- 4 months ago
A profile of Farrell Stallings, newly laid off from his place of employment and venturing into the bureaucratic maze of the welfare system.
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00:01Major funding for Frontline is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
00:06Additional funding is provided by this station and other public television stations nationwide.
00:13Tonight on Frontline, what is it like to enter the maze of the welfare bureaucracy?
00:19What I'm going to do is refer you to some of our emergency food centers.
00:24Do you realize if you own property that we must place a lien on the property?
00:28Now these should go to welfare. Make sure that they get both of these.
00:31Do you have a right notice of financial determination? Do they have that on you?
00:36What church do you attend?
00:40Tonight, the story of what it is like for those who are living below the line.
00:54From the network of public television stations,
00:56a presentation of KCTS Seattle,
00:59WNET New York,
01:01WPBT Miami,
01:03WTVS Detroit,
01:05and WGBH Boston.
01:07This is Frontline,
01:09with Judy Woodruff.
01:15Good evening.
01:16Most of us get up in the morning and go to work.
01:19Tonight, a story about those who don't.
01:22It's about living on welfare,
01:24and also about having a job.
01:27The job of being poor.
01:29This is a story about people who don't have many choices.
01:33Because even when the economy turns around,
01:35or jobs become available in the sunbelt,
01:38there are still people who for so many reasons
01:41can't make it on their own,
01:43and who have to turn to some form of public money or private charity.
01:48This film had its beginning two years ago,
01:50when a frontline team spent five months in a small northeastern city,
01:55making a film about an abortion clinic.
01:58They followed some of the women who came to the clinic back to their homes,
02:02and found most of them living on some form of state or federal assistance.
02:07In fact, they found that true for over half the city's population.
02:11But as they entered these lives,
02:13they discovered how little we know
02:15about what it's really like to live below the poverty line,
02:19and what the daily work of being poor is all about.
02:23Produced by Mark Obenhaus,
02:25Michael Schwartz,
02:26and Edward Gray,
02:27the film is called
02:29Living Below the Line.
02:32Chester, Pennsylvania is a small industrial city south of Philadelphia.
02:42For more than a hundred years,
02:44blue-collar workers were drawn to Chester
02:46by wages as high as any in the northeast.
02:50But Chester is no longer thriving.
02:53Dozens of plants have shut down,
02:56and thousands of people have been laid off from jobs.
03:01Chester is now one of the poorest cities in the United States.
03:08The middle class has virtually abandoned the city,
03:11leaving behind a population that is largely unskilled
03:15and chronically unemployed.
03:18Less than a generation ago,
03:20there was a job in Chester for anyone who wanted to work.
03:24But now the jobs are gone,
03:26and most of the people who remain have turned to the government for help.
03:33Some people always say, you know, willpower will correct anything.
03:40And sometimes I say, did you ever try that with a case of diarrhea?
03:45And that's really what you're dealing with in these inner cities.
03:51Of where, because of economic and government forces over the past 40 years,
03:57the economics are such that the people cannot really help themselves.
04:03They need government help.
04:08This is a film about some of these men and women,
04:11and the welfare system they depend on.
04:14It is a film about the job of being poor
04:17in a city where more than half the population receives federal or state money.
04:22Ferrell Stallings is about to join their ranks.
04:35This is his first visit to the welfare office.
04:40Do you have proof of your birth today?
04:44Right now?
04:45That is the first thing I don't have.
04:47Do you have a driver's license?
04:48Yes, I do.
04:49Do you have an apartment, sir,
04:50or do you rent a room?
04:52How is that?
04:53Do you have an apartment?
04:54No, I own my house.
04:56Oh, you own your home?
04:57Yeah.
04:58Do you realize if you own property that we must place a lien on the property?
05:04It really doesn't matter.
05:07I still got to eat somehow or another.
05:09That's true.
05:11Stallings was more fortunate than many in Chester.
05:14His job as a copper worker lasted 28 years.
05:17But with his unemployment benefits used up, his savings gone, and his children unable to offer support,
05:24he turned to the welfare department with less than a dollar in his pocket.
05:28How long have you been unemployed?
05:3218 months.
05:34And you were receiving unemployment compensation?
05:37It exhausted last month, December.
05:43Unfortunately, Mr. Stallings, in order to apply for welfare, there are certain things you must have.
05:48Even though you are 60 years of age, I must still ask you to register for employment and bring us an ES-511-W, or a green work form.
06:00This is what it looks like.
06:01State regulations require that able-bodied men and women seeking welfare certify their willingness to work
06:16by registering at the Bureau of Employment Security.
06:19Now tell me this, have you ever been to COSA over in Media?
06:32COSA is a service established for people over 55 years of age.
06:36They do not touch anybody under 55.
06:39And they do pretty much what we do.
06:41I would recommend that you also register with them.
06:45They are at 2nd and Olive Street in Media.
06:48I'll give you one of my cards with that address.
06:51Because the more iron you have in the fire, the better off, you know?
06:55It's the way things are today.
06:57Let me make a statement here.
07:00All of the jobs that I was more or less qualified in,
07:04from the time I was in my early twenties,
07:07those jobs are not available anymore.
07:09You've got to be a technician, plus the fact.
07:11Right.
07:12You've got to have at least anywhere from 2 to 10 years of experience in that field.
07:17Right.
07:18And that's not quite possible when you're still on a job as long as I have.
07:22Mm-hmm.
07:23Yeah, well, it's awful tough when you work with one employer 28 years
07:26and then to go with a new one and break in on a new job.
07:29It's very difficult, you know.
07:30They need to get used to the job.
07:33Well, they won't today, but it's their market.
07:36It's an employer's market today, you know.
07:38They're flooded, they're spoiled, you know, you might say.
07:43Here.
07:44Now these go to welfare.
07:45Make sure that they get both of these.
07:47I most certainly will.
07:48So you won't have any trouble.
07:50When people talk about welfare, there's a lot of different welfare programs.
07:54In other words, you have direct cash assistance welfare, which we have 8,100 people involved in that, which would mean that that would be approximately 16, 18% of our population.
08:10Then you have food stamps.
08:13You have aid to families with dependent children, which is a big-ticket item.
08:23Then you have subsidized Section 8 housing.
08:27Then you have public housing.
08:30Now, federal entitlement program is Social Security, and we have, you know, one-third of our population is on Social Security.
08:40So, depending on what factor or how you put these statistics together, certainly over half the city is receiving some type of federal or state check.
08:52The next morning at 7 a.m., Stallings returned to the welfare office.
09:12Okay, Mr. Stallings, you wanted to apply for public assistance for yourself?
09:15Yes, sir.
09:17And what's the reason you're applying for assistance today?
09:20I have no income.
09:22Were you working?
09:23Where was the last job you had?
09:24H.K. Porter.
09:25It's a wire plant in Prospect Park.
09:27Uh-huh.
09:28That's where I worked the longest.
09:30Uh-huh.
09:31I was there for 28 years.
09:34You didn't go out of business today?
09:36Just about?
09:37Just about.
09:38Put everybody out, everybody.
09:40Personnel, all the machines have been quiet for months.
09:44Uh, do you have your Social Security card, Mr. Stallings?
09:47Yes, I do.
09:48And proof of your age?
09:50You were never on assistance before?
09:52No.
09:53No.
10:06And you live where now, Mr. Stallings?
10:082212 West 3rd Street.
10:102212 West 3rd Street.
10:11It's Farrell Stallings, correct?
10:13That's correct.
10:14Now, do you have proof of where you live, aren't you, right?
10:16How is that?
10:17Do you have proof of where you're living?
10:19Down on 2212 West 3rd Street?
10:21Who do you live with down there, Mr. Stallings?
10:24Just my house.
10:25Just your house paid for?
10:26Yeah.
10:32You know you have to sign a lien against your home.
10:34I heard that.
10:38As a condition for, uh, application for cash assistance.
10:44On the front.
10:45You'll see.
10:46Yeah, I see.
10:47Edith Fox, she lives with you?
10:50Yeah.
10:51She has two children.
10:52Teenage girls.
10:56And she pays you $130 a month, right?
11:01That's the only income I've gotten to have.
11:06You know, we have to apply a certain amount of this money to your check.
11:10You realize that.
11:11You'll receive $130 a month.
11:13Now, here's the deductions we give you.
11:16We subtract $10, and that's $120.
11:20Then we divide $120 in half, and that is $60.
11:27And from that, we deduct, we give you a, that's your profit would be $60.
11:33And from that, we give you an incentive of $20.
11:39Which leaves $40, and we take 50% of the next $60.
11:48Well, this in your case would be half of 40, which is $20.
11:53So we take 50% of the next 60, so $40 is less than 60, so we take $30.
11:58So all we would apply to your check is $10.
12:04Okay?
12:05In other words, out of the $130 you receive a month for your rent,
12:08we are only going to apply $10 to your check.
12:11You know, you'll be receiving $86 every two weeks.
12:14That's what one single person on general assistance receives in Pennsylvania and Delaware County.
12:19So you'll receive 70, you'll receive, what would take 10 from 172, you'll receive $162 a month.
12:27And $162 divided by two, it would be $81 you'd receive at the bank every two weeks.
12:35Okay, so we're only, after we give you the incentives, we're only deducting $10.
12:39Okay?
12:42Okay.
12:43Yes?
12:44That's every two weeks, right?
12:45Right.
12:46Is there any way possible I could get some immediate financial help?
12:48Yeah, I'll explain that to you in a minute.
12:49You can get an emergency check.
12:50Which you can pick up on Monday.
12:51There's no, we own no same day service here.
12:52There's nothing that can be picked up the same day.
12:53I mean, yeah.
12:54I can get it ready.
12:55I can get it ready, have it for you for Monday.
12:56Okay?
12:57Right.
12:58Right.
12:59It's only survival.
13:00I grant.
13:01It's difficult.
13:02$40 a week these days for a single person.
13:03and have to pay don't pay to pay attention.
13:04Right.
13:05It's hard to get some immediate financial help.
13:06You can get an emergency check.
13:07Yeah, I'll explain that to you in a minute.
13:08Uh-huh.
13:09That can get an emergency check.
13:10Which either you can pick up on Monday.
13:14There's no, we own no same day service here.
13:16No, we're not going to be picked up the same day.
13:18Get it ready for your, for Monday.
13:19Okay?
13:20Right.
13:22It's only survival.
13:24Now I grant, it's difficult.
13:27$40 a week these days for a single person.
13:30person and have to pay rent, no, it's not easy at all. I'd be the last one to say that.
13:42But remember, I think when the legislature sets grants, they have to take into account
13:50those people who need assistance, but also the greater numbers of persons out there who
13:57are feeling that it's their money that's paying for welfare, and Lord help the legislature
14:07who gives their money away. So somewhere there has to be a balance struck between the realities
14:13of politics and the needs of people. I think the concept of the welfare system is that welfare be
14:20a floor beneath which nobody should be expected to fall, that there are certain things that
14:27people need just to live as decent, dignified human beings, and I think it's our role to
14:33provide that in a way that gives dignity to those who need to depend on the public fund.
14:48The Delaware County Legal Assistance Association provides civil legal services to the poor in
14:54Rochester. The majority of clients subsist on public money. Last year, a staff of seven
15:03attorneys and three paralegals counseled nearly 6,000 clients. The office operates an advice
15:11and referral unit, which helps clients like Feral Stallings find ways to obtain food, heating
15:17oil, and other necessities they cannot afford. If the question is, does the welfare system provide
15:25Mr. Stallings with a way in which he can survive in some kind of decent fashion, the answer is no.
15:33The public assistant benefit amount certainly varies from state to state, but as a general rule is less
15:40than half of what the government insists is minimally necessary to meet basic expenses. Housing and
15:48rent and food and clothing and medical care defined in those terms, the public assistance benefit amount is
15:58paying 45 to 48 percent of the official poverty line. So that somebody on public assistance, it's not a surprise,
16:06cannot afford to pay their rent and their utilities and their clothing in the same month. It can't be done.
16:11And the utility bill, they're all outstanding. And as of now, as of this moment, you don't know what's going to happen
16:24the next minute, you know. And I'm not able to take care of those bills, you see.
16:33What I'm going to do is refer you to some of our emergency food centers. You should be there first
16:39thing in the morning, no later than seven o'clock, so you won't have so long to wait. Okay?
16:44We say to people, people don't starve in our streets. People don't live in the streets. We have programs that
17:02take care of these kinds of things. And people who have worked all their lives and suddenly find
17:07themselves poor believe that. They believe that there's really a system out there that's going to
17:12help them if they fall on bad times. And what they've been finding out that that's just not the
17:17case. And so they go to the first agency and they refer to another agency and then they refer to
17:21another agency. And they take all their papers trying to show that, hey, I need help. And it's this
17:30referral on and on and on and on paper after paper after paper. Always with this expectation that our system
17:38system is going to provide. The system is designed to provide the very barest subsistence levels and very begrudgingly to
17:53limited categories of people. And it's historically gone through periods of expanding the numbers of people that fit in
18:02those categories and contracting them, depending on political wins. And it is a system administered and directed by institutions
18:17responding to institutional and budget imperatives. Perhaps, at least at times, to a greater extent than they're responding to the needs of the
18:28clientele who are seeking their assistance.
18:33When was this accident?
18:3572 March.
18:37Okay, this was a traffic accident.
18:39Yes, yes.
18:41No?
18:42Yeah, it's a traffic accident. I was on a motorcycle.
18:46And you say you were partially paralyzed on the right side?
18:51Well, now I am partially paralyzed on my arm. My leg came back to me, though. I can use my leg, but I have to have it built up an inch.
19:02The Social Security Administration contends that Francis Cooney is capable of gainful employment and has therefore refused him disability benefits.
19:11To get the SSI, we're basically going to have to show that you cannot do sit-down work. That is, that you could not be a ticket taker at a movie theater or could not solder jewelry parts together.
19:26And that's what we're talking about. If that's not true, if you can sit at a movie theater and take tickets or solder parts together or pack a box sitting down, then even though no jobs like that may exist in the Delaware Valley,
19:43even though there are 5,000 people applying for every one that's open, even though the employer is not going to hire somebody with a handicap when he can hire someone without it, then we aren't going to win.
19:55I used to get SSI before, but then when I got married, I got dropped, because my wife was working at that time.
20:04I see.
20:05No, she can't work now because she's a mother taking care of a child. And she can't work, and I have a hard time now. I can't work. And so they dropped me completely. They thought she was going to carry over for me.
20:24She's on Social Security now. Right, right. Disability.
20:28Because of her disability. Right, right. She has cerebral palsy.
20:32Okay.
20:33Our clients live in a world of bureaucracy whose intricacies they don't understand. There are a great many programs. The ways in which each of those programs counts income, counts resources, computes what benefits are due to someone vary from one program to the next.
20:51So that food stamp rules and medical assistance rules and general assistance and AFDC rules, all of which are managed by the public welfare office, all differ. It's not surprising if in that context there's enormous psychological stress.
21:06Listen for your name to be told.
21:08Kaufman suggested that pending the resolution of his Social Security case, Cooney was eligible for welfare and food stamps.
21:13The Cooney family had been living on $449 a month in disability checks issued to Mrs. Cooney and their son.
21:37According to the physician, you are totally unemployed. So that's the reason that you are appealing their decision. When did you make an application in Social Security?
21:53The date we made it in May. I think that, no, the beginning of May. And that's the right reason. The May. May.
22:08That was the first date that you made application?
22:11That was the first.
22:12Okay.
22:13Yeah.
22:14He made application in May 2 and so the pill is going back to May.
22:20This is what exempts you from registering for employment and makes you what we consider a chronically needy app who will receive benefits all the way up until a decision is rendered.
22:33And a savings account, checking account.
22:36We did have the savings account.
22:39You got a checking?
22:40No.
22:41You got a checking?
22:42No.
22:43You got a checking?
22:44No.
22:45You got a checking?
22:46No.
22:47You got a checking?
22:48No.
22:49Cash savings.
22:50You got any property?
22:51No.
22:52You got any property?
22:53No.
22:54So you just have a balance here, $4573.
23:04Yes.
23:05You have life insurance?
23:06Yes.
23:07Life insurance?
23:08Yes.
23:09Life insurance?
23:10Yes.
23:11You do?
23:12Yes.
23:13You have a life insurance policy?
23:14Yes.
23:15Yes.
23:16But we didn't bring it.
23:17You didn't bring it?
23:18It's about $109 a year.
23:21I think it was indicated that there wasn't any at the pre-screen application.
23:30No.
23:31No.
23:32There wasn't any life insurance.
23:33No.
23:34We told the...
23:35There's a freak?
23:36Mm-hmm.
23:37We told the woman that there was.
23:40There was.
23:41There was.
23:42Yes.
23:43But you didn't bring the policy with you today.
23:44Right.
23:45No.
23:46How long have you had?
23:47A couple of months.
23:48Oh, a couple of months.
23:49No.
23:50No.
23:51Not long.
23:52Okay.
23:53No.
23:54All right.
23:55We got turned down from a log company because we have brain damage.
24:02Mm-hmm.
24:03Okay.
24:04All right then.
24:05Okay.
24:06Okay.
24:07Okay.
24:08Okay.
24:09Okay.
24:10Okay.
24:11Okay.
24:12Okay.
24:13Okay.
24:14Okay.
24:15Okay.
24:16Okay.
24:17Okay.
24:18Okay.
24:19Okay.
24:20Okay.
24:21Okay.
24:22Okay.
24:23Okay.
24:24Three months later, Social Security reversed itself and granted Francis Cooney his disability
24:37benefits.
24:38Number 17, Carl Stallings.
24:43Are you number 17?
24:46Stallings was advised by legal services to go to the welfare office to apply for a federal
24:52energy assistance grant.
24:53Mr. Stallings, would you follow me, please?
24:54Mr. Stallings, have you ever applied for this program before?
24:55No, I haven't.
24:56No?
24:57This is the first time?
24:58Yes, sir.
24:59Okay.
25:00Let me tell you a little bit about the program.
25:01This is a program where we make available to you a fuel grant.
25:02It's a one-time grant.
25:03That is, you can only apply for it one time per program a year.
25:04Now, the amount of the grant is based upon total household income, the number of people
25:07in the household income, the number of people in the household income, the number of
25:08people in the household, and the type of fuel that you use.
25:24Now, do you have your UC44 at home?
25:27That white notice of financial determination has the amount.
25:32Do you have that on you?
25:35I may.
25:36Okay.
25:37I may.
25:38Not sure.
25:39And would you have your unemployment card, too?
25:42Yes.
25:43Y'all wanted to share the run out, right?
25:45I can do that right off the bat.
25:48Okay, good.
25:49Not sure.
25:50Oh, it was 180.
25:51That was the first one.
25:52This is the old one.
25:53Yeah, that's the first one.
25:54You have your newest one.
25:55Now, we may have for you go with this figure, because we can only work with what we have.
26:09Now, your address is?
26:122212 West 3rd Street.
26:15And this is in Chester.
26:20Now, do you have a telephone number, Mr. Scullings?
26:23No problem.
26:24I haven't had a phone in several years.
26:26You are a homeowner.
26:29And you say, just test yourself in the household, however you have a border.
26:32Yeah, right.
26:33Okay, so we'll put you in the household one, because we're going to use that border income,
26:37the income you receive from there.
26:38Oh, see, she's got two children.
26:40Well, we won't put you as one.
26:42Oh, you're okay.
26:43Excuse me, please.
26:44Energy assistance, may I help you, please?
26:47I'm nervous.
26:48Yeah.
26:49I'm nervous.
26:55Uh, don't think so.
26:58No.
26:59One minute, please.
27:00Um, have you ever applied for, uh, police stamps or anything here?
27:03No.
27:04No.
27:05I've never done that before.
27:06I've never had.
27:07No, I won't need a printer.
27:08No, I won't need a printer.
27:09Now, you don't receive anything for a handicap.
27:11Are you over 60 years of age?
27:12I turned 60.
27:14August 11th.
27:15No.
27:16Yes.
27:17Now, Mr. Stallings, once you bring back this information on this list that I need, you can ask for me.
27:24I'm usually here from 8.30 in the morning, told the one I'm out to lunch, and I'll be here until about 5 o'clock this evening.
27:33When you bring that back, we should be able to complete your information.
27:37The English Poor Laws always started out with a premise that you can never give people, uh, more than, uh, on welfare, more than, um, the poorest wage earner was earning.
27:54And that, that's always been a premise of the English, of the Elizabethan Poor Laws.
28:00That if you gave someone, on welfare or, uh, in the poor houses, more than, the poorest worker, then no one would ever work.
28:11And, and that's what I think you see here.
28:14Um, this feeling that, that, uh, unless you make people grovel, unless you make them file 700 forms, um,
28:24Um, unless you pay them, uh, benefits that are so far below what you could possibly earn, that you're gonna somehow kill, uh, the, the initiative to work.
28:37I think what happens instead is that very process kills the initiative to work.
28:44Terry Buck has received welfare for most of his adult life.
28:4830 years old and a former Marine.
28:50He is now one of Chester's many street people.
28:53Yeah.
28:54Okay, I'll try then.
28:55Righto.
28:56Bye-bye.
28:57They don't have it.
28:58It's 75 cents.
28:59Right?
29:00For the bus.
29:01They have the 75 cents.
29:02I think it is 75 out.
29:0375 back.
29:04If you come here, I will give you the buck and a half on Thursday and the buck and a half on Friday.
29:07All right?
29:08Okay.
29:09Because it's easier than my fighting it with the world.
29:24Each month, Buck receives $70 worth of food stamps and a welfare check for $172.
29:30He has filed claims with the Veterans Administration and with Social Security seeking higher monthly benefits.
29:38He has also asked Kaufman to help him apply for educational benefits under the GI Bill of Rights.
29:44From what you've told me, it doesn't sound to me like you're in much shape to go to school.
29:48No, but I got nothing else to do.
29:51If I stay in the house all the time, I'm gonna go off.
29:54The GI Bill is not a program basically to provide living expenses, which is what you're interested in using it for in some ways,
30:04because you're starving to death.
30:06And that makes sense.
30:07I understand that.
30:08But that's not what it's designed to do.
30:10That's why we're going after the benefits designed to do, even though they don't pay enough to do what they're supposed to do.
30:18I have no guarantees.
30:20That's what I'm saying.
30:21Even then, the rent, once I pay, the rent's going to take all that check.
30:25That's right.
30:26It's not the, you know, it's not the, you're not going to be rich winning this case.
30:31There's no question about that.
30:32Oh, I understand that, but I'm saying I'm not even going to have no money to get things that I need.
30:36Personal.
30:38Well, the, the food's going to be paid.
30:41The rent is going to be, you're going from $172 a month on general assistance to $356 a month on supplemental security income.
30:53If we can win the Veterans Administration, which is going to take longer, that's $444 a month.
31:00It's a lot better than $172.
31:02It's not as good as if you can work.
31:05The hope is that it's enough to, so that, so that you have a roof, so that you have some food, so you have a place you can go, so that you can get the treatment to then put you back in the workforce.
31:17Yeah, well, I know what you're saying.
31:20I don't know what you're saying. I don't have the answers.
31:22Just like now, somebody stole my cane again.
31:25VA won't give me another one.
31:28See, I'm losing my balance more and more.
31:36I don't have answers to those questions.
31:43Man, you know why I drink like I do.
31:46Yeah.
31:47I don't know.
31:50And, you know, I've said it before.
31:53Drinking is only going to keep you in the hole.
31:56That's true.
31:57356 won't cover room and board and drink, too.
32:09Stallings would not get his welfare check until the following Monday, leaving him without food or money for several days.
32:16Legal services referred him to a private welfare agency.
32:24Good afternoon, Mr. Stallings.
32:26How do you spell your last name? Is it S-T-A-L-L-I-N-G-S?
32:29That's correct.
32:31Are you married, divorced, separated?
32:36Widower.
32:37A widower.
32:39I would like to take your social security number.
32:42Or maybe you know it off of hand.
32:44It's 166.
32:46166 hyphen?
32:4816.
32:4916 hyphen?
32:500273.
32:510273.
32:53Do you have any children at all?
32:55Not at home.
32:56My children are all grown and married in the way.
32:59All right.
33:00What are your required current needs now?
33:04Yesterday, I didn't have any food.
33:07I have no money.
33:08I have no money.
33:09I got one penny in my pocket right now.
33:13And just basic needs.
33:17Emergency food.
33:19I didn't have any until yesterday.
33:22What church do you attend?
33:23How's that?
33:24What church do you attend?
33:25Not any now, but I was formerly affiliated for quite a number of years at Bethany Baptist Church, Reverend Daniel Ray Scott.
33:38Oh, that's Scott.
33:39Would you like to come and visit our church sometime?
33:41I most certainly would.
33:43You know, with our little problems and our big problems, if we contact Jesus Christ, we can make it through there.
33:50Well, I'm trying on my own so far with a little spiritual help from him.
33:54You know, you know, Jesus.
33:56I used to sing with the Daniel Chords.
33:58Oh, I remember that.
33:59Eight years back.
34:00Uh-huh.
34:01If you could help us with our choir, we need members.
34:05All right, well, I have your basket made.
34:09Economic conditions today not being good.
34:26You don't know where you're going the next minute.
34:29You just move from one day to another.
34:32You don't know what's going to happen.
34:34You cannot determine your own destiny.
34:37That's the hard part.
34:40When you can't determine what you want to do the next minute, that's poverty.
34:54If you don't have a job, you can't do what you can do it.
35:02A lot of people don't feel like that, I suppose, but that's the way I am.
35:06That's the way I feel.
35:08I like to determine my own destiny through my own efforts.
35:18Maria Vargas is a 25-year-old mother of four.
35:21She has collected welfare all of her adult life.
35:25Neither she nor her 16 brothers or sisters finished school.
35:30She cannot read or write.
35:32Hey, if I can work, you know, if I got anybody to keep the little one I got,
35:37I'll be glad to work.
35:38I don't mind.
35:40But probably, I think for me, I probably make more than what I'm getting on DPA.
35:45All the hassle you got to go for DPA, you know.
35:48Probably get, you know, if you work, you probably get more.
35:58But I can't say nothing because, you know, when I apply for it,
36:01I don't get that much, you know, problem.
36:05They ask you a lot of questions, but they got to go by the law.
36:08You know, it's not that they want to ask you them kind of questions.
36:11It's because that's the work, you know, that's what their job are.
36:14Ask questions and stuff like that.
36:18The Vargas's are supported by Aid to Families with Dependent Children,
36:25a federal welfare program.
36:27Since being evicted, Maria and her children have been sharing a one-bedroom apartment with another family.
36:33After weeks of looking, Maria finally found an apartment of her own.
36:37At the suggestion of legal services, she came to the Salvation Army for help paying her rent.
36:43Hello, this is Dorothy Harris from Salvation Army.
36:47Can I speak to a social worker?
36:49Okay.
36:53Really, I have a client here, Maria Vargas.
36:57Recently she found a house.
36:59Community Action is giving her $150.
37:01And she needs $75 to complete that one month's transaction.
37:08Or deposit, rather.
37:10And then I will give her the $225, you know, for the first month's rent.
37:14Her income is $460.
37:16She has four children and she's on DPA.
37:18Maria Vargas.
37:21Maria Vargas.
37:24V-A-R-G-A-S.
37:27Okay.
37:29All right, thanks a lot.
37:31Okay, bye-bye.
37:33They're gonna call me right back.
37:35But they'll be able to get you the $50.
37:37What is that?
37:38It's in Derby.
37:40You can go right out Chester Pike.
37:42Or out 22nd Street, which turns into McDade Boulevard.
37:46And it's not that much turning after that.
37:49I can give the lady the directions.
37:50I can write them down for her.
37:52Okay?
37:54I don't know.
37:55I wonder where is that?
37:59Is it, that's the street name?
38:02Usually that's the name of a little township.
38:04It takes about 20 minutes to get there.
38:08The Salvation Army arranged Maria Vargas' transportation to Freedom House, another private welfare agency.
38:23Do you have relatives and where they are?
38:26You don't have any relatives near here?
38:28They're in Florida.
38:29Your relatives are in Florida.
38:33Okay.
38:34Do you have a dress for them?
38:36You just know they're in Florida.
38:37They're in Florida.
38:38Do you know what town?
38:40You just know they're in Florida.
38:42How much money do you have to have all together?
38:45225.
38:47Okay.
38:48And where are you getting the other?
38:50From the church.
38:52Council of Church or something.
38:54Council of Churches?
38:55Yeah.
38:56In Chester?
38:57Yes.
38:58They're going to give me 25.
38:59They're going to give me 25.
39:00And then they call here.
39:01And they call Freedom House to see if we can get 50.
39:05Yeah.
39:06They can give 50.
39:07And you're asking us to give you 50?
39:08Mm-hmm.
39:09What we will have to do from here is to, since CAA and since Catholic Social Service have agreed to pay part of it, what we will do is make a check to the landlord.
39:23Then this will mean that you have your first month's rent and your security. How are you going to prevent getting into this same situation again? That's what I want to know. And I always ask all the people that I don't want you to come back next month.
39:39Saying that.
39:40No. After I get this straightened out, I know because I got to pay it myself when I get my check on my DPA.
39:44When you get your DPA check, will you be able to get your first check in time for your next rent?
39:49Yeah.
39:50You will.
39:51So you'll be able to handle it.
39:52Yeah.
39:53Because, uh, when you get your DPA check, will you be able to get your first check in time for your next rent?
39:54Yeah.
39:55You will.
39:56So you'll be able to handle it.
39:57Yeah.
39:58Because, uh, you're going to get your next month's rent and your security.
39:59How are you going to prevent getting into this same situation again?
40:02That's what I want to know.
40:03And I always ask all the people that, I don't want you to come back next month saying that.
40:04No.
40:05You will.
40:06So you'll be able to handle it.
40:07Yeah.
40:08Because, uh, the money that we have is money through the state, through the government,
40:15but they'll, uh, allow us to help a person one time in 18 months.
40:21So if you can't pay your rent and you come back next month, we will not be able to do it.
40:25I'm not going to do that.
40:26Okay.
40:27I'm doing this because I really need it.
40:28If I didn't need it, I won't come.
40:30I believe you.
40:31But I just want to make sure that we are doing the right thing and not just putting
40:35a band-aid on a whole big sewer.
40:37You know what I mean?
40:38Mm-hmm.
40:39Uh, I just want to make sure you understand it.
40:44Okay?
40:45Okay.
40:46If you are, if you are going to be able to keep it up.
40:50Yeah.
40:51And you won't have to come back to us again.
40:53The only problem I had to move out the place was, you know, where I used to live before
40:56because they sold the place.
40:57Mm-hmm.
40:58If it wasn't for that, I never had moved out.
40:59I never would have been in this, you know, the way I am now.
41:00Yes.
41:01I'm too bad.
41:02Huh?
41:03The next day, Maria Vargas paid the landlord $450.
41:16She and her children moved into their new home.
41:20Oh, that's the last one.
41:21Uh, in a way, I feel real, real happy because I got a place for the kids, you know?
41:27You know, that they could play around.
41:31You know, just like everybody says, you feel good when you have your home.
41:35Yeah.
41:36That's all to it.
41:37I feel good now that I got this place, but for all four of them, they can jump around and
41:42play.
41:43Six months later, Maria Vargas and her children were evicted for non-payment of rent.
41:50T-O-V-I-S-T.
42:19The Social Security Administration sent Buck to several doctors, including a psychologist, to evaluate his ability to work.
42:29Kaufman drove Buck to the appointment because he knew Buck wouldn't make it on his own.
42:36You've had a few appointments already, so I'm pretty sure you're understanding much of what this is about.
42:43Many people can apply for disability beyond it for a lot of different reasons.
42:47I mean, there's a lot of reasons why a person might not be working. What is the reason for you?
42:52That I'm not working?
42:54Right.
42:56Can't find a job, don't got no experience.
43:00You know, I got a problem which is with alcohol mostly.
43:06You know, which I drink a lot.
43:08How far back are we talking about now? When was it that you first started drinking?
43:13Oh, I started drinking when I was 10.
43:18You know, which is partly from AA. I've been going to AA since 76.
43:23After I came out the penitentiary.
43:26You know, it was brought to attention by the psychiatrist that me and my family, you know, to relieve the pressure, I go out and drink.
43:39They said I wasn't an alcoholic, but I had alcoholic tendencies.
43:42Okay, now this was in 76 or something?
43:45Yeah, that's when I seen the shrink.
43:47That made no offense.
43:49Have you ever been hospitalized later for your drinking or for drugs?
43:53When you arrived at service?
43:54For drinking.
43:55For drinking? How many times were you hospitalized for that? Do you remember?
43:58Maybe 11 times.
44:01Okay. So, correct me if I'm wrong.
44:03Basically, I think what you're telling me is since you've been about 10 years old, you've been drinking pretty regularly.
44:08Maybe every day.
44:10Off and on, you might have stopped for a period of time, but you really haven't stopped at all since about 79.
44:16Been hospitalized quite a bit for the drinking.
44:20Okay?
44:21You've had problems with the police because of some robberies and also because of, as you would say, blacking out and forgetting to check in and then you would get in trouble for that.
44:30Right?
44:31Okay.
44:34What I want to do now is I want to ask you some questions, some of which are easy, some of which are hard.
44:40I simply want you to try, do the best you can.
44:42How was an orange and a banana like? What's similar about an orange and a banana?
44:46Group.
44:47Good.
44:48Okay.
44:49North and west?
44:52Two places.
44:56Eye and ear.
44:58Doing something.
45:02What's that?
45:03Doing something.
45:05How do you mean doing something?
45:08You tellin' something specific.
45:12Okay, let's imagine you're in a movie, alright? And you're the first person to see fire or smoke. What would you do?
45:17Leave.
45:21Why should people pay taxes?
45:23Because the system says so.
45:29Why do they say so? Why do you think the system says so?
45:33Take people's money.
45:42What do you hope comes out of this? How do you hope this all ends up?
45:44That I get some kind of help and, you know, where, like, uh, find out why, you know, I do have these problems and get help.
45:57Mm-hmm.
45:58Where, you know, eventually we help to get a tree and, uh, make something of myself.
46:13Huh?
46:14Why did you think it went badly?
46:16I don't know why he was talkin' at the end.
46:18Like you were sayin', you ain't dumb and you ain't crazy.
46:27Well, that's sort of nice to hear, isn't it?
46:29Yeah.
46:31But the way he was sayin', you shouldn't be it.
46:35I don't think, I didn't hear him say that.
46:37Oh, he didn't say it, but I was sayin' the way it sounded.
46:40Maybe I'm wrong.
46:41Like I told you, I ain't had a drink there.
46:44I'm still, I am out of it.
46:47Mm-hmm.
46:49That's all right.
46:50That's all right.
46:51That's all right.
46:52That's easy for you to say.
46:56Well, don't worry, but I have to stop out of the bar.
46:58Did, did, did fine.
46:59Did fine.
47:00Stop at the next bar, James.
47:01Well, yeah, it's stopping at the next bar.
47:04That seems to be the chief difficulty.
47:06It's killing him.
47:10Literally.
47:11I know.
47:13Um, I don't like my clients dying.
47:16Quite frankly.
47:17I ain't ready to die yet.
47:19Spoils the day.
47:23Well, just put an ounce of reefer on my coffin,
47:26bottle of wine, and everybody get hot.
47:32Doesn't make it go away, does it?
47:36No, Buck.
47:39I can't complain.
47:46Social Security denied Terry Buck's claim for disability benefits.
47:51He continues to subsist on $172 a month from welfare.
48:06Ferrell Stallings returned to the welfare office,
48:11with additional documentation to give to his energy assistance caseworker.
48:15Okay, sure, it's at home.
48:16Okay, we can use this.
48:17Uh-huh.
48:18You're going to be getting food stamps also?
48:19See if there's a case number.
48:20Did you get a statement from your boarder?
48:21Was that information included in here?
48:22Yeah, it was included.
48:23It was included in this figure?
48:24Okay.
48:25Okay.
48:26Okay.
48:27I'll let you see it.
48:28This is the first time you've applied for emergency.
48:29This is the first time you've applied for this program.
48:30Okay.
48:31So you're going to use Delco as your regular dealer?
48:32Yeah.
48:33Yeah, I know very well.
48:34When's the last time you've had heat in your home?
48:35Oh, it's been several years.
48:36Several years?
48:37A couple years, yeah.
48:38How'd you do that for two years?
48:39Well, I had electric heaters.
48:40Uh-huh.
48:41I know.
48:42I know.
48:43I know.
48:44I know.
48:45I know.
48:46I know.
48:47I know.
48:48I know.
48:49I know.
48:50I know.
48:51I know.
48:52I know.
48:53I know.
48:54I know.
48:55I know.
48:56I know.
48:57I know.
48:58I know.
48:59I know.
49:00I know.
49:01I know.
49:02I know.
49:03I know.
49:04I know.
49:05I know.
49:06I use kitchen heat.
49:07Uh-huh.
49:08Stuff right there.
49:09Yeah, you may want the spec too.
49:10It's your schedule.
49:11Okay.
49:12As soon as she brings that over, and then we fill out the rest of the application, there's
49:15a great deal of writing and some paperwork, so it's going to take a little while.
49:18Okay.
49:23Now it's going to take anywhere from two to three weeks before this is made available to you.
49:28to you now you should get a notice first telling you that you're eligible hopefully for that amount
49:34i quote it all right that it will go to delco now you can call delco and ask them if your grant has
49:40arrived it may or may not have but then you can make arrangements for it to be delivered to you
49:46okay now i'm going to put this through is there any other questions you have for me mr solace
49:53this is going to take two to three weeks all right okay i'll be right back excuse me
50:23this society tends to
50:53value human beings in terms of their contribution to the economic program and ascribe little if any
51:01value to a human being that doesn't participate in that economic structure for whatever reason
51:07be it health or training or too many children or location or whatever and if you don't participate
51:15you're poor i mean it's that simple if you participated for 50 years as i think 30 years
51:20as stallings did and tomorrow morning you don't participate whether it's because a plant left
51:26town or because the building fell on top of you or because uh you developed cancer or whatever you're
51:32poor it doesn't matter that you've worked for 30 years you're poor at the end of it they've used you
51:37up we measure human beings that way we have a history of measuring land and the sea and the air
51:44and trees and everything else that way too they're worth whatever you can get out of it in dollar terms and when you can't you ignore it
51:51you ignore it
51:53it is pretty grim for a lot of people right here in the city of chester especially the younger people
52:09they never had a chance to really mold their lives one way or the other
52:16and even though there are a lot of them that have done pretty well educationally why
52:25they can't do anything about it either
52:27i still think everybody that uh has any spirit at all should try to remain hopeful
52:40that things will get better soon
52:44like i said it's hard to do when you're hungry and you don't know where to turn
52:53but you gotta get out there and try
53:01get to the point you've got to try
53:07feral stallings has still not found a job
53:16we've told his story a week before a national election
53:21not because it's about politics
53:23because it goes beyond party platforms
53:26to an america that is in the process of great changes
53:30new technologies are reshaping our lives at home and at work
53:34foreign competition is threatening our industry
53:37we are part of a shifting world economy
53:40so as we create the society we're going to be
53:44we should remember the people we might leave behind
53:47like feral stallings
53:49coming up next week on front line
53:52an inside look at america's favorite spectator sport
53:56the horses
54:00the jockeys
54:01the players
54:02all trying to win at a tough gamble
54:05there's just no form of gambling that is so exciting as the racetrack
54:12how do you pick a winner
54:14the biggest winner that i ever had on my sheets was a professor who blew in here one year and blew out about two years later with a quarter of a million dollars in his pocket and he didn't know anything about horse racing he didn't buy the racing form
54:29the average person cannot beat this game requires too much work
54:38i'm already thinking a week or so ahead and i cannot reveal this name that on saturday in those
54:46bettless races i saw a horse that will make me king of the world
54:51we call the program king of the world
54:57it is next week on front line
55:00i'm judy woodrum
55:01good night
55:02good night
55:03good night
55:05good night
55:06good night
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