1st Of The Month

1^st Of The Month

 

Well here it is. Once again the homeless people who do receive an SSI or Disability check from the government are suspiciously absent from their camps and the street. The no-tell motels are full, the corner stores are busy selling beer, and the drug dealers are busy.

Truthfully, the homeless people who do receive a check each month and are using it for housing, food, etc. are really no longer homeless. On the flip side there are quite a few homeless people who receive a check and have not changed their situation nor do they intend to. In about a week, sometimes less those people will reappear with no cash in their pockets and using homeless services that are intended for those who do not receive any sort of income or assistance.

I’ve talked about this in the past and probably will again. The abuses of the systems that manage SSI, Disability, Food Stamps and so on are causing enough concern that I’ve been hearing rumbles about substantial budget cuts in all sorts of public programs in the coming years. Most of these abuses could be nipped in the bud by not adding more hurdles to jump in order to receive benefits but in a more active oversight by the agency case managers. I realize this puts more work on the case managers shoulders but as the systems are set up today once you start receiving benefits that’s the end of it. There is no verification, for the most part, that the funds or services are being used as they were intended. Case in point, read the first 2 paragraphs again.

I don’t know if an overhaul of the different assistance programs by making it more difficult to qualify for assistance is the way to go. Nor do I think cutting back on the assistance is a solution to the waste either. I do know that if a system has active follow ups and monitoring, the abuses will come to light and then if a serious abuse is detected the individual is given the opportunity to use the assistance as it was intended or failing that the assistance will become terminated. The various assistance agencies will probably save enough money that assistance budgets might even stretch further.

There’s a reason behind all this. Every month I see this happening. I see the abuses. The number of “homeless” people who are actively abusing the system may surprise you. Yet there are many homeless people who could qualify for assistance but there is no money left in the budget or they just give up because the waiting list is too long.