Jonathan Smith, Executive Director

DC The District’s primary election is soon upon us. The vote is being held in the aftermath of the economic crisis. The reality in the District is that:

•  one in every five people and one in every three children live in poverty, 
•  the recession is lingering in low-income communities causing real suffering, 
•  unemployment rates among African American and Latino District residents rival rates during the great depression and, 
•  the social safety-net has suffered from budget cuts.

One could imagine that these issues would dominate the election. However, the candidates for Mayor and other offices have said little and offered few specifics about how they will address this crisis. Defeat Poverty DC is organizing an alternative to the typical candidate forum. This forum will provide residents an opportunity to voice their views — to make proposals that they wish the candidates had made.

Date & Time:    September 13, 2010 – 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Location:           Busboys & Poets, 1025 5th Street NW (5th & K), Washington, DC
RSVP:                  Liz at Kendig@cbpp.org

Jonathan Smith, Executive Director

Legal Aid has been awarded an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow to help us launch a project that will serve low-income veterans in the District of Columbia. Legal Aid’s efforts will initially focus on issues arising out of child support obligations that pose a barrier to employment. We are working with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and the law firm of Arent Fox to develop an expanded project to address housing and benefits needs as well.

We are thrilled that Jennifer Cheung has accepted the fellowship and will be joining Legal Aid’s staff on September 9. Jennifer has worked the last two and a half years as a staff attorney in the Mental Health Law Project of MFY Legal Services in New York. At MFY she carried an active caseload on a broad range of issues and participated in systemic advocacy.

Arent Fox has adopted the veterans’ project as part of the Senior Attorney Initiative for Legal Services (SAILS), a joint initiative of the Access to Justice Commission and the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program. SAILS is working with area law firms to support partners who are transitioning from active firm practice to make a substantial commitment to local legal services organizations. Marc Fleischaker of Arent Fox Chairs SAILS and has committed his firm to work with Legal Aid to serve veterans.

Low-income and homeless veterans face a host of problems from physical and mental disabilities to indifferent and dysfunctional governmental agencies. Barriers to employment or housing stability compound the challenges that they face. This project will be designed target veterans’ unique needs and hopefully by leverage the resources of Legal Aid, the Legal Clinic for the Homeless and Arent Fox, we can make a difference.

Executive Director

Defeat Poverty DC has reached out to every candidate running for local office and asked them to say what they will do to end poverty.  Defeat Poverty DC is focusing on three questions:  what will the candidate do to make work pay, make work possible and make basic needs affordable?  The candidates were asked to complete a questionnaire.  Both Mayor Fenty and Council Chair Gray have submitted responses which are posted on the Defeat Poverty DC web page.

They are worth a read, not only for what they say, but what they don’t say.  There are some important commitments at a very high level of generality, but precious few details or specifics.  When the candidates come knocking on constituent doors or appear at a debate or forum, let’s hope that pointed questions will draw out precise commitments to programs, policies and initiatives.  We need those commitments to hold the candidates accountable after the election.

It has not always been so hard to get candidates to talk about the issue.  Check out the great blog on Bobby Kennedy’s campaign that was posted this morning on the Washington Post web page.

Executive Director

TANF. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is scheduled to be re-authorized this year.  TANF was the centerpiece of the mid-1990’s changes to the public systems of support for low-income families dubbed “welfare reform.”  The stated idea behind TANF was that it would give a short term cash benefit while parents were assisted to move into the workforce.  The result is that TANF participation has decreased and the percentage of people eligible for benefits who actually receive them has declined.  Legal Momentum found that the decline in participation has, remarkably, continued throughout the recession.

Network, a group of Catholic social justice leaders, recently completed and published a report on the effectiveness of the TANF program during the recession.  TANF Tested: Lives of Families in Poverty during the Recession .   There are real questions about whether TANF’s focus on work made a difference during the boom years immediately following welfare reform.   Only a very small percentage of people leaving TANF for work secured employment with an adequate wage to lift them out of poverty.  During a recession, where official unemployment rates have climbed to nearly 10% nationally, the notion that work is the answer for most families living in poverty is absurd.

Driven by the results of the study, Network has made a number of important recommendations for the reauthorization bill.  The most important being that the basic measure of success be shifted from whether TANF caseloads are reduced to whether TANF recipients and those who leave TANF move out of poverty.

What the Federal Government Should Do Next to Reduce Poverty. Important provisions of the Stimulus Package provided support to state and local governments to continue and expand safety-net programs.   Key aspects of these programs are set to expire, despite that unemployment remains very high and communities are in distress.

The Urban Institute issued a briefing paper in July (Co-Authored by DC Access to Justice Commission Chair and Georgetown Law Professor Peter Edelman) with recommendation for short and long term measures that the federal government should take to reduce poverty and increase economic security.  Reducing Poverty and Economic:  Distress after ARRA: Next Steps for Short-Term Recovery and Long-Term Economic Security.  The paper looks at the immediate need for income support and job creation, but also looks forward to the next crisis in the job market and measures that might be taken to create long term economic stability.

Impact of the Recession on the Courts. We have previously written in this blog about the crisis in equal justice.  A new American Bar Association report examines the question from the perspective of the bench.  The ABA surveyed 1200 judges from across the country on the effects of the recession on representation in the courts.  The study found that self-representation is, not surprisingly, on the increase.  More significantly, however, the judges admit that self representation yields unjust results.  The report concluded:  “The most important issue with regard to self representation is what is its effect. The table below shows that while 37% of the judges say that it is not problematic, 62% say that individuals are negatively impacted. Only a very few say that there is a positive impact… Also troubling to 26% of the justices is that the court allows an injustice to occur when one of the parties is not able to properly present the valid claims or defense that they might have.”

For decades, there has been concern about the way that the United States measures poverty.   The current measure was developed in the 1960’s.   At the time, a family was considered poor if they had income below a line that was roughly equal to 50% of the median income.   Because of the way that the measure was calculated, as income and costs increased, the poverty line did not keep pace.   Under the current measure, a family must have a significantly lower income today as compared to the general population than when the measure was devised.

A family of four lives under the poverty line if they have income of less than $22,050.    There are many District families with incomes well above the poverty line who struggle to make ends meet.   The National Low Income Housing Coalition found that the average two bedroom apartment in the District costs nearly $20,000 per year.   Following the generally accepted affordability definition that housing should make up 30% of income, a District family would need to earn $60,000 per year, nearly three times the federal poverty measure.  

In 1995, the National Academy of Sciences developed an alternative poverty measure that more closely matches the actual costs that a family needs to meet in order to live.    The Census Bureau has collected data on the new measure and for several years has published it as a supplement to the official poverty data.   The Census is now seeking comments on the measure and how it should be applied. 

 Comments on the poverty measure are due Friday June 25, 2010.   See the public notice HERE. 

One of the best ways to lift low-income District residents out of poverty is to provide them with a job that pays a living wage.   In an effort to provide good jobs to District residents, the Council enacted and the Mayor signed the First Source Act and the Living Wage Act.   The laws require that 51% of the employees hired for a City funded development projects be District residents and that the jobs pay a living wage.

The District Auditor released an evaluation of the compliance with these laws in connection with certain projects within the jurisdiction of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (specifically those that were started by the former Anacostia Waterfront Development Corporation and the National Capital Development Corporation.)   The auditor found that the District’s implementation was woefully inadequate. 

Among the findings of the Auditor are:

1.        The Department of Employment Services had inadequate procedures to monitor compliance with the statutes.

2.       The failure to monitor resulted in wide spread no- compliance.   Only 4 of 16 covered projects met the 51% goal.   As a result, there were 361 jobs that should have gone to District residents that were given to persons living outside the District.

3.       District residents lost more than $14 million in wages that were paid for by public funds.

4.       The living wage provisions have not been adequately implemented.   The Auditor specifically blamed the Mayor and the Attorney General for failing to support efforts by DOES to comply with the obligations of the law.

The results of the audit are very disturbing.   At a time when the unemployment rate in the District is near 11% and in some wards near 30%, nothing could be more important than job creation.   Given the structural imbalance created by the District’s “unique” relationship with the federal government and its suburban neighbors, it is particularly unfortunate to provide government funds for jobs for people living outside the District.

If the District government is serious about helping reduce poverty in the District, fixing First Source and Living Wage compliance monitoring is a great first and easy step.

 Serious poverty reduction has not been a campaign issue in many years.   As we have seen from the last several budget cycles, there are no political consequences when the Mayor or Council cuts programs to support people living in poverty.  The press applauds reductions to the safety-net as “financial responsibility.”

 Defeat Poverty DC has been launched to change that dynamic.   It is a grass roots effort to get every candidate to state with particularity on the record what she or he will do to help reduce or eliminate poverty.  To become involved, go to:  http://defeatpovertydc.org/

 If you attend a candidate forum or meet a candidate on a street corner, ask them what they will do to defeat poverty or put a placard in your window.   Imagine the impact that it will have on the policies of a candidate if she or he sees this sign in the windows of prospective voters:

To get a printer friendly copy of the window placard, CLICK HERE.  

In years past, the COW has retreated to the Chair’s conference room to discuss the hard choices and make the necessary deals, coming out into the public only for the vote.   Behind closed doors, the compromising, horse-trading and reversal of commitments to constituents was hidden from view.  

But this year, thanks to pressure from advocates, things were different.  The COW still met in the Chair’s conference room, but it was televised.    For two days, the members sat around a cramped table and argued about programs, priorities and taxes and anyone with an internet connection could watch.   While we might not be enthusiastic about the all the decisions that were made (technically, they made no decisions but only “gauged the sense of the room”), this step towards transparency is large and important.

We also want to thank the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary for their support of civil legal help for District residents living in poverty.  The Committee found sufficient money to restore the Access to Justice Fund to $3.5 million.   We are especially grateful to Council Members Mendelson and Cheh who were our champions, but also to Council Members Evans, Bowser and Alexander you provided support.  While this could change between now and the final vote on the budget, we are hopeful that this program will remain a Council priority.

Second, the voting rights bill for DC was killed by efforts to burden the right for District residents to decide their own gun laws.  It is long past the time that the residents of the District have their voices heard on national issues and the right to govern their own affairs.  The unwillingness of Congress to fix this historic wrong is a stain on the democracy. 

These losses are of special consequence to Legal Aid’s clients.  Poverty does not affect all communities equally.  African Americans and Latinos are much more likely to live in poverty than whites and women are more likely to be poor.  Forty percent of African American female-headed households live below the federal poverty line.  Dr. Height spent her life trying to make the voices of these women heard.  Voting rights would be one step further along the path of that goal.

Staff Attorney

The Washington Post published an article on Tuesday by Petula Dvorak in its Metro Section entitled Long lines in D.C. shouldn’t be filled with the city’s poor, discussing the work of Defeat Poverty DC.  Defeat Poverty DC is a coalition of social justice organizations that is working to turn the focus of this year’s city elections to poverty.  The article features one of Legal Aid’s clients, Neki Swinton, with whom I have been working for the last two years.  Ms. Swinton has been a remarkable voice for those living in poverty in this city, speaking out time and again about the importance of maintaining the District’s safety net.  Ms. Dvorak’s column gives a brief glimpse into the precarious state of families who are barely surviving in this economy – families who now face devastating consequences as a result of even the slightest changes in circumstances, such as losing a paycheck due to illness.