PathWays PA Policy Blog

On July 10, the PA Supreme Court made a unanimous ruling that Pennsylvania must reinstate the General Assistance (GA) program. GA provides cash assistance for very low-income Pennsylvanians. To qualify, recipients must: have a temporary or permanent disability be a minor child who is not living with a relative be caring for an unrelated child under the age of 12 be caring for someone ill or disabled be victims of domestic violence (limited to nine months in a lifetime) be in a drug or alcohol treatment program that prevents them from working (limited to nine months in a lifetime) The maximum amount of Cash Assistance for people with no other income is $205/month for one person or $316/month for two people. Download a flyer from CLS and learn more here .

Do you need your Birth Certificate but don’t have ID? If you were born in PA you can get help! Clinic presented by: Legal Aid of Southeastern PA, Catholic Social Services and Santander Bank October 23, 2018 11:00 am to 2:00 pm Catholic Social Services, 130 East 7th Street, Chester, PA 19013 Meet with an attorney who will request your birth certificate for you. No ID required! Registration required for fee waiver - please register by calling Legal Aid at 610-874-8421 Fees sponsored by Santander Bank and the Delaware County Bar Foundation

While the Senate chose to skip its usual August recess this year, the House is at home with its constituents - you. Why not take the time to meet with your legislators and tell them what you are thinking about? If you're not sure how to go about setting up a meeting (or what to do once you're there), check out our information below. Decide what you want to meet about: There's so many issues to discuss right now - healthcare ,  DACA , domestic violence and the Violence Against Women Act, paid family leave and the FAMILY Act , payday lending .... Think about what matters to you, and do a little research to learn more until you feel comfortable talking about it. Set up the meeting: Prosperity Now put together a great tool for setting up recess meetings, including a sample email and information on how to contact the scheduler in your legislator's office.  If you're uncomfortable with this format, you can make it simple - find your member of Congress here , a

Our friends at the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence report that Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas has just introduced a new bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). This bill, among other changes: • Increases authorization for the Rape Prevention and Education Program to $150 million to address skyrocketing need and demand for community prevention programs. • Strengthens public housing protections for survivors including those seeking housing transfers based on safety concerns. • Acknowledges the trauma of incarceration on women and their family members, especially their children, and improves health care services and trauma informed responses to better prepare incarcerated women to return to their communities. • Improves enforcement of current federal domestic violence-related firearms laws and closes loopholes to reduce firearm-involved abuse and intimate partner homicide. • Expands VAWA's ability to respond to sexual harassment. Ta