Letters to the editor

Dear Editor,
The Census Bureau announced last week that poverty has increased dramatically during this recession, so that 1 in 7 Americans are now living in poverty, with an even higher rate among children. The new Census figures on poverty in America were no surprise to people in the social service sector. We at the Associated Community Action Program (ACAP) have experienced overwhelming demand for our services, especially our Community Reinvestment Employment Workcrew (CREW) program, which is a transitional jobs program for the chronically unemployed.
We were fortunate to have stimulus funds to respond to the large increase in demand for services, but these funds are coming to an end this month. One way that we were able to meet the demand for staffing was to hire using federal wage subsidy programs through Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). These funds are also about to expire, but there is a campaign to ask Congress to extend these subsidies when they are back in session next week.
These wage subsidies are important because they make it possible for employers to create jobs where they are required to pay only a small portion of the wages to employees from their own coffers. The subsidy pays the majority of the wage. These job opportunities give TANF recipients the job training and experience they need in order to become self-sufficient. They have also helped states to address the unemployment crisis. According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, more than 30 states have used the fund to create and preserve nearly 160,000 jobs. The fund has also helped small businesses by defraying one of their key costs, employee wages, which allowed many firms to add staff they otherwise could not afford.
At ACAP, our mission is to help struggling families become self-sufficient. We believe that the federal wage subsidies are an important tool to maintain to help families get the job training and experience they need to achieve self-sufficiency. We strongly encourage people to contact their Representatives in Congress today to express support for extending federal wage subsidies through TANF.

Shanthi Gonzales is the Communications Coordinator at the Associated Community Action Program.