The Rumford Reporter: Maine

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Search State of Maine Welfare Charts

MOG | Search State of Maine Welfare Charts

Make sure and check on the amount of money that gets poured into Rumford to assist the low income individuals and families.

We know they are not getting ahead. We have the most people on fixed incomes in Oxford County. This includes welfare, Social Security (SSI), and SSDI.

If we are getting so much money to assist the needy in Rumford (@ 18,000,000 million), why then do we have an increase in the amount of people on some form of government assistance?

The State and the Maine Policy Heritage Center are crunching those numbers as we speak and finding that government assistance as it is set up now is in fact keeping people caught up in a dependency cycle. They don't necessarily want to be on the assistance but have no choice. For example, if a single mom works and puts a couple kids in daycare, it is almost not worth the cost of the daycare when you can stay home and take care of the children yourself and get health insurance benefits. If the rent and food are paid for then those same folks are are even more inclined to stay at home and make sure their children turn out right, are safe, and have a parent that is available. I don't think too many people would choose to be poor because it won't get you rich but when you stop to think about survival and the love of family, you can understand why the welfare programs are labeled as a dependency.

As far as the folks on SSI and SSDI, if you have a legitimate issue then these programs are excellent ways to help you pay your bills because you can't work or would have a difficult time working in a employment setting. SSI is for those folks who haven't made enough to qualify for SSDI. SSDI, Social Security Disability Income, is taken from your paycheck. And , you should get yearly statements telling you how much you would qualify for if you became disabled or retired. You paid into this program and the amount given is dependent upon how much you have worked. Hold onto those.