rainy day funds might be minimized if the state doesn't increase GA funding. "I'm troubled by Augusta. They know all too well that we have delivered a state service," said Dion. "It borders on immoral that they expect us as a community to meet that challenge, yet they deny us the very financial resources needed to meet that challenge." He went on to say that he anticipated there could be changes to the budget as the state considers action on General Assistance reimbursement. "It's a jump ball till June," said Dion. He went on to call the state's funding cuts an "assault on Portland taxpayers." FUNDING CUTS West and Finance Director Brendan O'Connell said that, altogether, this budget accounts for a $12 million reduction in state and federal funding. He said if it weren't for those cuts, the city would be reducing its tax rate this year by 4% with the same overall spending. That federal loss includes a $3 million FEMA grant that had been used for shelter operations. The draft budget West presented Monday would draw on $8.8 million from the city's rainy day fund to fill necessary gaps if the state ultimately cuts General Assistance reimbursement, something lawmakers have been debating for months. Without the use of rainy day funds, O'Connell said, the tax levy would have increased by 15.1%. "We don't want to use these funds for ongoing operating expenses; it's actually concerning. We would much rather see changes at the state level," West said. General Assistance money is crucial to keeping the city's shelter program open, which regularly houses 950 people on a nightly basis and includes the shelter for asylum seekers, the family shelter and the homeless services center. Of those people, 481 are from Maine towns outside of Portland, 203 are from out of state and 284 are from Portland, according to city data. "We are bearing the brunt of a state problem here," said West, who added that she will continue to work with Portland's delegation in the state Legislature to advocate for General Assistance reimbursement until the session wraps in June or July. Portland has already seen cuts to GA reimbursement over the last few years. In FY 2023, the state reimbursed Portland $30 million for GA spending. This year, the city expects to receive only about $10 million in reimbursement, though its social services have expanded. West said the city has provided social services in a very "economical way." West said the city's homeless shelter operates on about $87 per bed per night, while other municipalities spend more than double that to run similar shelters. POLICY CHANGES West is also recommending a number of policy changes to cut spending and rely less on the rainy day fund in the future to make ends meet. One recommendation is to reallocate opioid settlement dollars to help fund shelter operations rather than using it to build a new methadone clinic and day space on the peninsula. Another policy change is to move individual asylum seekers from the shelter on 166 Riverside St. into other forms of housing and then operating the family shelter out of the space while closing the existing family shelter. West said that would mean losing about 10 full-time employees, but would save the city about $1.3 million. The council would have to vote on both of these policy proposals separately from the budget. West said that she was concerned about what impacts municipal social service cuts could have on life in Portland. "If we have to rein in these services because we can't continue to fund it without the assistance from the state and federal government, what does that mean? Where do the people go?" said West. O'Connell said the city was able to close some of the gap in funding by reviewing projected revenue increases and upping some city fees. The proposed budget includes a 5% increase in funding to the public library and the creation of a handful of new jobs in the Parks and Recreation department. O'Connell said that in addition to proposed GA cuts, the cost of health care and county tax increases pose budget challenges too. The budget will come before the council again in June after it has been approved by the City Council's finance committee. "We'll be waiting to see what happens in Augusta and hoping to reach some sort of resolution with the state," said West. VISION ZERO The City Council also approved a Vision Zero initiative Monday amid concerns over road safety in the city following a string of pedestrian deaths. The plan, put together by the Greater Portland Council of Governments for the city to adopt, outlines steps the city can take to make the city safer and implements a new goal of having zero traffic deaths in Portland. The plan includes recommendations to improve crosswalk visibility, to build protected bike lanes, and to conduct an analysis to identify areas with high crash risk. "A resolve without intentional follow up is not enough to meet the moment," said Andrew Zarro, director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, during public comment. He spoke in favor of the initiative but urged the council to keep momentum going after passing it. The council unanimously approved the adoption of the plan with little discussion. Councilor Kate Sykes spoke in support of the plan, calling it one of the most important things the council has done in years. Copy the Story Link
