Welfare
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Social Security
Remove the $250,000 cap for paying into Social Security. This will assist in padding/paying/solvency issues with this program and possibly allow for higher payouts once the debt towards this fund is repaid.
Welfare Limitations
Supplemental Security Income checks are docked if recipients live with relatives. A mother can lose rental assistance in her public housing unit if she allows the father of her children to live with her in violation of her lease. Households receive a higher total allotment of food stamps if romantic partners apply separately for the benefit rather than as a married couple. EITC (earned income tax credit) – if the family is married with children, they receive less money than if the couple is raising their kids unmarried.
Welfare limitations across the board need to be updated to modern living (requirements of being single mother, limited dollar amount, etc). Welfare should be easy to get, and high countermeasures if fraud is found.
Likewise, Welfare should be strategically reduced as the individuals work their way out of needing it. Rather than cutting it off entirely as they hit a specific dollar amount, Welfare should reduce as the individuals earn additional income. So if they manage to earn an additional $1,000, the welfare should be reduced by $250. This means as the individual works to earn more, they are actually making more money rather than just replacing or losing the amount given to them through welfare. This would encourage them to want to earn more without penalizing them for working their way out of needing welfare assistance.
Homeless
The homeless break down into three groups:
- Those who actively desire to live on the street as an escape from society. Essentially becoming modern, urban jungle hermits.
- Those who are actively working but are unable to afford or hold onto continued housing.
- Those who require medical/mental/emotional assistance and have been unable to find it before now.
To assist with the second group, the government should fund small-scale dorm-room type housing specifically for those who are unable to get their financial feet under them. This housing can easily link with other welfare agencies to ensure only those in need maintain housing at these locations, can assist in locating work, can provide child welfare, and can assist them in locating what other aid may be available to them.
To assist with the third group, the government should invest in mental institutions and bring these groups through to determine their needs and "next steps."
First steps should be meeting with psychiatrists and psychologists to determine assistance requirements, whereafter further assistance will be determined by a welfare coordinator.
School Food
Breakfast and Lunch should be provided at schools for children, and it should be provided without cost to the children. The food itself can be sourced from local markets or, even better, local farms. This ensures the food isn't spoiled, and will be nutritious. This will also be advantageous to local facilities/farms as their produce is guaranteed to be purchased, and providing a variety of produce is better for their crop rotations compared to only producing one type of product.