I continue to be concerned that we are applying BandAid policy and control Instead of prevention and early intervention. The funds provided in current law attempt to address. and/or remedy. the symptoms of poverty: joblessness. hunger. domestic violence. child abuse and neglect. illiteracy. but until and unless we set about strategically to address the causes. we go far short of adequate to eradicate the problem and then wonder why we are losing the fight. I was contacted this morning by the DayCare Council of Illinois. located In Chicago. who reminded me that President Franklin Roosevelt. under whose leadership the safety net for our most vulnerable children and families was established some 60 years ago once said: "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much. it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." We do too little when we take away the Federal oversight of funds that are channeled into State and local coffers in the form of block grants. reduce the Food Stamp program in the name of budget deficit. deny benefits to legal immigrants. and make childrenhavingchildren continue to live in housing environments that failed them as teenage parents instead of supporting communities in their efforts to provide stable. dependable support systems. Whether that support is supplied by the teen parents biological or substitute parent. or a publicly funded shelter. should be the decision of that childparent. not the Federal Government. Block granting welfare benefits is likely to block grant suffering.
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immigrants