PathWays PA Policy Blog

The Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival is partnering with African American Museum in Philadelphia and Black Film Advisory Committee to bring the film Late Summer to our area. This is a wonderfully collaborative film directed by Korean American Ernie Park and starring an all African American cast. The film follows the life of Nadia who lives in a small house in rural Tennessee with her mother Sonya, who is recovering from a recent illness. Torn between staying at home to care for her mother or move several states away to a good university, Nadia spends her summer trying to decide between family obligation and personal growth.followed by a panel discussion featuring local African American and Asian American filmmakers. The screening, followed by a panel discussion, will take place on Thursday, March 6, from 5:30PM-7:30PM at the African American Museum in Philadelphia located at 701 Arch St. Panelists:  Nuala Cabral - BlackStar Film Festival Youth Program Coordinator...

News is coming out today about Governor Corbett's proposal to increase access to health care in Pennsylvania. We will bring you further analysis of the plan as it comes in, and we encourage those interested to join a call hosted by the Pennsylvania Health Access Network on September 24 to learn more. Here are the basics revealed by the Administration. The plan, titled Healthy Pennsylvania , is said to focus on : getting kids insured, promoting access to primary health care - particularly in rural and underserved areas of the state, and creating a coordinated long term care and support system for older Pennsylvanians and persons with disabilities. Healthy Pennsylvania includes common sense reforms to the Medicaid program and a pathway to increase access to health care for uninsured Pennsylvanians. These reforms include aligning benefits with national standards proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services, reasonable premiums, individual responsibility, work search an...

The number of people on food stamps has gone up in most mid-state municipalities over the past year, according to figures provided to The Patriot-News by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. According to an analysis done by Mark Price, an economist with Keystone Research Center, the number of people on food stamps in high poverty municipalities in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon, Perry and northern York counties grew from 51,972 in July 2008 to 82,704 in August 2012, an increase of 59 percent. But the number of people on food stamps in low poverty municipalities in the same region climbed from 5,723 in July 2008 to 12,081 in August 2012, an increase of 111 percent. And according to Price's analysis, this trend is a result of unemployment. “Although college graduates still have lower unemployment rates and are much less likely to live in poverty than other educational groups, even they have faced increased difficulty finding work and thus it is not surpris...

Special PathWays PA Updates TAX SEASON IS AROUND THE CORNER – SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT NOW If you made less than $50,000 in 2011, you are likely eligible for PathWays PA’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. VITA helps return thousands of dollars into the community every year and provides free income tax preparation services to those that need it most. To schedule your appointment, call PathWays PA at 610-543-5022! PATHWAYS PA IS LOOKING FOR GENTLY USED PROFESSIONAL CLOTHING! PathWays PA has recently launched our Dress For Your Dreams – MLK Day 2012 campaign! We’re looking for gently used professional and semi-professional clothing. With this, we’ll enable our clients to have the right clothing for job interviews and starting work at new places of employment. If you’d like to donate, contact Chelsea Kohler at ckohler@pathwayspa.org .  For more information, visit the Dress for Your Dreams site . Federal Policy Updates HELP RAISE THE TIPPED MINIMUM WA...

2/06/2012 UPDATE: Last week, the Department of Public Welfare announced that asset tests would be set at $5,500 for households (age 59 and under) and $9,000 for households with older Pennsylvanians (age 60 and above) or disabled individuals. For more information, please visit  http://policypathwayspa.blogspot.com/2012/02/update-on-snap-asset-testing.html .  Yesterday, Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare announced that it was sending a request to the USDA to re-implement asset tests to ascertain eligibility for the SNAP (food stamp) program.  If the request goes through, asset limits will go into effect on May 1, 2012. Implementing an "asset test" means that in addition to income eligibility guidelines, applicants may not have above a certain amount in additional resources.  Under the proposed measure, Pennsylvanians with more than $2,000 in savings or assets ($3,250 for adults 60 and over) would not be able to obtain food stamps, even if they m...

After taking almost two weeks of vacation to explore the mountains of New York and New England, I've come back to find some important information in my inbox.  Please check out these stories if you've missed them: Pennsylvania's Gender Gap : Men still typically earn more than women in Pennsylvania, although the gender gap has narrowed over the last 30 years. Trend of Disbelief: The number of abused women seeking shelter in Philly is skyrocketing. The number of beds for them isn't. : In Philadelphia, Women Against Abuse, the city's only overnight shelter for victims of domestic violence, has had to turn away 3,115 so far this year because of a lack of space. Rural Workers Have Less Access to Paid Sick Days : This analysis suggests that where one works matters, both geographically and by sector, and the quality of the job also matters. The rural disadvantage is particularly pronounced among rural private-sector workers and part-time workers, but even rural full-t...

SPECIAL EVENTS EVER SEEN CITY HALL WRAPPED IN THOUSANDS OF POSTCARDS? Neither have we. That's why you should join us on May 26 at 8 AM at City Hall. Come out and show your support as we wrap City Hall with the thousands of postcards of people like you who support passing this bill. Not to mention have fun doing something that's never been done before! To register please visit: http://earnedsickdayspostcards.eventbrite.com /. For more information about this event contact Jasmine Rivera of ACTION United at jmrivera@gm.slc.edu . Come be part of this historic event! JOIN OUR TWITTER RALLY AND BLOG CARNIVAL FOR PAID SICK DAYS IN PHILADELPHIA This week, MomsRising will be working with the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces to hold a "blog carnival" for paid sick days. What's a blog carnival? A blog carnival is a collection of blogposts on one topic. It brings together the latest research, analysis and personal reflection and stories to offer read...

(Thanks to The Advocates Agenda and Cathy Palm for this post.)   Welfare Reform Act of 2011 Unveiled Caps spending on means-tested programs (e.g., Head Start, Title IV-E Foster Care, TANF, SSI, EITC, etc.) March 17th - Earlier today members of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) , which began the 112th Congress with the Spending Reduction Act and a push for at least $100 billion in immediate cuts to federal spending – unveiled the Welfare Reform Act of 2011 . The legislation is being championed by RSC Chairman Jim Jordan as well as Congressmen Tim Scott and Scott Garrett . In unveiling the legislation they cited a speech from President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935 that “launched the American welfare state.” At that time FDR said, “Continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit…” RSC offi...

Federal Policy Update URGE YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO SUPPORT HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THAT SUPPORT VULNERABLE AMERICANS The House of Representatives is poised to pass a bill which will cut $100 billion from the current-year federal budget, with most reductions focused on federal support for basic health and human services for vulnerable Americans. Below are some of the cuts in the proposal: An end of funding for Title X, the federal family planning program, in this current fiscal year. Title X provides Pap tests, birth control, STD screening and treatment, breast exams, and more to millions of low income Americans. It's care that saves lives. A $1.1 billion cut in Head Start, a program that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. A $758 million cut to the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which provides supplemental food to infants, health care referrals, and nutritio...

(From our friends at the National Coalition for Literacy ) A new caucus has been created in the House of Representatives.  The Adult Literacy Caucus, sponsored by Congressman Dan Maffei, is looking for members interested in adult literacy and education. Congressional caucuses provide ways that Congresspeople can advance causes that are important to them. A House caucus is a group of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives who share something in common, whether personal (ex: the Congressional Hispanic Caucus), related to a district’s needs (ex: the Congressional Rural Caucus) or about House Members’ interests or concerns, like the new Adult Literacy Caucus. Now that Congressman Maffei has formed the House Adult Literacy Caucus, please ask your House Member to participate. You can locate your House Member’s contact information using ProLiteracy’s or TESOL ’s interactive map. Contact your U.S. Representative’s office. Ask to speak to the staff member in charge of adult ed...

New PathWays PA Paper – Pennsylvania's Workforce: The Role of Community Colleges PathWays PA is proud to announce the release of a new paper that examines the impact that community colleges and other workforce development can have on the earnings of Pennsylvanians. While many students enter college straight from high school, a growing number of students need access to higher education after they have already entered the workforce. Nationally, 2/3rds of the 2020 workforce has already graduated from high school, but they have not all gone on to higher education. Pennsylvania ranks 3rd highest in the country for the number of adults (age 18-64) whose formal education ended with a high school diploma or GED. By 2014, 51 percent of all jobs in Pennsylvania will require some college, though not a four-year degree (also known as "middle skills" education). As of 2008, only 22 percent of Pennsylvanians age 25 and over fit into the middle skills category. Pennsylvania...

( From our friends at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service ) USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) plans to award up to $6 million to emergency feeding organizations, such as food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens, participating in the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). At least $3 million is expected to be awarded for projects that improve the emergency feeding infrastructure in rural communities. Projects that benefit or serve Native American communities will receive priority consideration . Among other activities, grantees can use funds to improve the tracking, collection, storage, distribution and transport of time-sensitive and perishable foods; develop or maintain computerized systems for tracking foods; improving the provision of recovered foods to food banks; and repairing and expanding facilities, equipment or appliances to support hunger relief. Funds can also be used to identify new donors and emergency food providers or to provide outreach to persons...

As temperatures and employment figures continue to fall in Pennsylvania, more families may be looking to the LIHEAP program for assistance in paying heating bills. Yet according to the Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) and Peco, far fewer of their customers have received the grants this year than in past years. An article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer notes that 11,523 PGW customers have received LIHEAP grants this year, only 1/3rd the amount of customers with grants in 2008. Peco reports "that 4,000 of its customers had received grants by Dec. 1, down from 19,000 a year ago." Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission reported that 18.5 percent more households (for a total of 17,037 households) would begin the winter with their heating utilities cut off. Even more may find themselves losing their utilities during the heating season or after April 1, when regulated utility companies can shut heating off (they cannot do so during the winter). Those who may los...