Children in 9,100 Families Headed by Disabled Parents
To Lose Subsistence Benefits!
Tell the Administration “NO”!
- The Governor’s 9C cuts announced on October 29 created a $23.8M deficit in item 4403-2000 which funds cash assistance for low-income children – Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC).
- To close the gap, the Administration plans to revise its regulations in January to slash benefits to children whose parents are disabled and receive federal SSI benefits by “deeming” the bulk of a parent’s SSI income as countable income to the children.
- These already very low income families will lose more than one third of their annual incomes: 8,400 families will lose all of their TAFDC benefits averaging $416 per month or almost $5,000 per year. These families will be left with no income other than SSI, averaging only $736 per month. Another 700 families will lose an average of $468 per month or $5,600 per year of income.
- This precipitous loss of income will put families at dramatically increased risk of homelessness, hunger, illness and despair. Any “savings” for the state will be offset by higher costs for emergency shelter and by increased costs resulting from putting children’s safety, health and educational development in jeopardy.
- Other states have rejected proposals to use the SSI income of parents to make their children ineligible for state cash assistance – recognizing that the parents cannot work to make up the difference and often need their SSI just to cover their own medically related costs and living expenses.
- Congress provided the federal TANF Emergency Contingency Fund precisely to stop this sort of action. The fund provides an 80% federal reimbursement for increased spending on cash assistance for families with children.
Tell the Administration to Go Back to the Drawing Board!
Ask the Legislature to Intervene!
Act Now to Protect Children with Parents with Disabilities!
For more information, contact Mass. Law Reform Institute 617-57-0700 (Pat Baker x328, Ruth Bourquin x333, Deborah Harris x313, Deborah Silva x340), Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless 781-595-7570 (Leslie Lawrence x16), or the Family Economic Initiative 617-603-1626 (Elizabeth Toulan).