How the Federal Government Shutdown Impacts Poor People
It's easy to get reports on how the crisis around the Federal government shutdown impacts workers and families in the Kansas City area. Major news outlets have reports that talk about whether this or that agency is shutting down and furloughing workers. Many of these reports feature personal, first-hand accounts of the impact on how workers are making ends meet. KKFI 90.1 FM, the local community radio station, got in on the act this week with a report from a furloughed USDA worker.
What's harder to determine is the impact on programs that provide benefits to poor people or low-income workers. The federally-funded Women, Infants and Children (WIC) feeding program seems to be safe for now, but will lose funding if the government stays closed for long. Thanks to the Springfield News-Leader and St. Joe News-Press for local reporting on the WIC story in Missouri. The story in the News-Leader was inconclusive whether the shutdown would exhaust WIC benefits in Greene County in 10 days or 60 days. The report quotes Mary Ellison, the local WIC administrator, who indicated people are anxious about the shutdown. “People have been calling and calling and calling,” Ellison said.
As if people without sufficient means to feed their children are not desperate enough Ellison cautioned, “We’re recommending that folks if at all possible go ahead and use their October vouchers if they can.”
The report indicates that the government may not be able to reimburse grocery stores for WIC vouchers. This information, while helping people understand the problem, may very well freak out WIC participants and Springfield area grocery store owners, where $500,000 of WIC benefits are spent each month by over 7000 participants.
A report in the St. Joseph News-Press indicated that the WIC program in Missouri is faring better than in other states like Utah and Iowa, where offices are closed or vouchers to participants have stopped. The report is more specific about the federal government's capacity to fund WIC: 48 days from the beginning of the October 1 shutdown. That means all funding for 9 million national WIC participants stops around November 18.
Stephanie Malita, a St. Joseph health department spokesperson, said a shutdown of WIC would be "devastating" for women and children in the program, plus it brings in $2.4 million to St. Joe area grocery stores.
A depletion of WIC funds will surely force participants to visit already stretched-to-the-limit food pantries and soup kitchens. These front-line feeding programs, while doing their best to provide quality nutrition meals, rely on food donations from individuals and businesses, who, in some cases, donate their remainder or less-than-nutritious products.
It's unfair to WIC participants because it may force these young people -- participants must have children less than five years of age -- to shop around at area pantries and soup kitchens to fill missing gaps in their food budget like the KSHB video report shows.
What's harder to determine is the impact on programs that provide benefits to poor people or low-income workers. The federally-funded Women, Infants and Children (WIC) feeding program seems to be safe for now, but will lose funding if the government stays closed for long. Thanks to the Springfield News-Leader and St. Joe News-Press for local reporting on the WIC story in Missouri. The story in the News-Leader was inconclusive whether the shutdown would exhaust WIC benefits in Greene County in 10 days or 60 days. The report quotes Mary Ellison, the local WIC administrator, who indicated people are anxious about the shutdown. “People have been calling and calling and calling,” Ellison said.
As if people without sufficient means to feed their children are not desperate enough Ellison cautioned, “We’re recommending that folks if at all possible go ahead and use their October vouchers if they can.”
The report indicates that the government may not be able to reimburse grocery stores for WIC vouchers. This information, while helping people understand the problem, may very well freak out WIC participants and Springfield area grocery store owners, where $500,000 of WIC benefits are spent each month by over 7000 participants.
A report in the St. Joseph News-Press indicated that the WIC program in Missouri is faring better than in other states like Utah and Iowa, where offices are closed or vouchers to participants have stopped. The report is more specific about the federal government's capacity to fund WIC: 48 days from the beginning of the October 1 shutdown. That means all funding for 9 million national WIC participants stops around November 18.
Stephanie Malita, a St. Joseph health department spokesperson, said a shutdown of WIC would be "devastating" for women and children in the program, plus it brings in $2.4 million to St. Joe area grocery stores.
A depletion of WIC funds will surely force participants to visit already stretched-to-the-limit food pantries and soup kitchens. These front-line feeding programs, while doing their best to provide quality nutrition meals, rely on food donations from individuals and businesses, who, in some cases, donate their remainder or less-than-nutritious products.
It's unfair to WIC participants because it may force these young people -- participants must have children less than five years of age -- to shop around at area pantries and soup kitchens to fill missing gaps in their food budget like the KSHB video report shows.
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