His comments need a little analysis. It annoys me enough that I am going to add my two cents not that I very often discuss politics per se on this blog. When a presidential candidate talks about a group – the very poor – and says what he says, people should speak up.

In the same interview, if not to add insult to injury, candidate Romney added that we have a “very ample safety net”, food stamps, and housing vouchers. Later, on his campaign plane while speaking – some call it damage control – to reporters he said that “we can talk about whether it (the safety net) needs to be strengthened or if there are holes in it.”

Someone needs to tell this candidate a few things. 1) The safety net needs mending. 2) The food stamp program is now known as SNAP – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 3) Yes, there are housing vouchers but there aren’t enough even to house all our homeless veterans. Mr. Romney, ask a family that has been on a waiting list with their local Housing Authority or Section 8 agency about how long it takes to get a housing voucher.

Last September the Census Bureau released a poverty report in which they reported 46 million people living in poverty in 2010. The number was the largest in the 52 year history of the poverty surveys.

We need candidates who will face the fact that we have income inequality in American. It is not a question if we need to fix the safety net. It’s a question of how we can rebuild and make everyone stronger. We can no longer tolerate a 281% increase in income among the top 1% while the bottom fifth’s income rises only 16% in the last 30 plus years. (Source: Congressional Budget Office. See www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=12485 for additional proof.

Please wake up Mr. Romney.

An IRS spokesperson recently stated, “If you worked any part of last year (2011) and your income was around $49,000 or less see if you qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC.” It can put extra money in a family’s pocket, up to $5700. In New Jersey in 2011 552,000 households received $1.17 billion via the EITC credit, with an average refund of $2,117. For a single parent with one child it is estimated that EITC effectively raises wages by $1.25 an hour.

An EITC Tax Tip Video makes a number of suggestions. They include:
1) Use free brand name tax software through IRS’ Free File program if your adjusted gross income is $57,000 or less. For details visit the IRS Free File: Do Your Federal Taxes For Free page.
2) Utilize the services of any of the 400 nationwide IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers to get face-to-face tax help. In New Jersey there are twelve local offices located in Cherry Hill, Edison, Fairfield, Freehold, Jersey City, Mays Landing, Mountainside, Newark, Paramus, Parsippany, Paterson, and Trenton. Visit the link for locations and telephone numbers.
3) Take advantage of local and free tax preparation sites – known as VITA or AARP Tax-Aide sites – during the tax season. For a comprehensive and up-to-date list of New Jersey tax assistance sites visit the NJ 2-1-1 website. To locate the nearest VITA site, call 800-906-9887, if you do not have Internet access. In New Jersey, dial 2-1-1 or 877-652-1148 to find the closest free tax preparation site.

There are a couple tips that I also would like to pass on. They fall into the category of consumer protection and financial literacy. Does it make sense to pay $100 or even $200 to a commercial tax preparer if you can have your tax preparation done for free and get your refund via direct deposit? You should be familiar with the term “rapid refund” and currently known as a “refund anticipation check”. They are nothing more than expensive loans. In the consumer affairs community these services are known as Refund Anticipation Loans or RALs. For a good explanation of how expensive RALs are see a recent National Consumer Law Center report. Fortunately, 2011 may be the last year in the life of these loan schemes.

In the past couple years a number of VITA programs have partnered with financial institutions to enable tax filers to open accounts with the idea of getting a tax refund quicker via direct deposit. New Jersey consumers are fortunate in having available to them low-cost, low-volume basic checking services known as New Jersey Consumer Checking Accounts. If you want to promote financial literacy and encourage consumer education spread the word about consumer checking accounts.

For additional information on tax preparation programs and organizations that sponsor them, visit the New Jersey Community Resources’ NJ Earned Income Tax Credit web page.

It reads as follows: “SNAP/Food Stamp recipients can now use USDA’s National Farmers’ Market Directory to search for nearby farmers’ markets accepting the benefits. WIC and Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program participants can also find markets accepting their benefits. The upgrades are part of “serious enhancements to the data based on feedback from you – consumers, business people, producers, to name a few.” USDA hopes this will encourage more people to visit farmers’ markets “and stimulate communities through new business and healthier lifestyles.”

The article originally appeared in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Blog on December 28 under the title of “7,175 Markets and Counting: Farmers Markets At Your Fingertips”.

You can check out the Farmers Markets Search database at http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/. Enjoy and good luck finding farmer fresh produce.

New faces to the Legislature include:
Chris Brown (District 2 – Rep), Gabriela Mosquera (District 4 – Dem), Christopher Brown (District 8 – Rep), Gregory McGuckin (District 10 – Rep), Robert Clifton (District 12 – Rep), Jack Ciattarelli (District 16 – Rep), Angelica Jimenez (District 32 – Dem), Sean Connors (District 33 – Dem), Shavonda Sumter (District 35 – Dem), Benjie Wimberly (District 35 – Dem), Marlene Caride (District 36 – Dem), Timothy Eustace (District 38 – Dem), and Holly Schepisi (District 39 – Rep). If you learn of these legislators’ district office address please let me know so the web page can be updated.

Let’s see what Trenton does in 2012.

You may have heard stories in which a low-income customer contacts their utility company only to be told they will be shut off soon unless they pay a large portion of their bill. This may be allowable under certain circumstances but may not comply with regulations issued by the state’s Board of Public Utilities. A situation came to this person’s attention and it was obvious the facts did not add up. For example, the customer was advised to pay three quarters of the outstanding balance. State rules allow a protected customer to pay up to 25% of the bill and go on a budget plan. The customer indicated she was receiving welfare. She was told that wasn’t enough, that she had to be receiving energy assistance (LIHEAP) to be protected against a winter shut off. She was further advised that service can be shut off as long as the temperature does not go below 32 degrees. Not true, as the weather does not supercede state regulations.

Last month the New Jersey Community Resources website featured an article as to which groups of people are protected against disconnections. To further assist social workers and community agencies in an effort to protect vulnerable individuals and families a series of questions have been prepared when they are interviewing their clients. It should be useful in averting unnecessary shutoffs and a source of information about other energy programs. The Utility Questions Guide is available on this site. Feel free to share it.

Other useful information is available on the following web pages:
Avoiding NJ Utility Shutoffs,
Winter Termination Program,
NJ Energy Assistance Programs.

Complaints about violations of the Winter Termination Program rules should be directed to the Board of Public Utilities at 800-624-0241.

In a related matter, we should also wonder what happened to the funding promised to families almost two years ago. Legislation was signed in Trenton in January, 2010 with funds becoming available starting July 1, 2010. It is known as the Temporary Relief for Utility Expenses (TRUE) program but hasn’t been overly successful in averting shutoffs for moderate income families.

The following is part of a Customer’s Bill or Rights found on the BPU website. It reads as follows: “Winter Termination Program – If you are an elderly or low income customer having financial problems paying your bill you should request the company to enroll you in a budget plan in accordance with your ability to pay. You are required to make good faith payments of all reasonable bills for service and in return are assured of the right to have gas and electric utilities service from November 15, to March 15 without fear of termination of such service.”

Customers who receive any of the following public benefit programs are protected against utility shutoffs: Lifeline, PAAD, LIHEAP, USF, TANF, GA, SSI, or persons unable to pay their bill due to circumstances beyond their control. A person can request to be placed under “WTP protection” if they are in any of these categories by contacting their utility company. To take advantage of the WTP a customer should make “good faith” payments, enroll in an affordable payment plan, and apply for energy assistance benefits.

Additional information is available on the New Jersey Community Resources website on the following web pages: Winter Termination Program, NJ Energy Assistance Programs, and Avoiding NJ Utility Shutoffs.

Households who require the intervention from others should contact the Board’s Division of Customer Assistance at 800-624-0241, or Legal Services of New Jersey at 888-LSNJ-LAW (888-576-5529).

Do you know there are six minor league teams in New Jersey? They include: the New Jersey Jackals in Montclair, Newark Bears, Somerset Patriots, Lakewood BlueClaws, Trenton Thunder, and the Camden Riversharks. You could add nearby Staten Island Yankees. Links to these team’s official websites can be found on New Jersey Community Resources’ New Jersey page.

While listing minor league teams it made sense to list all area professional sports teams. Of course, you probably have been to their websites on your own but having them listed together made sense, at least it did to me. A direct link to these teams can be found also on the New Jersey page. The list covers all pro sports: baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and hockey. Philadelphia teams are included as some South Jersey readers are fans of teams across the river, just as New York teams are included for North Jersey fans. You may notice I’ve included two women’s professional soccer teams – Blue Sky Soccer , holding their matches in Piscataway and the Philadelphia Independence.

Have fun watching your favorite teams.

Victim Recounts 20 Years of Domestic Violence written 9/19/11 by Deborah McGuire. Copyright by Seawave Corp. Used with permission from the publisher.

COURT HOUSE — Stand in line in the supermarket with four women; look at a group of four women talking at work; sit behind four women at a PTA meeting. Statistically speaking, one of them is, has been, or will be, a victim of domestic violence.

Those statistics alone are sobering. Add to that the effect of domestic violence on children. According to the 2009 Domestic Violence in NJ Report, “Children were involved or present during thirty-one percent of all domestic violence offenses…specifically, 4 percent were involved and 27 percent were present.”

In 2009, there were 73,709 domestic violence offenses reported to the police, a 4 percent increase to the 70,613 reported the previous year. With almost 8,000 calls, Cape May County was second only to Gloucester County in the number of domestic violence hotline calls.

The Coalition Against Rape and Domestic Violence (CARA) has been answering the call when it comes to domestic violence in the county. The organization will be celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2012. Juanita Battle, CSW, DVS, CARA’s supervisor of services, has been with CARA since its opening in 1982. Battle spoke with the Herald about domestic violence and its effect on the county women, children and men who experience it.

“I want women to hear it. I want women to know that I feel their pain,” said Battle. She explained how she was a victim of domestic violence for almost 20 years. Her tale is a harrowing one of terror, a mother’s love and the will to survive.

Married in 1961 at the age of 18, she said that the abuse began when she and her then-husband were dating. “I didn’t tell anyone, I didn’t tell my girlfriends” she said, “I thought he loved me – he didn’t want anyone else to look at me.” She recalled how he would shove her and tell “You were supposed to be here at…”

Pregnant when they married, “I thought the sun rose over him and thought that he loved me,” she said. Once married, the violence escalated. “He smacked me around and shoved me around while I was pregnant.”

The newly married Battle said that it took her a few years to figure out that her husband, an alcoholic, “was a very mean person. He was an angry, prejudiced man.”

“He was an entirely different person when he was sober,” she shared. “That’s the person that I loved.”

Her husband beat her on a fairly regular basis; once, fracturing her jaw.

Still, Battle stayed. Her boundary, she said, was her children.

“Don’t hit my kid, was my boundary. My limit was ‘You can kill me now, but don’t hit my kid.’”

On one occasion, when her husband tried to beat her son, Battle struck back. “He tried his best to kill me,” she said, “And he tried to choke me – so I hit him back. He was going to beat my son. I could see rage in him. My son was petrified. I told my son to run to the neighbor’s across the street.”

Interestingly, Battle said that her husband was the son of an abusive alcoholic father. “He would grab his father and say, ‘You better not hit my mom,’ yet he hit his own wife.”

Over the course of her marriage Battle did muster up the strength to take her children and leave the abuse. And every time she did, she’d go back. “I left for a couple of months,” she said. “I went to my aunt’s. But he came for me and promised me never to do it again.”

Upon her return, the beatings were worse.

Battle said that when she counsels women who are returning to their abusers to think long and think hard.

“I always tell girls if you decide to go back and you know he hasn’t gotten any professional help, it could be worse.” She said that the ambiguity in the abusers mind of what happened while the woman was out of the house adds to the abuse.

One episode of abuse stands out in Battle’s mind. She told of how she was pregnant with twins and her husband was drunk.

“He was over at his father’s house drinking and they concocted a story that the babies weren’t his.” Her husband beat her and pushed her down stairs, resulting in one of the babies being born neurologically impaired.

In 1978, with five sons and a daughter, Battle started to battle back.

“I told myself I didn’t like myself. I didn’t even know who ‘self’ was. To do what? Stay in this house? It’s not a home. I didn’t want my kids to think it was okay (to be beaten).”

So Battle developed a plan.

”I thought about my paperwork, my kids birth certificates and things like that.”

She told one person – a girlfriend, of what was going on. “I was scared about leaving,” she said. “Every day she would see me and say, ‘I don’t see bruises on you, so it must have been a good night.’”

One day, however, Battle knew that she had reached the end. She told in chilling detail how she and her husband had argued and fought the night before she made her run for it.

”He had been drinking. I got up, got the kids off to school, got ready for work. As I was getting ready for work he told me I wasn’t going to work and he wasn’t going to work, either – that I should call his work.”

Battle knew that if she didn’t do something, she was going to spend the day being beaten, or worse.

“I knew then that I wasn’t going to do it anymore. He went to the liquor store and I drove to Dorothy’s (her girlfriend). She was hanging clothes,” said Battle. “She looked at me coming out of the car and she said, ‘You know what to do.’”

“I drove to the Glassboro Police Department and told them I was leaving and I wanted my kids. I told them he had beaten me. They told me there was a shelter in Atlantic County and they asked me if I wanted to go there.”

They also told Battle that she needed to move fast if she wanted her kids, “They told me that the kids were his, too, and if he got to them first he could keep them.”

“I asked the police to come home with me so I could get some clothes for the kids.”

While she and the police were at the house her husband pulled up.

”Why are the police here,” he asked. “I couldn’t even look at him,” said Battle.

While the police were present, her husband tried to grab her as she went into the house. ”I stopped the door with my foot,” she said. “The police pushed him down and handcuffed him. I took a few things with me.”

Driving like a madwoman Battle was able to get to four of the schools to collect five of her children. But her husband got to the intermediate school first and took one child with him.

“I didn’t know what to do,” said Battle, “to go back because of (the remaining child)? But I left. I said I would go to court to get (my child).”

“I didn’t know where I was going,” recalled Battle. “The kids were crying, I was crying. I drove north on the Parkway to the last exit.”

And there, a toll taker played angel to her. “The lady in the toll both asked me if I was okay,” she said. “And I said ‘no.’ The toll taker said that surely there was a reason I had come that way.” While sitting at the toll booth, able to regain a modicum of her composure, Battle said to herself, “My brother!”

Battle’s brother, a Baptist minister, lived in Morristown.

“The toll taker let me turn around,” said Battle, and I showed up at my brother’s church. My brother was playing the organ and he said, ‘Sis.” He knew. I didn’t have to say anything.”

Battle smiles as she recalls how she and six children hunkered down in her brother’s bachelor pad.

About a week or so later after Battle left her abusive marriage, her husband contacted Battle’s aunt. It seemed that caring for the child was putting a cramp in his lifestyle. Her husband took the child to her aunt’s house, where Battle picked him up. The mother and her children were whole again.

“1978 was the best year of my life,” said Battle when asked about leaving her husband. “I had my kids; I got a nice apartment, and a job.”

“I divorced him right away,” said Battle. “I paid for the divorce.” Once divorced, she never contacted him again. Since their divorce, her ex-husband passed away.

Battle tells her story because she wants women who are in a similar situation to know that there is a way out. There is help for them. There is support.

“I want her to know that there is a safe place for her to go,” said Battle. “There is a place she can go to, to be safe.”

Battle talked of the need for women in abusive relationships to have phones. Often, she said, the woman will not have access to a car or to a phone, so the abuse can exert total control over her.

Often, women stay in abusive situations because of the fear of losing their children. Not so, said Battle.

”Oh, honey, they are your kids. Take your kids,” she said.

Women, too, are sometimes afraid of signing charges against their abusers.

“They don’t have to sign charges,” said Battle. “They and their children can get out. They will be taken to a safe place.”

Women unable to find alternate housing on their own may access CARA’s shelter.

“There is a shelter,” said Battle. “A home-like environment. It’s not institutionalized at all. It looks like a home, with a living room, kitchen, bedroom and regular bathrooms. A woman can stay 30 days and we can work with her to find counseling and housing.”

In sharing her story, Battle hopes to let women know that there is an alternative out there. That as difficult as it seems, a better life does await them.

“It is possible for women to leave, survive and thrive,” she said. “If they just take the chance and leave their abuser.”

And for those not ready to leave? “I urge them to tell someone. It opens it up in case something bad happens. By telling, the other person may be able to guide them.”

Women, men, and children who are in need of help can contact CARA at 609-522-6489 or their local police at 911.

Copyright 2011 by Seawave Corp. Used with permission.

There are organizations across the state to help women who are confronted with domestic violence. Statewide organizations include the
New Jersey Coalition For Battered Women and New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

A 71 page guide was recently published by Legal Services of New Jersey. It is titled Domestic Violence: A Guide to the Legal Rights of Domestic Violence Victims in New Jersey. For help call the New Jersey Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-572-SAFE (7233).

Links to many of the organizations listed below are included on this site’s community resources page.
The following organizations provide women with either emergency shelter, counseling, and/or have telephone hotlines:
Atlantic County
Atlantic County Women’s Center http://www.acwc.org/

Bergen County
Alternatives To Domestic Violence http://www.co.bergen.nj.us/adv/

Shelter Our Sisters http://www.shelteroursisters.org/

Burlington County
Providence House Domestic Violence Services http://www.catholiccharitiestrenton.org/index.php?page=Providence-House-Domestic-Violence-Services

Camden County
Camden County Women’s Center http://www.camdencountywomenscenter.org/

SERV of Camden County http://www.centerffs.org/programs/serv-domestic-violence-services

Cape May County
C.A.R.A. (Coalition Against Rape and Abuse) http://www.cara-cmc.org/

Cumberland County
SERV of Cumberland County http://www.centerffs.org/programs/serv-domestic-violence-services

Essex County
Partners For Women and Justice http://www.pfwj.org/

Babyland Family Violence Program http://www.babylandfamilyservices.org/Services.html

Rachel Coalition https://www.rachelcoalition.org/

The Safe House http://www.njcbw.org/gethelp_NJservices.html#essex

Gloucester County
SERV of Gloucester County http://www.centerffs.org/programs/serv-domestic-violence-services

Hudson County
WomenRising http://www.womenrising.org/

Hunterdon County
SAFE in Hunterdon http://www.safeinhunterdon.org/

Mercer County
Womanspace http://www.womanspace.org/

Middlesex County
Women Aware http://womenaware.net/

Women Helping Women http://www.whwnj.com/

Rutgers Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance http://sexualassault.rutgers.edu/

Manavi http://www.manavi.org/

Monmouth County
180 Turning Lives Around http://www.180nj.org/

Morris County
Jersey Battered Women’s Service http://www.jbws.org/

Rachel Coalition https://www.rachelcoalition.org/

Ocean County
Providence House Domestic Violence Services http://www.catholiccharitiestrenton.org/index.php?page=Providence-House-Domestic-Violence-Services

Passaic County
Passaic County Women’s Center http://www.njaconline.org/14.html

Project S.A.R.A.H. http://projectsarah.org/

Strengthen Our Sisters http://www.sosdv.org/

Wafa House http://www.wafahouse.org/

Salem County
Salem County Women’s Services http://scwsonline.org/index.php

Somerset County
Women’s Health and Counseling Center http://www.womenandhealth.org/

Resource Center of Somerset http://www.resourcecenterofsomerset.org/

Sussex County
Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Intervention Services (DASI) http://www.dasi.org/

Union County
Project Protect http://www.ywcaeuc.org/domestic-violence/

Warren County
Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault Crisis Center of Warren County http://www.besafewc.org/index.php

Also, see New Jersey MentalHealthCares Under Directory Of Services http://www.njmentalhealthcares.org/

The Division of Family Development has been publishing this monthly report, Current Program Statistics, since 1997. Each report is about twenty pages. So if you are doing a research paper on welfare or other programs in New Jersey, or interested in knowing how your county is doing, go visit DFD’s publications and reports page. The June 2011 report is currently available at http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dfd/news/cps_june11.pdf.

Sunday headlines include: Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello and Amos Lee. You should be able to listen to the Sunday show courtesy of WFUV. They have set up a Newport Folk Fest 2011 page. If you scroll down to the bottom of that page you will see a listing of most of the Newport scheduled acts. It will take you to dozens of NPR.org’s archived performances and interviews.

If you visit the Newport Folk Festival site, www.newportfolkfest.net you can download a free 2011 Newport Folk IPHONE/IPAD/IPOD app. Enjoy the show, tomorrow and online in the future – as the shows will be archived so I hear.