The budget President Bush released today would harm homeless families, charges a national homeless advocacy organization. The Presidents budget recommends cuts to food safety net programs, as well as education programs for low-income and homeless children.
The changes to the food stamp program could lead to health problems for thousands of homeless Americans, said the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP). President Bush recommended eliminating a provision that provides categorical eligibility to families receiving non-cash welfare benefits. Excluding such families from automatic eligibility creates hurdles that can delay or prevent enrollment and thus delay or prevent access to needed food resources.
Approximately 20% of family shelters do not provide meals, and families staying at those shelters must depend on food stamps, soup kitchens, and food pantries in order to eat. Homeless children have a disproportionate number of nutrition problems, including growth deficiency and iron deficiency, and a national study conducted by the federal government found that on average, 40% of homeless families go one or more days a month without food because they cannot afford anything to eat.
As a 1998 NLCHP report documents, homeless families face added barriers to enrolling in the federal food stamp program, including residency and identification barriers. By removing automatic enrollment, Bush is making it more likely that homeless families will not have access to food when they need it, said Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director of NLCHP.
The Presidents budget also proposes reductions in the federal program that helps homeless children enroll in and attend public schools. In addition to providing access to an education, school enrollment provides homeless children with what is often their only real meal of the day.
The cuts come at the same time the President is proposing to extend tax cuts that are due to expire this year. America should not ensure tax cuts to the wealthy by taking food from the mouths of poor and homeless children, said Foscarinis.
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