By NATE HAWLEY
Living under the poverty line is not easy, but the government has many programs to help those who are in need.
As the poverty rate in Utah continues to rise, reliance on these programs may also increase.
Housing
Gene Carly, executive director of the Utah County Housing Authority, said the Housing Authority was created to assist low-income families in renting a home.
'We administer a couple of different programs,' Carly said. 'We have what we call the section A voucher program where people come in and apply for housing assistance and rental assistance and when their name comes up on the waiting list we're able to give them a voucher. Then they go out and they can use that voucher to help pay their rent to their private landlord.'
Families on the program generally pay 30 percent of their income for their housing and the government covers the rest. The Housing Authority uses numbers produced by the federal government to decide who is eligible.
Every year the government releases the median income for different regions of the state. Eligibility requires the family to make less than 50 percent of this median income. Anyone in this area is allowed to apply for the assistance.
'We don't make a distinction as to whether or not a student is eligible or ineligible,' Carly said. 'Singles are not regarded as a priority. We do give priority to elderly, disabled, victims of domestic violence and families over single individuals.'
Applying to receive help requires demonstrating proof of income and as long as families are economically eligible they can stay on the program.
Health Insurance
Randa Pickle, Constituent Services with the Utah State Medicaid Office, said there are various healthcare programs offered by the state, including Medicaid, children's health insurance pool and the primary healthcare network. Medicaid covers people who are older than 65, disabled, pregnant, are children or families with dependents.
Each program has its own requirements, but they generally follow the official government numbers that define the poverty level.
'If they're below the poverty level or the income level for their program there is no cost to them,' Pickle said. 'Some of the disabled people will have co-pays for their pharmacies. There are no co-pays for pregnant women or children; they get their medical care for free.'
Medicaid is the most widely used health care program for low-income families. Application to the program can be done at anytime through the Utah Department of Workforce or the Utah Department of Health Offices and no one who is eligible for the program will be turned down.
For those who may not be able to afford their own insurance, but do not fall under the poverty line, other programs exist to give assistance.
'We also have a program for pregnant women, children and others called the medically needy program,' Pickle said. 'If the person is categorically eligible and their assets are below the limit, but their income is too high, we have what we call a medically needy or spend down program where a person can buy a card covering the month they need.'
Food and Nutrition
Suanne Buggy, spokeswoman for the Food and Nutrition Services, said the federal government has a lot of programs designed to help the low-income receive adequate nutrition.
'The biggest help is the food stamp program and then under the special nutrition program, the one you've probably heard the most about, is the school lunch program,' Buggy said.
Food stamps are available to individuals and families who qualify for the program. Unlike other governmental programs, the qualifications for food stamps are not based solely on income, but vary according to the individual and the circumstances.
There is a preliminary screening tool on the Food and Nutrition Services' Web site that can help people to determine if they are eligible for the program. Those on the program receive a monthly allowance that can only be used for food.
'When you receive food stamp benefits, you get a debit-like card in the mail, so you don't get coupons anymore,' Buggy said. 'When you go up to the cashier you swipe the card through and you have a pin number and then your food costs are deducted from the card. Every month, a dollar amount is added to the card and you just use it as a debit card.'
Low-income families with children can receive additional help through the school lunch program. Families do not have to be living below the poverty line to receive help, but in order to receive it; they must apply for the program. Depending on their circumstances, some children receive free lunches and others receive them at 50 percent of cost.
'There is a lot of stigma to this program, it is seen as a welfare program, but its not,' Buggy said. 'It is a nutrition assistance program. A lot of people think if they don't qualify for welfare they won't qualify for food stamps, but that's not true either. We encourage anyone who thinks they may be eligible to apply to the program.'
Welfare
Michael Sullivan, director of Communications of Workforce Services, said the current welfare system is much different from the idea most people have of it.
'We don't just have someone come in and say 'I'm poor, I need help,' and we hand them a check,' Sullivan said. 'In fact there is a work or training component involved in almost every welfare recipient.'
Reforms made during President Bill Clinton's second term changed the welfare system from a money giveaway to a skills acquisition program. Additionally, welfare is not just one single program, but rather a combination of nearly 40 programs.
The government will step in to help low-income families for a period of time, but the families must either be looking for a job or expanding their skills. Once the time limit is passed, the family is taken off of assistance. There are circumstances where a family can prolong its time on one of the welfare programs, but they cannot stay on it forever.
Sullivan said one of the largest programs is the family unemployment program. After being unemployed for a couple of months, the individual can apply to receive the benefits of the program, but in Utah the family can only receive benefits for 23 weeks with the opportunity of an additional 23 weeks in certain circumstances.