PathWays PA E-Alert: November 28, 2011

Federal Updates

SUPER COMMITTEE FAILS TO REACH A COMPROMISE; AUTOMATIC SPENDING CUTS TRIGGERED

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the Super Committee in Congress, failed to address the necessary amount of cuts to reduce the federal deficit, triggering automatic $1.3 trillion cuts set to begin in 2013. Many of the disagreements came over reticence on tax increases and cuts to social safety net programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Half the cuts to come will be from defense programs, while certain federal programs – including Medicaid, Social Security and SNAP (Food stamps) – will initially be insulated from such cuts. However, other domestic spending programs may be in danger of losing funding.

To learn more about what some national groups are saying regarding the Super Committee, please visit the following links:

• Super Committee Unable to Reach Deal: National Skills Coalition
• Super Committee Cannot Leap Over Ideological Chasm; President Warns He Will Not Allow Gutting of Automatic Cuts: Coalition on Human Needs
• Super Committee Failure Part and Parcel of a Larger Problem: CLASP

TELL CONGRESS TO RENEW UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

One in four children in our country are currently food insecure during this holiday season. And, if Congress fails to act in the next few weeks on extending unemployment benefits, that number will grow.

The deadline for extending benefits is December 31^st, and Mom’s Rising is organizing an action around the extension, and are seeking stories and letters to deliver to Capitol Hill this week. To sign on, please click here.



Pennsylvania Updates

PENNSYLVANIA MOVES TOWARD STATE-RUN HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGE

In recently released reports, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department said they believe a state-run health insurance exchange, like those modeled with the affordable care act, may be in the best interest of Pennsylvanians.

From here, they will apply for a federal establishment grant that will help lay the groundwork for the program, and appeal next to the general assembly to put in place legislation that will help create the necessary state regulations to build such exchanges.

Copies of the reports can be found at pahealthoptions.com.


LIHEAP STILL OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS

LIHEAP is the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. This program helps low-income families pay their heating bills.

LIHEAP is taking (new) applications for its cash and weatherization grants beginning November 1, 2011 and for crisis grants beginning January 3, 2012. If you are without heat before January 3rd and a cash grant alone is insufficient to restore your heat you may apply for a “Crisis Exception Payment.”

If you received LIHEAP last year you must reapply this year

There are three parts of LIHEAP. You can get all three.
1.        Cash grants. These grants are to help with your heating bill; the minimum cash grant will be $100 and the maximum grant $1000.
2.        Crisis grants. These grants are up to $300 and given to families who have an emergency and are in danger of being without heat. The minimum crisis grant is $25.
3.        Weatherization grants. These grants help families insulate their houses and repair or replace heating systems to save money on heating.

To apply for a Cash or Crisis grant, apply on-line at www.compass.state.pa.us or visit your local benefits office. An eligibility table is below:

Household Size	Yearly Income
1	$16,335
2	$22,065
3	$27,795
4	$33,525
Each additional person add	$ 5,730

Info / Events

 SHELTER PROGRAM OPENS FOR VETERANS

For veterans struggling with home stability or in need of other support services, Project H.O.M.E. has teamed up with The Philadelphia Veterans Multiservice and Education Center and Impact Services Corp. to create The Philadelphia Alliance for Supportive Services to Veteran Families.

The program provides rapid rehousing assistance to veterans as well as temporary financial assistance, child care assistance, legal assistance and many other services. Participating households must be a veteran or a member of a family in which the head of household or spouse are military veterans without a dishonorable discharge.

  For additional information, please contact the PASSVF Program Coordinator at (215)-232-7272

FREE FLU SHOTS THIS THURSDAY IN UPPER DARBY

Those ages six months and older will be able to get free walk-in flu shots this Thursday, December 1^st, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Drexel Hill Fire Company, 323 Edmonds Ave. The event is sponsored by the township council and the mayor’s office. Participants are asked to bring a canned good or non-perishable food donation for local food banks.


WORKSHOP TO HELP MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS WORK BETTER WITH CLIENTELE

Dr. David Mee-Lee, recent author of Tips and Topics: Opening the Toolbox for Transforming Services and Systems, will be holding a training for mental health professionals entitled Engaging Resistant and Court-Mandated Clients and Clinical Issues in Clients with Co-Occurring Disorders and Trauma History, specifically aimed at those who work with clients with co-occuring mental and substance abuse problems. The training is eligible for six hours of continuing education training.

The training will take place on December 16 at the Delaware County Intermediate Unit in Morton, PA. Spaces are limited. To register, click here.

AMERICANS IN STRUGGLE SERIES PRESENTS STORY OF SANITATION WORKERS STRIKE

The Philadelphia Unemployment Project continues its Americans in Struggle film series this week with At the River I Stand, the story behind the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Snacks and refreshments will be served. The event is at 112 N Broad St., Second Floor. For more information, go to the PUP website.

CONGRATULATIONS TO PATHWAYS BOARD MEMBER PATRICIA MILLER

Congratulations to PathWays PA board member Patricia Miller for being named one of the 2011 Women of Distinction by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

To read more, click here.