Updates and resources about the federal lapse in November SNAP funding.
Poverty and Assistance
SNAP Terminations
How federal changes to benefits affect SNAP participants.
Are we doing enough?
We are doing a lot, but it is hard to know whether we are doing enough to support those who have lost income due to the COVID-19 recession.
Please add Working against Poverty
It would be helpful if your categories included working against poverty. We don’t like to look at poverty in Massachusetts, but it is there. Here are some examples; With the Congress not extending unemployment benefits, many will be forced to use food banks, which report being drawn down seriously. In the Commonwealth we allow 4000 …
The Senate’s Welfare Reform Proposal
The Senate has released its comprehensive proposal to strengthen the state’s largest cash assistance program, Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC). We will vote on it later this week. Here are the major components of the Senate’s proposal: First, the bill requires analysis and reporting on some fundamental program issues that have not …
Background on Cash Assistance
The conversation about welfare fraud is going to continue over the next few weeks as the Senate develops its own package of reforms. As background to that, I thought it would be helpful to lay out some basic facts about cash assistance in Massachusetts. The primary focus of concern in the recent conversations about fraud …