Re: “Ritter restores aid to needy, disabled,” Oct. 17 Denver & the West story.
Gov. Bill Ritter made the right call in August by announcing plans to eliminate Aid to the Needy Disabled (AND). Too bad he blinked in the face of predictable protests and restored this fiasco of a program.
AND was intended to provide interim financial assistance to Coloradans who are claiming a disability and are pending or in appeal status for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Put another way, you apply for help from a state program while you’re applying for help from a federal program. If approved for SSI, the county intercepts the applicant’s first check and reimburses the state for the assistance paid out. If denied for SSI, however, the applicant owes the state nothing.
AND places enormous demands on scarce time and resources in a badly overloaded safety net system. The immediate impact of eliminating AND would have been freeing up massive amounts of time to devote to more productive efforts.
Each case requires an interview with county social services, a separate interview with Social Security, a medical appointment to determine disability, then further review by a medical coordinator — all just to make the initial determination. A small army of caseworkers, doctors, bureaucrats and bookkeepers goes into providing $200 a month, no strings attached, and no medical coverage. It’s like the old cartoon where a huge log is put on the lathe to produce a single toothpick.
For every person using the AND program as it was intended, there are untold others playing the taxpayers for chumps, people who have no legitimate claim to SSI, or who are unwilling or unable to jump through all the hoops but who string everyone along as long as possible to collect the $200 a month.
Earlier in this slow-motion train wreck, Gov. Ritter asked state department heads to recommend entire programs to be cut. President Obama in his inaugural address called for eliminating wasteful, outdated government programs. Given the current budget crisis, it may be time to seriously consider cutting any state program that doesn’t come with federal financial participation or some clearly defined source of funding. It’s hard to imagine a better example than Aid to the Needy Disabled.
Michael D. Whalen is a former Denver County human services caseworker.
