[NEWS] Pa.’s most vulnerable requires the continuation of the General Assistance program

From: PA Penn Live

Pennsylvania’s General Assembly has a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians by preserving General Assistance, an inexpensive but incredibly effective program.

In 2012, Pennsylvania’s General Assembly made a callous and shortsighted decision to end General Assistance (GA), a small, life-sustaining cash benefit program that served our most vulnerable neighbors: people with disabilities, domestic violence survivors fleeing abuse, children in the care of friends and neighbors, and people in drug or alcohol rehabilitation. Ending GA destroyed a critical safety net for people struggling to survive. For this small, targeted population, these benefits disappeared overnight, resulting in greater desperation and sometimes illegal and unsafe means of survival.