Posted on 04/10/2002 1:05:46 PM PDT by Registered
Sunday, April 07, 2002
By Federico Martinez
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
Jobless and disabled, Muskegon resident Dario Leija has been left homeless and trapped by a welfare system that one official said won't help him because he's "too poor and destitute."
It's a predicament many disabled West Michigan residents are in because of a weakened economy and a welfare system that's not designed to meet their needs, West Michigan social service advocates say.
Physically unable to work, many disabled people run out of money while waiting for the long process of applying for disability benefits. And, many have found, the goodwill of family and friends who have been caring for them can run out.
Like Leija, 45, they turn to homeless shelters or seek refuge in their vehicles.
If they aren't approved for disability benefits, finding a job in the weakened economy can be virtually impossible. And the state has no way to help them.
Eric Glatz, a consumer relations advocate for Muskegon's Disability Awareness Center for Independent Living, said he sees people like Leija "on a weekly basis."
"I'm at a loss at what to do for (Leija)," Glatz said.
The government isn't set up to meet the needs of people with disabilities, particularly men, who traditionally have been expected to be able to work, said Janeane Morrissey, director of the Muskegon County Family Independence Agency.
"This population is really vulnerable anyway," said Morrissey. "By policy, the people we are least able to help is single and male."
Morrissey said there are many examples of how Leija and other disabled people are falling through cracks in assistance programs:
People who live in boarding houses, none of which are licensed by the state, don't qualify for food stamps because it's assumed they are being provided meals -- even if they aren't or if the meals are substandard.
"You can actually be too poor or destitute to qualify," said Morrissey.
One man's path
Leija, a Texan, moved to Muskegon in October after his applications for government assistance were rejected in Texas. He hoped to find better success in Michigan.
Leija said his physical ailments are many: multiple spinal injuries, a fused arm and wrist, bad knees, severe migraines and memory loss. Most are the result of a vehicle accident and several work-related accidents suffered in recent years.
Yet he has been unable to convince government officials that he is disabled enough to qualify for government assistance.
For the past six months, he has bunked with numerous friends and acquaintances in West Michigan. Most recently, he spent eight weeks living at the Muskegon Rescue Mission.
Hampered by a lack of education and difficulty speaking English, Leija said he has become frustrated with trying to navigate the long, complicated application process for government food stamps and housing and medical assistance.
What Leija is learning is that there are few government resources available to people in his predicament.
The State Disability Assistance program and federal Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance offer financial assistance to disabled people. But the process to obtain the benefits can be long and complicated, and the medical standards for disability can be difficult to meet.
In the meantime, many applicants don't have a source of income to support themselves, said Jan Stermin, district manager of Muskegon's Social Security Administration office.
"We need to provide some kind of safety net," said Stermin.
The dilemma also frustrates Glatz of the Disability Awareness Center.
"What they're saying is you have no income, so you're not eligible for housing assistance," said Glatz. "Well, how can you have a house if you have no money or job?
"I keep fishing for the answer. Why can't they help these people? What the hell is the answer?"
A long process
Proving a disability to qualify for assistance is also an incredibly difficult chore, said Wanda Korson, a longtime Supplemental Security Income advocate for the FIA's bureau of legal affairs. She retired in January after 31 years with the agency.
The application process is long and complicated and it's not uncommon for an applicant to be rejected several times before they are granted assistance, said Korson, whose job was to help applicants obtain federal assistance.
A person's application must include detailed work and medical history, a list of daily activities, personal references, medical documents and addresses and phone numbers of doctors and health facilities visited, said Korson. If the applicant doesn't provide enough information and the application is denied, it may be many months before the application is reviewed again.
Approved applicants are also subject to periodic medical reviews, said James Broilo, assistant district manager for Muskegon's Social Security Administration office.
"It's an issue of stewardship," Stermin, manager of the Muskegon Social Security office said of the reviews. "We really want to serve the people who are truly disabled.
"It's the American people's money and we have to make sure we're good stewards of their money."
The SSI program is for low-income people who are at least 65 years old or who are disabled and don't have an extensive work history, while the SSDI program, which doles out larger monetary assistance, is for people whose work record is more stable and extensive, Broilo said.
On average, SSI and SSDI applications filed in Muskegon take approximately four months to process, said Broilo. However, if a case is appealed, it's not uncommon for the process to take another six to nine months, Broilo said.
"It can be a long, drawn-out process," said Korson. "They can be approved at the application level, but that usually doesn't happen."
The applications for SSI and SSDI are first reviewed by the Disability Determination Service and applications are commonly denied at that stage, said Korson. The client then has 60 days to appeal to an administrative law judge.
If the judge denies the benefits, the applicant can file a complaint to a federal appeals council headquartered in Falls Church, Va., a process that can take up to 18 months, Korson said. If the application is denied again, the applicant's last course of action is to appeal to the federal district court, she said.
State Disability Assistance, which provides a lesser amount of financial help to disabled adults, takes an average of 24 days to be processed in Muskegon, said Morrissey. That process can be extended many more months if the application is denied and an appeal is filed.
Many of the applicants also suffer from mental, emotional and drug abuse problems, which makes the process even more daunting, said Morrissey.
Faltering economy hurts
Providing assistance to disabled people wasn't always so difficult, Morrissey said.
Until the early1990s, Michigan's General Assistance and Emergency Needs programs had the flexibility to meet many of the needs of the disabled, said Morrissey.
Gov. John Engler eliminated the General Assistance program, which provided financial help to childless adults that would have covered most the needs of disabled people in situations similar to Leija's, said Morrissey. The Emergency Needs program was replaced with the much more restrictive Emergency Assistance program, she said.
"When the programs were eliminated, the prediction was we'd be seeing people dying in the street," said Morrissey. "Quite frankly, that didn't happen.
"The carnage wasn't visible. They managed to survive with (the help of) other people. (But) their lives are more transient."
Michigan's faltering economy is making an already vulnerable group of people even more vulnerable and desperate, advocates said.
Many disabled people who can work often fill jobs that are the first to be cut in a worsening economy, said Glatz. And, when the economy sours, family and friends are apt to be less charitable as their own finances tighten, said Morrissey.
Leija is still trying to wade through the application process. He recently was approved for food stamps and Muskegon Cares, a state medical program that covers outpatient and prescription services and some emergencies.
But in late March, another doctor unfamiliar with his medical history determined that Leija could perform light work that doesn't require him to lift more than 20 pounds.
As a result of the doctor's decision, Leija lost his food stamps and Medicaid and became ineligible for State Disability Assistance, Glatz said.
FIA officials and Glatz intervened and helped him find a different doctor.
Glatz questioned who would be willing to hire Leija.
"He has stamina problems -- he can't take more than a few steps at a time," said Glatz. "Goodwill (Industries, which provides rehabilitation, job training and job opportunities to all types of people) turned him away because he can't lift more than 20 pounds."
For now, Leija spends most of his days riding public buses trying to find someone or some agency that can help him. But his memory lapses often get the best of him, and he fears what the future will hold.
"I get on the bus and get downtown and I forget what to do," he said.
we even had a body builder and a massage therapist, both who were suckling at the govt. teat.
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