02-10-2010, 12:34 PM
I have an ex who is a single mom, she tried to sign up for welfare a few monthes ago so she could get enough help together so she could get out of the no car, no money, full time unnassisted parent hole.
She eventually gave up after a month of working without compensation. She wanted to sign up so that she could get daycare, so that she could work a job, so she could afford a car and maybe claw her way up out of EBT reliance. The system was so thwarting that after a month of cajolling babysitter help from friends and taking the bus to Hilo (2.5hrs roundtrip) she gave up. She hadn't spent any time with her child (5yrs/old) in a month, was exhausted and broke and didn't see any help anytime soon. She would have been moving into a situation in which she spent little time with her child, and worked to find a minimum wage job that would count against her EBT.
My opinion: FAIL. Clearly the sytem is broken. I will be the first to argue that the social welfare system in Hawaii is abused. But clearly its being setup in such a way that some benefits are ridiculously easy tp get and others near impossible. I think it's a situation of just pushing people into manageable roles and then dismissing them. It seems more important that things flow smoothly than actual aid be fairly and equitably dipensed. Some people don't want to get out fo the system, some desperatley do. I can't imagine that it's easy to figure who's who, but it's ceratinly not working the way things are now. Like education (or most social programs), i think the welfare system is a victim of politics. Constantly changing goals and guidlines, politically appointed and motivated management, and poor payrates/apathy have left a system without a hope.
Real overhaul, very rarely happens in american politics anymore.
She eventually gave up after a month of working without compensation. She wanted to sign up so that she could get daycare, so that she could work a job, so she could afford a car and maybe claw her way up out of EBT reliance. The system was so thwarting that after a month of cajolling babysitter help from friends and taking the bus to Hilo (2.5hrs roundtrip) she gave up. She hadn't spent any time with her child (5yrs/old) in a month, was exhausted and broke and didn't see any help anytime soon. She would have been moving into a situation in which she spent little time with her child, and worked to find a minimum wage job that would count against her EBT.
My opinion: FAIL. Clearly the sytem is broken. I will be the first to argue that the social welfare system in Hawaii is abused. But clearly its being setup in such a way that some benefits are ridiculously easy tp get and others near impossible. I think it's a situation of just pushing people into manageable roles and then dismissing them. It seems more important that things flow smoothly than actual aid be fairly and equitably dipensed. Some people don't want to get out fo the system, some desperatley do. I can't imagine that it's easy to figure who's who, but it's ceratinly not working the way things are now. Like education (or most social programs), i think the welfare system is a victim of politics. Constantly changing goals and guidlines, politically appointed and motivated management, and poor payrates/apathy have left a system without a hope.
Real overhaul, very rarely happens in american politics anymore.