By Kendall Worth!
As pointed out in this post, at times I have to help readers understand why it is not always the Income Assistance Recipient's fault that they are recipients. Often Income Assistance recipients have no choices in life, but to have to live the way they live. I have covered this in previous blog posts, here here and Part II is here.
3 out of those 4 posts point out major reasons why it is usually not some fault of the recipient that led them there. That is, not the Income Assistance recipient’s fault. In the Oct 22nd blog, I said I was taking a break from the Fake Name Stories I sometimes report on through my BLOG.
However as reported in this October 27th 2024 post, (Actually as reported in both October 22nd and Oct.27th 2024) The Fake Name stories do have to make a comeback.
Why?
The principle reason is because these fake name stories help illustrate that every situation - from one Income Assistance recipient to the next -- is different. Also, it helps the readers understand where the policies that Income Assistance Case Workers follow, are responsible.
And finally the explanation for the the title!
Recently, I did interviews with 4 different income assistance recipients, who I was able to bring together as a group. They suggested I call them Person W, Person X, Person Y, and Person Z. I want remind my readers of the reasons why I do not use, in my journalism, the real names of people on Income Assistance. I believe in protecting them from getting community stigma right to their face. Past articles here & here provide examples. And, as reported here, many people receive harassment from people in their lives, who believe in the stigma described in the first two articles.
Also, as pointed out in my more recent BLOG post on November 16th, 2024 and pointed out in this post, misinformation about what is actually available through Community Services is rampant. The greatest misunderstanding is that people do not realize that each program or service, within all the DPS programs, have their own criteria for qualifying for access.
To recap, we do not identify people in order to protect them from stigma and harassment.
Person W – Currently receives the $974.00 standard household rate, plus the $308.00 Disability Supplement, Plus the $40.00 Telephone Special needs Allowance. That is = $1322.00 a month he has to live on. At Present Person W’s name is on the waiting list for a rental subsidy to help him with his rent. His rent is currently $910.00 so Subtract this amount for rent , from the $1322.00 = $412.00 For his power he pays $60.00 a month so Subtract this $60.00 from $412.00 = $352.00 Then Subtract the $40.00 Telephone which goes directly to his phone bill, leaving $312.00 left per month to live on. While interviewing person W, he reported to me that their have been times when he has tried applying for Special Diet Allowances, but the required doctor’s notes were not accepted by his caseworker, and, at least 3 times he was denied through the ESIA appeal hearings. The expectations of trying to qualify for a special diet allowance got to be too much for both Person W and his Doctor. So Person W just gave up trying to get approved, through his caseworker, for a special diet allowance. With all the bureaucratic nonsense and systemic problems I have reported on in the past, and, given the reminder in my November 17th 2024 post above, I am certainly not surprised.
Person X – She currently gets the Standard House Hold Rate of $974.00, Plus the $308.00 Disability Supplement, Plus $54.00 for 2 Special Diets, Plus the $40.00 Special Needs Telephone Allowance Plus $300 for a Rental Subsidy = $1676.00 a month to live on. For rent she pays $1050 per month. Subtracting $1050.00 a month from $1676.00 = $626.00 she has left after rent is paid. Then her $54.00 Special Diet Allowance has be spent directly on high fibre and low fat products, so, subtracting that $54.00 from $626.00 = $572.00, then subtract the 40.00 that has to go directly on her phone = $532.00 left to live on. One point that Person X made during her interview is this amount of $532.00 left over may seem like a lot of money but in reality it is not! $532.00 Divided by 30 days in a month = $17.74 a day to live on. She also has a pet cat which helps her maintain her mental health during the day.
Person Y – During my Interview with her she did not want to get into disclosing what she is paying for rent, but did indicate that she is receiving the $974.00, plus the $308.00, 3 Special Diet Allowances $81.00, and the $40.00 Telephone Allowance. She did indicate that after rent and Special Diet money plus Telephone allowance is spent = $382.00 is left. She told me, that, in her situation, as I outlined about another case, here, she experienced that same issue – that when you want to move forward from Income Assistance, the system has no respect for your motivation or desire to make changes. She actually told me that she applied for, and was refused access to the Career Seek Program. The Employment Support worker gave her no reason for the refusal. Person Y being denied access to Career Seek did not surprise me, because I know others in the community of people receiving income assistance who also tried to qualify for Career Seek and were turned down. There is a lot of Community misinformation about this program.
Person Z – As we all know, what is worsening the situation in Halifax and throughout the province is the ever escalating crisis of housing, esp housing affordability, which I covered here. Person Z became homeless a couple of months ago, and is now renting a room at a rooming house. In addition to his Standard House Hold Rate being reduced from $974.00 to the “boarding allowance” of $624.00, he also lost his Special Needs supplements (Special Diets and Telephone Allowances) he was receiving. His Case worker says he cannot live in a rooming house and receive any special needs allowances. His Worker is also refusing to allow him to access the ESIA appeals process.
When you look at the experience of these people (identified as W,X,Y,Z) we can tell the ESIA transformation from 2013 till 2021 did next to nothing to address the real causes of the difficult lives of Income Assistance recipients. We continue to have a system, in Nova Scotia, where we are encouraged to be lonely and socially isolated and to expect that from life. We are all living with systemic problems and bureaucratic nonsense. All 4 people I interviewed told me that tell me that they have the dream of wanting to make changes in their lives. They all agree that if we continue to have a system that is not going to look after our needs mentally as well as financial basics, then people living in poverty are going to continue to suffer mental health problems, resulting from the system we do have.
More to come on my ideas on what needs to happen next, to change the system we do have.
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