She hasn’t yet been informed of a change in food stamp policy that could make her ineligible to receive aid by late 2015.
As a jobless woman, Freeman, 51, comes to the Community Kitchen for meals from Monday to Saturday.
Without children or knowledge of computers, which is a required skill in almost all jobs, Freeman said she tries to make ends meet with the help of charity and the benefits of $60 in food stamps ?every month.
However this year, able-bodied people without dependents will be required to be working or participating in a state-sponsored training program for 20 hours per week to get food stamps, the state government announced in ?October 2014.
With unemployment rates falling, Indiana will no longer qualify for statewide waivers, which waive the work requirement, by late 2015. State officials said the training, starting in January, is aimed at improving the skills of Hoosiers in advance.
Freeman hasn’t yet been informed of the change, but said she expects to be one of the people who will need to go into training or risk losing food stamps. She says she wants to work, but the unspecified tremor in her hands excludes her from many jobs, such as waiting tables in a restaurant. Still, she says she’d rather not be on food stamps.
“Maybe I will look for a job,” Freeman said. “Any job is better than relying on them.”
There are 871,000 food stamp recipients statewide, and the state estimates that 65,000 people will be affected by the change, according to an announcement by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
“It’s really a threat to someone’s food security, especially to those who can’t work but not qualify for disabilities, ” said Adam Sommer, a supervisor at Community Kitchen.
But Marni Lemons, the Deputy Director of FSSA Office of Communications and Media, said there are safety nets in place. If recipients fall on hard times, they could receive food stamps for three months during a three-year time frame, and they could choose whatever months the food stamps were needed, she said.
Gov. Mike Pence supported the job training program in a Nov. 18 tweet.
“ ... We strive to make it possible for able-bodied adults to find a pathway to stand on (their) own two feet,” he said.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Indiana’s free job training and assistance for those receiving food stamps, was created in 1992.
“We will assess the person’s strengths and needs,” Lemons said. Lemons said a case manager helps to outline the steps required for clients to find jobs. They include employment training, placement assistance, help writing a résumé and transportation assistance.
“I think it is good. Make people feel less ashamed and will help these individuals get back to work,” Nancy Sovereign, an IU labor studies professor, said. But some people believe that helping improve working skills does not necessarily make it easier to find ?a job.
Health problems, lack of job opportunities and inconvenient transportation can discourage people from ?finding jobs.
“Some of our policies are based on kind of punitive attitudes that some people are poor because of their own fault. But in reality they may have other problems,” Katharine Byers, a social work ?expert at IU, said.
Byers said some people suffer from health or mental problems but do not qualify for disability, so they cannot apply for many jobs. Others live in areas where there are few jobs or no convenient transportation.
There are external factors that discourage people from finding jobs. Many low-paying jobs have been moved to ?developing countries, but those occupations are the main resources for people without higher degrees of education, Sovereign said.
She said officials should plan training program structures if they want to implement the job training program. People who do not qualify for food stamps will rely more on food pantries, Community Kitchen and other charities to provide food for them, Byers said. But in Texas, where she previously worked, charities often struggled to get enough donations.
“To me, it’s appalling. In a very wealthy country, we have people who go hungry and who have to depend on charity in order to get food, because food is pretty basic,” Byers said. Having finished her dinner, Freeman asked for a cold carryout meal for the next day’s lunch.
“I really appreciate it, whatever I get, but if people are working, they don’t need food stamps,” Freeman said.
