[New Jersey] Family fights to escape poverty

From the Courier Post Online

Young program provides valuable help
By JASON LAUGHLIN
Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN

Milagros Mendez wanted to work for the sake of her children.

"When I look at those three kids who belong to me, those are my courage, those my strength, those my energy," said Mendez.

But time and time again, the 28-year-old found insurmountable obstacles:


She has no car, making getting to and from work by way of public transportation a challenge.

She's a single parent who, because of a tumultuous relationship with her own family, has no one she can rely on for child care.

And she doesn't have a high school diploma.
She wanted to do better for her own children:MariaLisa Rentas, 9, smart and outgoing; sweet-tempered Santa Mendez, 8; and her one son, Coron Rush, 7, a fireball of energy.

"I will fight and struggle until I see them all graduate from college," she said.
But Mendez's challenges in overcoming the basic logistics of the working world were compounded by a daughter who needed special attention.

Mendez had a number of jobs she couldn't keep because MariaLisa is bipolar and has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She has hurt herself and others, and been a disturbance in class, Mendez said.

The problems at school often pulled Mendez out of the workplace and, inevitably, out of jobs.

"My daughter's medical condition, every minute of the day they were calling me to get her," Mendez recalled.

So for most of her adult life she survived by bouncing on and off welfare, until time ran out.

Based on 1997 federal legislation, welfare recipients are entitled to 60 months of support. After that, they're on their own.

New assistance

Mendez was nearing that deadline a year-and-a-half ago when she became involved in Supportive Assistance to Individuals and Families, a state-sponsored program available through nonprofits statewide. The program, which began in December 2003, is designed to provide intensive assistance to people who have become welfare regulars.

The state is judging the effectiveness of the program and, though the SAIF contracts expire at the end of this year, plans to sustain it into 2008.

"We don't want anyone to fall through the cracks," said James Davy, commissioner at the state Department of Human Services.

The program also provides more personal assistance than the county boards of social services. In Camden County alone, the board provides welfare funds, Medicaid, child support, food stamps and myriad other programs to about 74,000 people, officials have said.

Caseworkers with the SAIF program spend more time than their county-employed counterparts helping the people assigned to them, officials said.

"I'm out in the world all day long," said one case manager, Emelinda Deboulet. "I put 3,000 miles on my car in one month."

New Jersey spends about $4.5 million for the eight SAIF vendors statewide, Davy said.

In South Jersey, the state contracted with Catholic Charities - a part of the Diocese of Camden - which serves six southern New Jersey counties, including Camden and Gloucester counties.

Of the 413 people who have gone through the program, 273 weren't able to work, usually because of disabilities. Those with disabilities were referred to Social Security. Others quickly found work.

The remaining 140 became Catholic Charities' SAIF clients. Of those, all but 28 are from Camden County, staff there said. And most of those are from Camden, they said.

Though the program is giving the welfare system's most difficult cases a chance they might never have had, it's hardly a bootstrap with which people can lift themselves into economic security. Even after job training, most SAIF participants will qualify for jobs with salaries that are below the poverty level. And the program's regimen, with its focus on employment, is considered finished when a client gets work.

That measure for success ignores the root problems that can cause sustained, crippling poverty.

"We have to move on because there's someone else in line," said another Catholic Charities case manager, Faye R. Clark, who adds she continues to informally help clients after they leave SAIF.

Hands on

Deboulet is one of five case managers at Catholic Charities working with SAIF clients. She handled Mendez's case. She found treatment for MariaLisa. Now that the 9-year-old is receiving counseling and medication, disruptions at school are less frequent and she's getting good grades, Deboulet said.

Counseling for Mendez herself calmed too hot a temper, she said.

Deboulet also arranged a job for Mendez in the cafeteria at Wiggins School, the elementary school Mendez's children attend. That took some doing, since the school wasn't a participating employer with SAIF.

Now, if there are problems at school, Mendez is there to deal with them.

"If it wasn't for Emelinda stepping in, I would have been lost," Mendez said.

In her 18 months on Mendez's case, Deboulet went to parent-teacher conferences, doctor appointments and therapy sessions with Mendez's family. She aided them in a move from a roach- and rat-infested home to a place near the school. She gave Mendez more attention than board of social services' caseworkers, who handle up to 200 cases concurrently, could have spared.

Often, welfare recipients find choices made early in life have left them struggling, even when they have every intention to work.

The most common obstacles to employment are bad health, an incomplete education, no work experience and no job skills, said Davy. Substance abuse and mental health problems also can play a part and often coincide, he said. The program will give clients help with child care, transportation or addictions - whatever it takes to get someone back to work.

Problems persist

Those who acknowledge SAIF's positive impact worry about its long-term effectiveness. Employment is the program's goal. But there are concerns that getting a job doesn't resolve to the underlying problems welfare recipients fight.

Case managers also noted the SAIF program would be more effective if it was open to new welfare recipients, rather than those who are facing a deadline on their state assistance. State official Davy agreed more effort needed to be expended at the beginning of the welfare process, but said there were other programs in existence and in development that he hoped would address that.

Once people get jobs, state programs provide cash assistance but the amount decreases as the recipient's salary rises, making it difficult to build financial security. And without the breaks state assistance offers, some may find it hard to sustain themselves, caseworkers said.

"They're barely getting by right now," Deboulet said. "At $7 or $8 an hour, they'll barely make it."

The average salary of a person who has finished SAIF is between $12,000 and $16,000 a year, said Vincent Ajuk, Catholic Charities director of faith and families.

"It's not much," he said. "It's still under the poverty level."

Even after getting off welfare, people would have their income supplemented with Medicaid and food stamps, he said.

But the program is limited in what it can provide, state officials said.

"People are chained to their abilities, and these are the jobs that are available, unfortunately," said Suzanne Esterman, Department of Human Affairs spokeswoman. "That's a huge, huge obstacle. There aren't a whole lot of jobs available for the amount of training they have."

Mendez has had some luck. By working in a school near her home, she minimized the need for child care and a car.

Not everyone in Mendez's position has been able to find so many conveniences, Deboulet said.

Mendez's job holds the possibility of advancement. In the next two years, she'll train as a secretary for the school. Mendez has been given a good foundation for her future, but her margin of error is thin. She has weak family ties and after July won't be eligible for welfare.

"I've been a fighter since I was young," Mendez said. "This is not a dream. This is reality, and you have to fight your way to what you want to get."