Molina asks assistance for middle class needing welfare

 

 

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                 CONTACT:    Angie Castro, (213) 974-4111

                                                                                                         Mobile, (213) 703-2823

 

 

MOLINA MOVES TO ASSIST MIDDLE CLASS SEVERELY
IMPACTED BY THE RECESSION

 

 

LOS ANGELES COUNTY (Apr 6, 2009) – Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina will ask her colleagues on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors tomorrow to join her in taking steps to help middle class families in need who are severely impacted by the recession and do not qualify for public assistance.   This would require establishing the necessary Federal remedies to provide these families and individuals with temporary CalWORKs and/or food stamp programs. 

“We are experiencing the worst recession in decades.  As more and more people lose their jobs and search for new ones in a shrinking job market, many families are finding themselves, often for the first time, with inadequate funds to pay their rent/mortgage, keep their utilities, and provide food for their children,” said Molina.  “We are referring to individuals who have been gainfully employed most of their adults lives, have paid into the public assistance safety net – and now just need temporary help to avoid becoming a permanent burden to our public assistance system.”

In coordination with the utilization of homeless prevention funding that the County will receive under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Molina requested that the County’s legislative lobbyists, in conjunction with the County’s Department of Public Social Services, seek temporary waivers and/or other legislative remedies to modify current asset and/or income eligibility limits to assist families and individuals denied of public benefits because of low asset and income eligibility rules set in existing law.

The Department of Public Social Services reports that there are more than 7,000 families who apply for, but are not approved for CalWORKs assistance on a monthly basis, and more than 19,000 households who apply but for, but are not approved for food stamp benefits each month.  

 

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