PathWays PA Policy Blog

The Supreme Court recently announced that they will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Below are the areas that the court will hear arguments on: The constitutionality of the individual responsibility requirement: This is a requirement that all American have health insurance. It has been questions by many of the lower courts and one of the main arguments against the ACA. The severability of the individual mandate requirement from the ACA: If the individual mandate is found to be unconstitutional the court will then have to consider whether that invalidates the entire law or whether the rest of the law can stand without the mandate. The ripeness of the case itself: This looks at whether the court can even hear a case about the individual mandate when it does not go into effect until 2014. The constitutionality of the expansion of Medicaid: To receive federal funding for Medicaid, states will be required to expand those eligible to includ...

Yesterday, the New York Times published an article by Sam Dillon, discussing huge increases in the number of children nationwide who are receiving free or reduce-price school lunches since many of their parents have recently lost their jobs or homes. According to the article, the number of students receiving subsidized lunches was at 18 million in the 2006-2007 school year and peaked at 21 million last year. Fiscal year 2010 saw 1.3 million additional children eligible for free lunches, the largest increase in program participation since 1972. Statistics from program enrollment make it clear that families in both urban and suburban areas are suffering financially due to the economic crisis. Many of the children who have recently enrolled in the program are from formerly middle-income families living in suburban neighborhoods, while urban school districts have been dominated by children who's families are poor enough to qualify for free lunches for years. Some urban school distr...

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 O...

Federal Updates LIHEAP / SNAP JOINT VENTURE ON SUPER COMMITTEE TABLE OF CUTS . (News has come out this weekend suggesting that the Super Committee may have hit an impasse. However, until such news is definite, we must continue to reach out to them in support of programs that families rely on to stay secure throughout the year. The Super Committee is coming close to their deadline. Many proposals are being floated, including one that would limit states’ ability to coordinate the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and SNAP benefits (food stamps). This “Heat and Eat” program allows many states, including Pennsylvania , to coordinate SNAP and LIHEAP in recognition of the fact that too many struggling Americans face an impossible choice between paying for food or paying for energy. But Heat and Eat programs are under the threat of a $4 billion cut – meaning that many households will be left making tough choices in the coming winter months. As the Supe...

On Friday, PathWays PA presented information on our Self-Sufficiency Standard before the Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition . This Coalition works to serve women and girls and is focused on achieving economic self-sufficiency for all through advocacy work in areas of child care, health care, housing, transportation, job and workforce development; domestic violence and addiction issues affect all areas of concern. Marianne Bellesorte spoke to the group about the high cost of making ends meet as shown by the Standard. For a family of three in Bucks County it can cost over $60,000 just to make ends meet. The cost of living directly relates to the amount of people living in poverty. In 2010, Bucks County had a 2.7 percentage point increase in the number of people living below the Federal Poverty Level. In other words, over 17,000 more people were living below poverty in the county in 2010 compared to 2009. This represents a higher percentage increase than in any county in the...

IDAs, or Individual Development Accounts, are great ways for families to be rewarded for saving money.  Through the United Way, PathWays PA offers these IDA accounts so that students can get their savings matched to pay for college. At the same time, students take financial literacy classes to help learn to budget their money and continue saving for the future. Want to learn more? Listen to this great interview that ran on Power 99 this weekend !

Part-Time Math and English Teacher (Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery Counties) PathWays PA is in need of a Math and English teacher to teach Healthcare Contextualized Math, English and Science to adult students preparing for the TEAS test and other careers in the healthcare sector. Classes will be held late afternoons and/or evenings and weekends in the Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery County areas. The classes will run for 6-8 weeks with 1, 2 or 3 classes per week. 6-8 hours per week and 1 hour of paid prep per week. Pay is competitive. INSTRUCTOR SHOULD HAVE EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH ADULTS. A Bachelor's degree is a minimum requirement. Please fax resumes to: LD/EVE at 610-328-2807. Learning Center Group Supervisor Experience in preschool setting and knowledge of early childhood development required. Willing to adapt to the goals and philosophies of our program and provide an environment that is non-punitive and strength based. Write curriculum for each age level as well as pl...