Cuyahoga County

Anti-Poverty Human Rights Platform

 End the Time Limits.

Time limits should end for families with children under 3 years old or households that cannot find employment that pays a family-friendly wage.

Parenting is a Full Time Occupation.

Effective parenting should be encouraged and supported.  The County and State need to support the valuable occupation of raising the next generation rather than support the tragic increases in foster care and the juvenile justice system.  The County should place a monetary value on raising children.

County-Wide Family-Friendly Wage.

Every family should have an income to provide a nutritious diet, clothing, safe and adequate housing, health benefits, childcare and other necessities that ensure basic human life free from poverty as put forward in the National Academy of Sciences measurement of poverty.

  A Moratorium on Further Application of Ohio Works First Rules.

The 1997 Ohio Works First rules (“ welfare reform”) should be suspended until the system is fully in place.  This includes certified intensive training of the staff and an independent verification that the system is customer friendly.  The draconian rules for OWF started in 1997, but the benefits and operation of the system are still evolving.  When the system is in place the child in a family should never be sanctioned.  Sanctioning should end as soon as the family complies. 

Reduce Caseloads for the County Human Service’s Workers.

The head of the family needs intensive assistance in order to overcome barriers to economic independence.  The County social workers (self-sufficiency coaches) need time to provide proper mentoring to those currently on cash assistance.

  Education Cancels the work requirements

Every hour of class time of adult or secondary education as well as higher education equals two hours of work.  Research shows that education is one of the key factors to get out of poverty and should be accessible to all low-income individuals.

No sanctioning of food.

Food is a basic need and right and should not be part of a sanction for any infraction of the rules.

Loss of Assistance should not cause homelessness.

Families who cannot find decent safe housing because of a loss of welfare benefits should be provided a housing voucher by the County or the State.

Preservation of the Family is Paramount.

The preservation of the family is the single highest principle for County employees interacting with the family.  Loss of cash assistance does not justify the removal of the children from the family.  There should never be a complete removal of resources from a family that then triggers the removal of the children.

Full family medical coverage.

Medicaid should be extended to all family members for those making under 200% of the Federal poverty threshold.

Initiate a State Earned Income Tax Credit

Households that earn less than 200 percent of poverty should be entitled to a state earned income tax credit.  Households that earn less than poverty level wages should receive the maximum tax credit allowable in an attempt to lift their yearly income above poverty.

What is the State of the Community?

The State of Ohio requires an annual report be delivered to the state legislature detailing the impact of the changes in the welfare system on the counties in Ohio.  This has yet to be done.  A complete study of the impact of welfare reform needs to be devised and put into place.

It’s Raining in Cuyahoga County.

The above anti-poverty programs need to be funded using the State Human Services rainy day surplus.  The children of Cuyahoga County are suffering and do not deserve to live in poverty.

For more information call the Empowerment Center of Greater Cleveland

Jocelyn Travis   216/432-4770

Passed by Participants of the Family Poverty Summit 2/12/00

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