California to Cut CalWORKS Welfare Program?

It's pretty incredible that someone would even think this'd be a good idea to suggest! Of all the possible sources they could take budget cuts from, they chose the people whose very lives directly depend on what little they already have?

Well,  it just might weed out those who are screwing the system.

California has suffered for years supporting illegals and women who are too lazy to work. They use and abuse the system and it is easier for them to have another baby for us to support - then  go to work.

I raised a son ON MY OWN.. with no welfare or medical help at all. I work 2 jobs and struggled to pay my bills and taxes just to stay afloat.  I also made good decisions not to bring ANOTHER child into the world I could not support.  I am tired of seeing all of the people use and abuse the system and then see comments like this one   " we will take away the little they have"  well too bad.  there are plenty of jobs out there - maybe then pay less , but they are there!..

and if you want to keep having babies that you cannot support - you better have a grandmother or mother to babysit them while you are working and stop taking advantage of California.

this is simple- if you shut down the welfare system - people WILL go to work and they will rise up to the challenges they will encounter !-- period

stop saying it will effect the poor children that will be cut off.  start saying the parents and the single mothers out there are the ones RESPONSIBLE for bringing into the world these children they cannot support!... I am a woman.  I did not have more than 1 child because that was all I could AFFORD !

cut welfare NOW !

I am one of those i was always at dead end jobs, and at the same time trying to support my son.  Finally i  broke down and applied for assistance since the dead end jobs did not have any medical benefits, through the calworks programs resoursces i was able to attend community college and gain a trade, through work experience in different county offices i acquired experience that was valid on my resume, and have now been employed since the beginning of 2006 with a job that has wonderful benefits, and at the end of the tunnel retirement benefits, Calworks has it's rules it ain't a freebee, believe me if you are receiving cash assistance that department has you working for it in one way or another, whether it be going to school or working to make up your cash grant, which is great it gives you the confidence to break the cycle, and go out and live independently. I did it and am grateful the program was there for me them couple of years that i was down and out.

Some of you just don't understand. If you cut welfare, those that cannot afford to eat for WHATEVER will have three choices:
-Overload the private meal charities (Salvation Army, etc.) to the breaking point.
-Curl up and suffer from starvation, overloading the EMS system (which also faces cuts)
-Commit crimes. Robbery. Murder. It won't matter. If you had to choose between stealing all the food you could carry to feed your child, and watching them suffer from hunger, what would you do? What if the only option was to kill some guy and steal his money so you can keep a roof over your kids heads?
When a parent is faced with a starving child, they'll do anything, consequences be damned. Even those without kids, those that are already homeless or at risk of it, self-preservation is one of the instincts that made us a dominant species. The normally docile beggars will become street thugs, robbing the Have's to feed the Have Nots (themselves).
Think about the kid situation for a second - if there's no food in the house, CPS has to (by law) take the kid(s). You'll have some that won't resist, then you'll have a few cases of CPS workers beaten and cops called. The next step is someone attacking/killing a police officer. What can they do? Call SWAT every single time they have to take a kid? And how long can they keep it up until Child Welfare has to start confiscating kids from its own cash-strapped foster families?
This will lead to riots that will make the Rodney King Riot look like a Boy Scout Jamboree. The next step, of course, is to go from rioting to revolution. Starvation was one of the causes of the French Revolution. I'm not saying Der Goobernator will be guillotined, but if it comes down to it, some nut with a screw loose might kill him. What do you do when a state revolts against itself? Send in the Federal Military to act as police (violating the Constitution)? Worst case scenario? The Second American Civil War. Best case scenario? California becomes the next North Korea. Somewhere in the middle? America becomes an openly Socialist state (siezing assets from the rich to feed the poor) instead of a democracy. Sounds farfetched, yes, but there is significant precedent in history that once you deprive the masses of food, violence happens.

I would like the young women who did it with out any help for the state.(good job) (Don't forget to thank the persons you had watching your child) However a lot of low income working parents do not have family that can help them. The parents themselves have to work,  Also please remember how many jobs would be lost if the cuts are made. (social workers, child care providers etc.)

I have a family and support my family.  But I think cutting welfare is a good thing.  I do not think welfare is helping anyone.  We need to start being families again.  If you are in hard times you need to start living with a family unit.  A father, mother, children, grandmother, uncles, aunts.  Stop thinking Uncle Sam is your family.  It is embarrassing to go to a store and pay in food stamps.  And live in public housing.  Clean up! If you are that dumb to get pregnant. With the government giving free birth control.   And if you don't know who your babies daddy is?  You do not deserve welfare. You are dumb you do not need kids.  You are embarrassing and should fail in society. We are Americans!  We are suppose to be true survivors.  We have to teach are children the value of a dollar.  Not try to sit there and feel sorry for ourselves. Boo Hoo!! You don't have a nice car. Boo hoo you don't have a cell phone.  Look at these Ghettos.  OMG!  Just because you are poor.  Now you don't know how to clean, pick up trash.  And you have to go out and shoot someone?  Oh no don't go out and get a job for mininum wage.  Come on how much does it take to live in the Ghetto? You have gun but no job. Hmmm. And I am sure a cell phone.

Get a grip with people filling minimum wage jobs we all win.  You still get a write off for your children.  You get credit for social security. Welfare everyone loses. No self respect.

I agree that some people are honest and truly deserve the help that is given to them by the State. But I also believe that there are far more people abusing the system that are dishonest. In my town alone I know of countless people that are receiving calworks. Their "daycare" provider is charging premium rates and the state is paying it. I know I can't afford $140-160 a week for childcare. I take my children to where I can afford it. I applied for calworks and was denied for being "over income" I am a single mother of 4 who struggles to make ends meet. I choose what bill I can't pay each month so I can pay the others and put food on the table. I am "over income" for all programs. However I see others that receive help eating out all the time, taking vacations, and living the great life since they have the extra help that doesn't go to daycare. Call me hater if you want but I'm glad the program is getting cut. The "crooked daycare providers" will be forced to charge reasonable rates that real people can afford and the people that receive assistance are finally going to have to live a lifestyle within their means and that's not on the tax payers dime.

they should drug test everyone who gets state aid...i think that if the state is going to support you, you should be useing the money on things besides cigaretes, beer, and drugs. then the people who really do need help could get it and also get the right kind of help. welfare needs to be reformed not cut. 

It has been my experience that more people abuse the system, than those that are honest. One a person finds out the "tricks", it's easy to get "free" everything. I know a person in Cali that receives cash add and food stamps. She spends alot of the cash on alcohol and weed, and then goes around to churches asking for help with her rent. She knows every trick in the book for getting her utilities paid, and has for years even when she had a job. As a hardworking individual it turns my stomache, because I know she's not the only one doing this.

I agree that the CalWorks program has its faults but it has proven to be the best progam that any state has come up with, as far as I know, that has really helped those who are serious about getting the hand up. There is a lot of people who really don't know what is expected of those who are on CalWorks. If the family on CalWorks has a mom and dad, then they both are required to work a minimum of 32 hours per week between them at a designated place like the county office, city park or some other venue that CalWorks approves. A lot of these jobs are tailored around the recipients area of study if they are going to school. One things that people also need to understand is that CalWorks clients are only given 18 months to either get a degree like and AA or go to a trade school. If that has changed then I am sure someone will inform me. So in reality those who are on CalWorks are not sitting on their glutamous maximus because they are required to do the hours every week.

Every person that I have met who was on CalWorks has shown me that they really do want to get off of it because they tell me of the many stories of going to the store to buy food and when they pull out their EBT card they get all kinds of stares and even had some people in line tell them to get a job and called losers and bums even when their children are right there!

You only get 60 months to be on the program and you have to go to job training and enroll in school or a trade school. All recipients know this are try to get things done and are responsible. The problem that many of them run into is these businesses that take advantage of the CalWorks program. They get a tax right off for each CalWorks person they take on that person can get their 32 -36 hours in each week. When they get done with the program or finish their schooling that business doesn't hire them. When jobs open up in that business and that person has shown that they can do the job not only well but are already trained for it they are passed up. 

There a many reasons why people end up on CalWorks and there are those who abuse the system, but that is not as easy as many people think today. The majority of folks on CalWorks are trying to better themselves and become contributing members of society. They work that 32-36 hours per week so they are not sitting on their bottoms but are earning their keep. Don't believe me? Then go and do the research and you will see that they all have to work one way or another.

To Saddened:

Your statement "In case you didn't know...... CALWorks does have a time limit on it.  A recipient can only recieve help for 5 years in their lifetime.  As soon as a parent recieves a job, they are usually discontinued from cash aid assistance, and are only given temporary food assistance.  They may retain their medical insurance but also have to requalify every 3 months." is wrong on a lot of points.

CalWorks is the California state aid program given to people who have generally used up there intial TANF 5 years. TANF is the Federally funded cash aid program. Persons on aid are only alotted 5 years of TANF benefits. During that time that are given all the perks of gas assistance, child care, and help with schooling costs.

California is the ONLY state that still aids the children after the parents have timed out of the 5 year/60 month Federal TANF time limit period. The TANF program is funded by the Federal Government but the Cal Works program is funded by California Taxpayers. As more and more parents time out of the federal program they will then be funded by the state program and cost the State of California more money every year.

If a parent gets a job, the income from that job is evauluated to see if it puts them over income for the cash aid program they are on, be it TANF or CalWorks. If they are over income for cash assistance they are put on Transitional Food Stamps for 5 months. In that 5 months theyt do not need to report to a worker. When the 5 months is over they can always come in and apply for regular Food Stamps. They will then be evaluated based on their current income.

Also they are placed on a Post Medical case that lasts at least 1 year. They report every 6 months and recertify every year.

To: California Poor

 The program that is HOPEFULLY going to be cut is CalWorks not Food Stamps. Food Stamps is a Federally funded program if people are no longer eligible to cash assistance they will still be eligible to Food Stamps.

I have been on both sides of the program with TANF and Food Stamps. I was on aid, went to school taking 22 credits a semester while maintaining a 3.9 GPA. Took a low paying job until I had the skills and experience to move up.  I have now worked for my employer for over 12 years.

I have also seen things that would make you cry and/or scream.----Client 's bringing thier pregnant daughters into the office on the girls 18th birthday so she can get her own cash aid case since she is now considered an adult. Women giving fake names of absent fathers so that the State can not go after the boyfriend (the actual father) for child support. Not being able to give more than $14 a month in Food Stamps to an elderly woman who is living off of her Social Security Retirement that she earned by WORKING. Standing in line at the supermarket and see my clients buy junk food and soda and cookies and chips and beer and cigarettes with they aid that they are allotted. People being evicted from thier low income apartment for not paying thier $29 a month rent.

For those of you on aid and working and trying to do better I applaud you but the names of the programs say it all.

TANF=Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.

CalWORKS=California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Program

This thread is proof why welfare needs to be cut off. You people think no one has ever worked their way through school? You think no one has ever worked their way through school while raising a kid? Millions upon millions has. This thread shows how the goverment only makes people dependent on them and then when its time to cut the strings people arte like , Oh mY! what am I to do now that no onee will take care of me. Take care of yourself! Like millions of people before you!

All the goverment does is reward people who are lazy and dont work and punish people who are trying. People end up on welfare and medicaid and food stamps and taking more finacial aid then they really need because you can actually make more money not working then working 40 hours a week.

Heres an example. A married couple with two kids can both work at mcdonanlds 40 hours a week, Make 26,000 a year before taxes and get denied for all finacial aid and benifeits because they make to much money, even through they pay rent and bills and daycare and don't even have enough left over money after bills to pay for college classes. That couple working their buts off should be the ones who get assistance.

Meanwhile on the other end of town you have an unmarried couple shaked up together. Two kids and one of them working 15 hours a week. both parents going to school and passing with c's and d's Lets see how much they get.

Welfare 700 a month.
Food stamps $400.oo a month
Free Health insurance for four $15,000 a year value
Chile tax credits, refunds and reimbursments plus earned income tax credit. $8,000 a year in tax returns.
Fulll finacial aid package for mom at community college. 0 EFC
$20,000 a year. for low income an dependents
Full Finacial aid package for dad at community college . 0 EFC so $20,000 a yr for no income.
Plus most people n wellfare receive subsidized housing which means they only have to pay about 300 a month in rent.
Anyway lets add it up.

Married Couple busting their buts with two kids receives 26,000 a yr before taxes.

Unmarried coule with two kids working a total of 15 hours a week between them receives $76,000 tax free dollars a year.
and they can live that way for 5 years. So unfair.

And that is why their is incentives not to work when their should be incentives to work.

The Us census shows last year out of 36 million mexican immigrants they all paid a total of 10,000 dollars in taxes meanwhile out of the 36 million each family received an average of 31,000 a year in goverment sibsidies.

They need tighter restrictions on people receiving disibility checks as well. If your really disabled you should of course get it. But if you can protest up and down the street for ten hours in the hot sun. You can work.