|
WAC ADVOCACY ALERT
January 31, 2003
Vital Assistance for the Disabled at Risk:
Urge your legislators to protect the General Assistance-Unemployable (GA-U)
Program
TAKE ACTION: Critical support for 6,000 - 9,000 people who are unable to
work due to a disability is at risk of being cut from the state budget. Call
your legislators and urge them to protect funding for the General Assistance
- Unemployable (GA-U) Program.
Call the legislative hotline at: 1-800-562-6000
SCRIPT: "I urge you not to make cuts to the General Assistance -
Unemployable (GA-U) program. This program is essential for people with disabilities and mental illness in order to meet their basic needs and
keep their housing."
BACKGROUND: Nearly 18,000 people in Washington state who are unable to
work to meet their basic needs for food, shelter and medical care, rely on the
General Assistance Unemployable (GA-U) program. However, approximately 6,000 - 9,000 of these recipients are at risk of losing their primary
source
of financial assistance. In his budget for 2003-05 biennium, Governor Locke
proposes eliminating a portion of the GA-U program.
For the approximately 6,000 to 9,000 people who would be cut off GA-U, these
cuts could lead to increased homelessness, greater rates of hunger and acute
mental health crisis.
The Governor's budget maintains funding for some of the 18,000 recipients
of GA-U under a program called GA-X. These recipients will eventually qualify
for federal support through Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and the state will be reimbursed for the cash assistance given out under GA-U.
However, The Governor's budget eliminates benefits for approximately 6,000
to 9,000 of those who have temporary disabilities or conditions that don't
qualify them for federal aid.
Washington state is one of 40 states that has a General Assistance program
that provides financial help and medical coverage for persons unable to work. To receive the $339 cash grant a medical
professional must provide documentation of a diagnosed medical condition. Between 45% and 50% of
those on GA-U have a mental illness.
If the legislature implements the Governor's proposed cuts to GA-U, the 6,000 to 9,000 disabled people on this program will lose the $339 a month
they currently receive. Many people with disabilities rely on this income
to pay their rent or make them eligible for subsidized housing. Without
it, they will be placed at great risk of becoming homeless.
Update:
Washington Association of Churches Statement Supports Clergy as Mandatory
Reporters Last week the House Children and Family Committee heard testimony from
several community groups regarding legislation to make clergy mandatory reporters of the abuse or neglect of children or vulnerable adults.
House Bill 1054, would add clergy to the list of professionals including
counselors, nurses, teachers and others who are mandated to make a report
to the state of evidence of child abuse or neglect.
The Washington Association of Churches testified in support of the legislation along with advocates for the protection of children. Below
is the WAC's position statement on clergy as mandatory reporters:
The Washington Association of Churches' member denominations represent a
broad range of Christian protestant traditions, which hold sometimes-differing interpretations of the gospels, and which practice
and uphold different sacraments. For each of these the role of confession
plays a different role in the life of the church.
However, the traditions and values of all our denominational partners rest
on many commonalities as well. Among them is the role of clergy as teacher,
spiritual guide, personal advisor and family counselor. This relationship
represents a sacred trust between the pastor and parishioner, but it also
represents a trust on the part of the wider church community - not only to
serve as a spiritual guide, but also to play a critical role as a steward
of the safety of children and vulnerable adults who are both parishioners
and
members of the wider community.
As stewards of the safety and well being of children in our community, we
support legislation to include clergy among the many other important professionals in our state who are required by law to report evidence of
abuse and neglect. We view the roles and responsibilities of mandatory reporting as appropriate to the trust relationship that exists between
the church and the community. Many clergy among our denominational partners
already hold themselves to a principle of reporting evidence of child
abuse and neglect as if the law already required them to, and advise their
congregational members with that understanding.
We feel that legislation that includes clergy as mandatory reporters of abuse/neglect:
* Should be specific enough to provide meaningful protection for children and vulnerable adults, and to provide clear guidance to clergy
as to what situations and under what circumstances they would be expected to
report.
* Should require clergy to serve as mandatory reporters in situations
where they are engaged in a counseling/advising role outside of formal confession.
* Should not oblige a clergy-person to break a sacred trust that exists during formal confession.
For more information about this legislative alert please contact:
Julie L. Watts
Church and Public Policy Program
Washington Association of Churches
419 Occidental Ave. South Suite, 201
Seattle WA, 98105-2886
(206) 625-9790 x 11
http://www.thewac.org
|