Editor’s Note: Starting today, the Bangor Daily News introduces a series of stories that examine welfare and the many programs that fall under that heading. The series is meant to provide readers with a sense of what the term “welfare” means, how many people in Maine use services such as food stamps and housing and heating oil assistance, among others, how much the programs cost, and how the programs work, from the point of view of those who administer and facilitate them. Subsequent stories will appear Mondays throughout the summer.

Tina Howes seldom forgets the looks on people’s faces when she shakes her head and tells them, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”

As Ellsworth’s deputy clerk, Howes has been in charge of the city’s General Assistance Program since 2005. She’s often the first stop for Ellsworth residents in dire straits who come to city hall seeking some sort of help. Lately, as the local and national economy continues its downturn, more and more people come her way.

Some, Howes conceded, are simply looking for whatever handout they can get. But most, she said, are asking only for a hand up, a boost to get them through a rough stretch.

Still, the ones she remembers most are those who need help but can’t get it.

“There are those people who you look at and you listen to, and you know they need help, but they just don’t qualify for what we can offer,” Howes said recently from her office. “So you tell them about other agencies or programs that are out there, and you hope for the best.”

Her day-to-day routine is a microcosm for a state with many residents who are financially bleeding but whose resources stretch only as far as the federal government and state budget will allow.

Such is the plight of the welfare system, a broad and complex web of assistance programs that often conjure up many negative thoughts and stereotypes.

What is ‘welfare’?

Broadly defined, welfare is government-funded financial assistance provided to those who are unable to support themselves, but the term has come to mean many things. For instance, some people consider Social Security and Medicare types of welfare, although those are more accurately defined as entitlement programs.

In Maine, welfare includes everything from general assistance – emergency, short-term funding doled out at the municipal level by Howes and others – to state and federal programs such as food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or low-income housing vouchers known as Section 8.

Barbara Van Burgel, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Integrated Access and Support, which facilitates most of Maine’s assistance programs, readily admitted there is no easy way to classify welfare.

“The eligibility for our programs is very complex,” Van Burgel said recently. “Most of the people who come through our system have no idea what they are eligible for or what programs might work best for them.”

The process

For people who enter the welfare system, whether it’s at the local, state, federal or private level, the process starts with income-based criteria. Most eligibility requirements are based on the federal poverty level, and benefits often are set from figures identified by agencies like the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The current poverty level is $10,210 annually for one person, $20,650 for a family of four.

People in need of assistance usually start at their local municipal offices, where they are greeted by people like Howes, or through DHHS, which has 16 locations around the state to serve those seeking assistance.

State programs are determined entirely through federal guidelines, but individual towns have some discretion over how general assistance money is doled out.

In many cases, Howes said, Ellsworth residents come in looking for enough money to cover a month’s rent while they look for a new job, or while they transition from a recent prison release. Sometimes, the circumstances are a little more complicated and the needs greater.

Either way, Howes has them fill out an application, reviews it and provides the applicant with a written response within 24 hours. When someone is approved, his assistance is administered in the form of a voucher for rent, heat or another outstanding bill. If people need help again the following month, they have to come in and start the process all over again.

General assistance can be used for a number of different things, such as housing, utilities or food, but if clients qualify for other services, Howes sends them there instead. Usually, clients then end up at one of the state’s DHHS offices.

The application process is similar at that level, Van Burgel said, although the average period of assistance is typically six months or more, as opposed to just one month.

The main programs the Office of Integrated Access and Support oversees are TANF and food stamps, but the state agency also determines the criteria for federally funded assistance such as Social Security disability benefits, and Section 8, or housing assistance.

The numbers

The Office of Integrated Access and Support keeps detailed data on all the programs it oversees, but the numbers aren’t always easy to interpret.

As of June 2008, Maine had 12,497 TANF cases, accounting for 22,402 children and about $5.1 million in aid distributed. TANF, which is offered only to households with children, is funded with federal dollars from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, although each state pays for half of the administrative costs.

The largest state program is food stamps, which currently has about 90,000 cases, accounting for about 180,000 people, or one in every eight Maine residents. The food stamp program also is funded at the federal level through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with the state picking up a portion of the cost to administer the benefits. Mainers receive $15.6 million toward food stamps annually, and, across the country, $33 billion is given out in food stamps every year.

The numbers seem high but, put in perspective, the amount Maine contributes toward TANF and food stamps combined makes up only about 4 percent of the state’s entire general fund budget.”The idea that low-income people are costing the state or the federal government most of its money is misguided,” said Judd Esty-Kendall, the Northern regional managing attorney for Pine Tree Legal Assistance, which provides advice and counsel for low-income Mainers.

Geography also plays a role in the welfare divide. For instance, in rural Washington County, about 20 percent of the population receives food stamps, but in nearby Hancock County, the number is about 10 percent. The figures correspond directly to the economy of those areas.

The state has numerous and diverse options, but general assistance is the only welfare program that is administered through cities and towns. All 492 Maine communities have a general assistance program. In most cases, the state pays for 50 percent of all general assistance that is given out and the municipalities pay the rest. In some cases – generally larger communities where the need is greater – the state pays up to 90 percent.

The numbers vary greatly from town to town and depend on the need. From July 2006 to June 2007, the city of Ellsworth granted $18,496 in welfare, in the form of general assistance to about 200 residents. The city’s total municipal budget was $8.5 million.

By comparison, the nearby smaller town of Dedham paid only $269 in general assistance during the 2006-07 year, even though it had budgeted $4,000.

The future

As the economy continues its decline, many welfare programs have reached or are nearing their saturation points, and long waiting lists are common.

That means fewer and fewer people who truly need help are getting it, officials say.

“You always want to do more,” said Howes, who recently got permission from city leaders to create a separate heating assistance fund through donations from area businesses and more affluent residents. “I have a network of places I can send people to, but they all have waiting lists – which is hard when you know people are working hard and still need help.”

Of all the applications she receives, about half are approved. The rest are turned away. Some get help elsewhere, but not all.

Esty-Kendall said long waiting lists are generally a result of processing delays at the federal level.

“That’s where general assistance at the local level often comes in, to close that gap,” he explained.

Caseloads for social services workers are bigger than they should be, which can contribute to decreased transparency.

As federally funded programs are nearing saturation or being besieged by budget cuts, more and more people are turning to private, nonprofit agencies for help. Local community action programs, or CAPs, provide a number of different assistance options and usually are funded with grants or donations.

Back in Ellsworth, Howes said she’ll continue making difficult choices even though she recognizes it’s not likely to get any easier.

Esty-Kendall agreed that it’s not going to get easier but said there will always be a place – and a need – for welfare.

“There are rich people that grow up rich who have more of a sense of entitlement than any poor person I’ve ever met,” he said. “And then there are thousands of those stories out there of people working to remove barriers.”

erussell@bangordailynews.net

664-0524