Welfare bills harmful - from Michigan League for Human Services

League statement on the passage of bills to enact a 48-month lifetime, retroactive limit on cash assistance.

“The passage of House Bills 4409 and 4410 will negatively affect children across the state. As Michigan recovers from a deep, deep recession and jobs remain in short supply, this is the wrong time to implement this policy.... "

See full statement.

Speak up! Although the bills are finalized and Gov. Snyder is expected to sign them, it's important to let lawmakers and the governor know that this legislation to be the wrong priority for Michigan, especially in this era of high unemployment.

Click here to contact Gov. Snyder.

Click here to contact your state representative.

Click here to contact your state senator.

Summer Car Wash For the Homeless - Date Change to 8-27

When: August 27, 2011 10:00am-3:00pm

Where: At the Seven Eleven on 5034 W Kl Ave and Drake Rd Kalamazoo, MI 49009 Donations will go to support the work of The Homeless Relief Campaign Initiative

Volunteers needed from 9am-4pm

For more information contact LaShana Jones at (269) 779-5572 Or email hrci.inc@gmail.com

Homeless Relief Campaign Initiative | 5805 Oakland Drive | Portage, MI 49024

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization News

Republished from the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization

National Poverty Tour Comes to Detroit

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 04:51 PM PDT

On Monday, August 8th, 2011, something very critical is happening in Detroit.

The 15-city POVERTY TOUR: A CALL TO CONSCIENCE is making a stop at City Hall.
PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley and Princeton Professor Cornell West have coordinated this national effort to shine a light on the plight of the American poor.

MI Welfare Rights has been invited to attend and, we in turn, invite you to come and share your thoughts about the rising poverty that we all see happening in Detroit. With the threat of 12,600 welfare families being cut off of benefits effective October, 2011, we are in the front seat as we see our meager standard of living being driven down.

Read Poverty Tour statistics on U.S. poverty.

Meet us at the Detroit Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (aka City County Bldg) in the Auditorium on Monday, August 8th at noon sharp until 2pm. This Tour has made appearances all over the country as they document everywhere else what is happening here.

See you there!

Video: "Tavis tells the Truth about Poverty in America," CBS commentary can be found on Poverty Tour website.

Why We March: Announcing the Workers March On Washington

Posted: 01 Aug 2011 03:00 PM PDT

Beginning today, August 1, 2011, we will begin the first of many posts about preparation for the national Workers March On Washington, June 30, 2012. As a proud member of the Assembly to End Poverty, MWRO is actively organizing thousands of workers and low-income people to speak out and demand an end to poverty!

For the next several months, we will keep you posted with regular reports, analyses and commentary on why we must march. While we gather momentum toward this great march, we know that the heart of this work lies in the stories, testimonials and experiences of poverty from every person in the U.S. that we meet along the way.

We know that the foundation on which society rests has changed forever. Science has advanced technology very fast, making workers more productive than ever before. Fewer human beings are needed to produce. In Michigan, we live in a State that's been hit very hard by this new world order. Yet, political operatives have suggested that mothers on welfare with children be
separated from their benefits and forced into the work market. The first 12,600 public assistance families will be eliminated effective Oct. 1st, 2011.

In the worst job market, in the worst housing market, with family violence spiraling out of control, the answer is to push women and children into deeper poverty? The State will save $64 million by eliminating payments to this group. What is the worth of a human being?

The Assembly To End Poverty is calling for a Workers March On Washington, June 30, 2012. We march on D.C. because we want to eliminate poverty, and not the poor. We can and we will do this!

Get involved, contact: EndPoverty2012@gmail.com. You have 335 days left.

Online Map Hopes to Ease Michigan Summer Hunger Challenges for Youths

republished from the State of Michigan Department of Education website

LANSING – Summer in Michigan is lots of fun. However, for thousands of children, summer may mean going without the healthy breakfast and lunch normally offered at their local school.

There are free meals available to children across Michigan through the Summer Food Service Program. Yet, despite serving more than 144 million free and affordable lunches during the 2010 school year, only 2.6 million meals were served through this program last summer.

In an effort to provide these free meals to more children, the Michigan Department of Education has created a SFSP Site Locator Map. This online map allows parents, youth, and food assistance organizations to find the nearest meal sites across the state.

"The free Summer Food Service meal sites are in most communities, we just need families to be aware and able to find them,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan. “This online tool is designed to provide greater information and access to nutritional meals for kids during the summer.”

The map is simple to use – just go to the Map webpage, click on the site nearest you and a pop up window with hours of operation and meals served appears. The map is updated weekly throughout the summer as additional sites begin operation. The public is encouraged to check the website throughout the summer for Summer Food sites nearest them.

The Summer Food Service Program was established to ensure that children continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. Free meals, that meet federal nutrition guidelines, are provided to all children 18 years and younger at approved SFSP sites in areas with significant concentrations of low income children. SFSP operators include public and private nonprofit schools, residential camps, colleges or universities, government agencies, and other private non-profit organizations.

The SFSP Site Locator Map can be found at www.mcgi.state.mi.us/schoolnutrition or at the Summer Food Service Program website at www.michigan.gov/sfsp

The Summer Food Service Program, administered by MDE through funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is available to children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability.

MI Farm to School Grant Program Grantees

Farm to school friends and partners,

With funding from the WK Kellogg Foundation, the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University will award up to $2,000 for schools/districts around the state to plan for or implement farm to school programs. We are excited to announce that EIGHT school/district applicants have been selected to participate in the first grant year!

The grantees for the new Michigan Farm to School Grant Program 2011 - 2012 grant year are:

School/District County Type of Grant
Bear Lake School District Manistee Implementation
Clare Public Schools Clare Planning
Gladwin Community School Gladwin Implementation
Kaleva Norman Dickson School District Manistee Implementation
Montrose Community Schools Genesee Implementation
Reed City Area Public Schools Osceola Planning
South Haven Public Schools Van Buren Planning
Traverse City College Preparatory Academy Grand Traverse Planning

Each grantee is unique, with exciting and innovative ideas for planning for or implementing farm to school programs. Since a goal of this grant program is to help vulnerable children find more healthy and local food choices in school meals programs, each school/district selected to participate has at least 50% free and reduced-price meal enrollment (as of application date).

This grant program is a direct way to help food service directors across the state overcome some of the many challenges they face when working to initiate and expand farm to school programs. Not only will grantees be awarded up to $2,000 dollars in funding, they will also be provided with technical assistance and training opportunities to help develop, support and enhance of their farm to school activities and programs.

From the: CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems
Michigan State University
via Gordie Moeller

Grand Rapids Rally TOMORROW from Michgan League for Human Services

Dear friends and MILHS members,

Please join a Tuesday July 19 rally in Grand Rapids that will call for protection of seniors, children, people with disabilities and middle-class families in the current national debate on the federal debt ceiling.

The rally, by Michigan Citizen Action, Michigan Consumers for Healthcare Advancement  and other organizations, will be at the Ottawa side of the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building, 110 Michigan St. NW, Grand Rapids from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. with a 4:30 p.m. press conference.

The goal is let U.S. Rep. Justin Amash know that we need a reasonable plan for deficit reduction that reflects our values, protects our families and neighbors and that doesn't shift more burden onto the states and middle-class families.

On a related issue, the League Monday sent a letter to the Michigan congressional delegation urging the rejection of a Balanced Budget Amendment that could hinder an economic recovery.

 The League has also released a new paper on how to create an ideal P-20 data tracking system. The report, The Key Ingredient: Good Data is Crucial to Building Michigan's Workforce System, examines best practices for including information on adult learners.

Additionally, the League has posted a new chart that estimates how many Family Independence Program cases will be closed by county under House Bills 4409 and 4410, which would enact stricter 48-month time limits on families receiving cash assistance. The bills will hurt vulnerable children and their families in Michigan.
For more information on this public policy discussion, please see an outstanding editorial in the Detroit Free Press .

The Right Start in Michigan and Its Counties - 2011

Michigan Mothers and Their Babies: Overview and Trends 2000-2009 The Right Start in Michigan is the Kids Count annual review of mothers' and babies' well-being.  Over the decade between 2000 and 2009, Michigan improved on three of the five indicators where a trend could be calculated. The biggest improvement was the 13 percent decline in teen mothers who were having another baby - dropping from 21 percent to 18 percent of teen births. Teen births and preterm births also dropped over the decade. The most dramatic worsening was the 20 percent increase in births to unmarried women. The percentage of low-birthweight babies weighing less than 5.5 pounds rose slightly. In 2009 more Michigan babies were born to mothers in economically insecure circumstances than in 2000. Roughly half of Michigan infants were born to low-income mothers eligible for Medicaid, and births to unmarried mothers represented roughly 40 percent of all births in 2009. Women unmarried at the birth of their child are likely to remain single parents with the heightened risk of poverty. The full Right Start in Michigan and its Counties - 2011 report is available on the Michigan League for Human Services website.

Go to the Voices for Michigan's Children site...