Latest news with #VirginiaDepartmentofSocialServices
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Report finds 44% of working Hampton households are struggling to meet basic needs
Nearly half of Hampton households cannot afford basic necessities, and most of them are making too much money to receive benefits, according to a new report from the city's Economic Empowerment and Family Resiliency department. The study looked at poverty, with 2023 Census data showing 13% of Hampton households fall below the federal poverty line — roughly 2% higher than national average. However, another 31% of the city's households are classified as Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed (ALICE), meaning they earn above the federal poverty line, but not necessarily enough to afford necessities like health care, food or transportation. The current federal poverty line for a single person is $15,650 and $32,150 for a family of four. Across Hampton Roads cities, the percentage of households living in poverty ranges from 9% in Virginia Beach to 19% in Portsmouth. Economic Empowerment and Family Resiliency Director DeAnna Valentine said during Wednesday's presentation to City Council that despite their work to climb out of poverty, the Hampton residents in that limited income population are one mishap away sliding back down, and don't have social safety nets to support them. 'These are people that don't necessarily qualify for state benefits like SNAP or Medicaid, but also don't necessarily make enough money to get out of the situation where they currently are,' Valentine said. 'So any sort of a critical illness, vehicle might need repairs, housing repairs, could very easily slide these individuals and these families backward into poverty.' The data is a continuation from 2022, which saw roughly 45% of Hampton households at or below ALICE levels, according to the Virginia Department of Social Services. Poverty is dispersed in different pockets around the city, Valentine said. She noted Black and Hispanic households, each with roughly half of each demographic sitting at or below ALICE levels, are disproportionately faced with poverty. Here's how proposed federal cuts to Medicaid could impact Virginians 'It's in a chaotic state': Virginia food banks feel the effects of federal funding cuts Hampton to consider banning camping on public property Those pockets also span across neighborhoods like downtown and Hampton University, where more than 70% of the population of both areas is considered asset limited, according to the study. In Historic Phoebus, 66% of households are asset limited with and a roughly $30,000 median household income. The neighborhood is sandwiched between three communities where the median household income is more than $90,000. Poverty bleeds into other aspects of life, including substance use, crime and hunger, according to Valentine. When the majority of your neighbors are experiencing the same hardships , Valentine said it can create an isolating cycle and climbing out of it can seem impossible. 'If the people that you are connected with are also in the same situation that you are in, sometimes it's hard to find that positive person,' Valentine said. 'Sometimes it's hard to have that positive outlook if everyone is in that same boat struggling along.' Financial resources can be hindered by accessibility issues, city budgetary constraints and systemic issues barriers like evictions, Valentine said. That's why the city is looking at solutions. While initiatives like community marketplaces and temporary housing have worked for other localities in the past, City Manager Mary Bunting said the climb out of poverty usually happens slowly, and many people become trapped between taking a small pay raise and losing their state or federal benefits. As a result, Bunting said it's up to the city to take up the mantle to continue supporting its residents and ensure people's effort to work their way to a better livelihood is worth it. 'For many people, there are disincentives built into the system,' Bunting said. 'Especially if you have children or things of that nature, the incremental increase in wages that you get may not be enough to offset what you lose.' Devlin Epding, 757-510-4037,
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Youngkin signs bipartisan child welfare reforms and sets new goals for foster care
Gov. Glenn Youngkin signs legislation reforming child welfare laws in Richmond on Thursday as Katie Jones (right), who spent much of her childhood in the foster system, looks on. (Photo by Markus Schmidt/Virginia Mercury) Katie Jones was 11 the last time she saw her childhood home, where her father, an alcoholic, stayed between jail stints and her mother struggled with heroin addiction. One day after school, just moments after she had settled in with a bag of chips and her homework, police and social services workers pulled up outside. Within minutes, Jones and her five siblings were loaded into vehicles, separated from each other, and plunged into the foster care system — an experience that would shuffle her through five homes, three schools, and years of uncertainty before she aged out at 18, never adopted. Now 25, Jones stood beside Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday as he signed a slate of new child welfare reforms into law and launched 'Safe Kids, Strong Families,' a sweeping initiative to strengthen Virginia's support for foster youth and help families in crisis stay together. 'The system is broken and it needs to be changed,' Jones told the crowd gathered at the Patrick Henry Building in Richmond's Capitol Square. 'I hope sharing my story today makes a difference.' As of April 1 2024, there are 5,156 children in foster care in Virginia, with 2,638 (51.16%) children in non-relative foster homes, according to data from the Virginia Department of Social Services. The children range in age from birth to 17 years. Thursday's event brought together lawmakers, advocates, caseworkers, and foster families to celebrate progress in Virginia's child welfare system — and to acknowledge how far it still has to go. Among the bills Youngkin signed were House Bill 1777 and Senate Bill 1406, bipartisan proposals that guarantee foster youth age 12 and older direct access to the Office of the Children's Ombudsman. The legislation ensures children can file complaints and communicate with the ombudsman without requiring permission from social workers, foster parents, or custodians. It also requires agencies to provide contact information to foster youth, their families and caregivers. Supporters say the measure will help increase transparency and empower youth to advocate for themselves — something Jones didn't always feel she could do. 'Children need families. Children need support, and they need love,' Youngkin said. 'When we work together in order to address this basic need … then we are all marching together toward a destination that will truly guarantee a great future for the commonwealth of Virginia.' The governor said his focus on child welfare reform began at the onset of his term with one startling fact: over 100 children in foster care were sleeping in social services offices because there was nowhere else to send them. 'I asked Janet Kelly to take on this most important task of finding a place for these children to call home,' Youngkin said. Kelly, now Virginia's Secretary of Health and Human Resources, had been serving as a senior advisor at the time. She launched the Safe and Sound Task Force, and within months, the number of children sleeping in government offices dropped dramatically. 'I remember the first time she came into my office and said, 'Governor, tonight, there are no children sleeping in offices.' That was a moment,' Youngkin said. 'Today, we still have a few. But that is the absolute exception now — not the rule.' Kelly, speaking from personal experience, called the work 'deeply personal.' 'By investing in them, coaching them, believing in them, trusting them, teaching them, loving them, and listening to them, all kids — even and especially kids in foster care — can have the opportunity to turn heartbreak into hope,' she said. Thirteen years ago, Kelly and her husband took custody of an 18-month-old boy through a kinship placement. 'It worked pretty well,' she said, 'but we know all too well that the balance of hope and heartbreak never ends when it comes to foster care.' Another reform that Youngkin signed Thursday, Senate Bill 801, modernizes the Children's Services Act (CSA), expanding eligibility to children identified as 'in need of services.' It also mandates state approval for the tool used to determine eligibility and eliminates outdated references to long-defunct programs and structures. Youngkin called the bill a turning point. 'Kinship care is at the heart of providing a safe place for kids and strong families,' he said. 'And the work that was done on a bipartisan basis … changes everything.' He pointed to recent progress in Virginia's kinship placement rankings. 'We're watching the numbers move,' he said. 'Virginia went from last, and we're climbing.' But the governor also issued a challenge. 'Notwithstanding the tremendous progress that we have made, we have huge mountains yet to climb,' Youngkin said. Abuse hotline calls are up 25% since 2020, he noted, and more than 70% of child fatalities tied to abuse or neglect had prior contact with child protective services. 'Forty percent of frontline workers leave their jobs after one year due to trauma and burnout,' he added. 'We need to continue to strive to be the very best — not because we want to be ranked, but because we are serving children.' 'Safe Kids, Strong Families' aims to take a system-wide approach to reform, aligning policy, funding, and community efforts around a shared goal — stability, safety, and long-term success for every Virginia child. First lady Suzanne Youngkin reminded the audience of the moral and spiritual weight behind the work. 'Every single person in this room — and everyone in the commonwealth of Virginia, in our country, in our world — has an obligation to defend the weak, rescue the poor, keep them from the wicked, and focus on the fatherless and motherless,' she said. 'It's a very intricate web of services, of laws, of God stepping into the gap.' For Katie Jones, those gaps were often wide and painful. 'The sad truth is most foster kids don't graduate high school, less than 10% go to college, and even fewer get a degree or certification,' she said. 'I was the exception, I got lucky. But to this day, I never got adopted.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Plan to axe SNAP would harm poorest Americans so richest ones could live more luxuriously
(Photo by) Think the decades-old food stamps program deserves to be in the callous, capricious cross hairs of Elon Musk, President Donald Trump and the latter's spineless sycophants in Congress? Then you don't know someone like Ndaneh Luseni. The 34-year-old Alexandria woman, a single mother with three children, depends on the nourishment that food stamps provide. Luseni receives only $83 a month in benefits from what's formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Yet, that money allows her to help make ends meet on a regular basis. SNAP pays for essentials like eggs, milk, bread and juice in her household. 'It provides just some sort of assistance, where I can sleep and I know the kids will have something in the house … some stability,' Luseni, a clinical technician at a Northern Virginia hospital, told me this week. She brings home $600, after taxes, every two weeks from her job. Congressional Republicans are hellbent on gutting the program that dates to the New Deal and similar safety nets for the poor, in part to extend tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans. As if the latter even needs them. It's plutocratic porn at its worst. Trump and his wealthy allies want to yank benefits from low-income workers, disabled Americans and children so they can treat themselves to a sixth car, a third house or yet another international excursion. The prevailing plan treats SNAP recipients as a nuisance, forcing them to fend for food while rich Americans get fatter – literally and figuratively. 'There are so many people struggling to survive nowadays that it seems incredibly cruel to cut these benefits,' said Jay Speer, executive director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center. State Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, told me many people on SNAP are children or disabled individuals. 'It is critically important that it be maintained as a program as it's currently funded, so that families can get sustenance,' Locke said, adding she didn't understand 'why that's a hard sell.' More than 866,000 people in the commonwealth received SNAP funding in February, according to the Virginia Department of Social Services. That's nearly 10% of the state's population. The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to lower spending by certain committees in the chamber. That budget framework included at least $230 billion less from the Agriculture Committee through 2034; that panel oversees programs including SNAP. The Senate ordered a narrower budget resolution to cut at least $1 billion, but a second budget resolution could dictate much deeper cuts. The exact policies and cuts themselves aren't clear. Various news articles, though, say you can't reach $230 billion without major hits to SNAP. In fiscal year 2023, SNAP served an average of 42.1 million participants per month nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That was 12.6% of the total U.S. population. The potential evisceration has shaken many SNAP users and advocates for low-income people. They can't fathom why such a radical change makes sense or is even moral. 'SNAP is really important,' said Cassie Edner, public benefits attorney at the Virginia Poverty Law Center. Families need the boost so their children 'grow up healthy. Seniors with health conditions need quality food to stay healthy.' 'Without this, they have to choose between paying rent or mortgage and putting food on the table.' Other considerations are at play, too. Retailers who accept SNAP payments – roughly 6,400 in Virginia – would lose money, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute. SNAP disbursements also boost neighborhoods, the center said: 'In a weak economy, each $1 in additional spending on SNAP benefits generates $1.54 in economic activity when households use their benefits to shop at local stores in their communities.' Nor is SNAP a magnet for illegal spending, one of the purported reasons Musk and his misguided Department of Government Efficiency project operates. 'Cases of intentional fraud by participants or SNAP authorized retailers are relatively rare,' the center said. One result of the potential SNAP cuts would be to force states, nonprofits and food banks to shoulder more of the slack. That would be a monumental, costly task they couldn't begin to handle. 'States pay half of the cost of administering SNAP, but the federal government funds 100% of benefit costs, which make up the vast majority of program costs,' the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said. 'Virtually all states must balance their budgets each year, so shifting even a small portion of SNAP benefit costs' to states would require raising revenue or cutting funding for other programs or services. The discussion is very personal to Locke, since her family depended on food stamps when she was growing up in Jackson, Mississippi. She was one of 11 children raised by a single mother, some of the time in public housing. Even though her mother worked, it was often minimum wage jobs. 'She had to depend on this supplemental support through food stamps and free and reduced lunch,' Locke recalled – with all the social stigma that using paper money at the store entailed in those days. Barry Muhammad, a 69-year-old retiree in Hampton, gets roughly $160 a month in SNAP benefits. They pay for bacon, bread, oatmeal and other essentials, freeing up money for expenses that include electricity, gas and rent. The Army veteran says the people in Washington wielding an axe to vital programs don't face what typical Americans confront. 'They never had to experience what people like me in my condition had to go through,' Muhammad surmised. 'They're rich, wealthy people.' That's a huge part of the disconnect – and the condescension. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Axios
27-02-2025
- Health
- Axios
Some Virginia SNAP recipients can use their EBT cards at restaurants
Some Virginia SNAP recipients can now use their benefits at certain local restaurants. State of play: The Virginia Department of Social Services recently launched its Virginia Restaurant Meals Program, which it describes as a "tremendous step towards fighting food insecurity" for residents that struggle to make hot meals at home. Eligible SNAP households are those that are 60 or older, permanently disabled, experiencing homelessness, or the spouse of an elderly or disabled SNAP recipient. How it works: The program allows some Virginians who use SNAP, formerly food stamps, to use their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card at participating restaurants, the same way they would at a grocery store. Diners aren't charged tax or tip. Just over a dozen Richmond-area restaurants are part of the program. They include Carytown Gyro, The Beet Box, Touché Pies and Fries, Best Wings & Tacos, Kokonut Grill, and some KFC and McDonald's locations. What we're watching: The state will review how effective the program was by the end of the year, 13NewsNow reported.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Virginia program expands access to nutritious meals for SNAP recipients
RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Department of Social Services has expanded access for SNAP recipients through a new program. In partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture, the recently launched Virginia Restaurant Meals Program allows those who use EBT cards to buy grab-and-go meals at participating restaurants. The goal is to make nutritious meals more accessible. The program gives access to those over 60 years old, permanently disabled or experiencing homelessness to buy a prepared meal. To see the participating restaurants, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
