THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501120383
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
For Gia Sams, unemployed and struggling, the ``Contract With America'' could mean no more free lunches for her 11-year-old son, or free milk for her 2-year-old son, or doctor's visits for her 2-year-old niece.
``Whether people will admit it or not, those kinds of programs help children the most,'' said Sams, a single mother who lives in Suffolk.
A report released Wednesday by two national child-advocacy groups predicts that Sams' children would be far from alone. In fact, the study shows that thousands of Virginia's children would miss out on Medicaid benefits, free school lunches, food stamps and other programs for the poor if the ``Contract With America'' proposals were passed.
The report by the Children's Defense Fund and the Black Community Crusade for Children, criticizes the Republican reforms as unfairly penalizing children and African Americans. Local child-advocacy groups released the study in Norfolk, in conjunction with groups in 12 other cities.
``Americans may have voted for change, but that vote was not for poverty, homelessness, orphaning children or increasing violence in this country,'' said Ingrid Miller, a local director of Jack and Jill of America. ``The vote was for a lean government, not a mean government.''
The child-advocacy groups did cite some ``Contract'' proposals - such as incentives for adoption, and tax relief for families with children - as sensible ideas. But the study concluded the vast majority of Republican reforms would be harmful to children.
The study claimed one element of the ``Contract With America'' - the balanced-budget amendment - would require cutting federal spending by 30 percent. Those cuts could be achieved by dropping children from programs, by reducing benefits or by making families pick up more costs through co-payments. MEMO: PROGRAM CUTS
The study estimates the number of children who would be cut from
Virginia programs if enrollments were reduced to balance the budget:
175,100 children would lose federally subsidized school lunches.
115,750 children would lose Medicaid health coverage.
78,350 children would lose food stamps.
38,800 children and pregnant women would lose nutritional aid through
Women, Infant and Children programs.
23,100 children would lose remedial education.
10,000 children in child-care and Head Start programs would lose
subsidized meals.
40,050 children would lose welfare benefits.
4,850 blind and disabled children would no longer receive income
supports through the Supplemental Security Income program.
3,300 preschool children would lose the chance to be in Head Start.
4,000 children would lose federal child-care subsidies that help
parents work or get education and training.
KEYWORDS: BUDGET CUT CONTRACT WITH AMERICA ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS
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