Poverty: A Conversation With Hope House's Jaya James

Jaya James, Executive Director, Hope House.
Original photo by Scott McQuarrie, Ward 1 Studios.
Cropped by Bill Hulet.

One of the things that I find most frustrating about our modern society is the way we all seem to be separating ourselves into little "sub-communities" with our own experiences and ways of looking at the world. It's understandable that this is happening. The world is already very complex, people's education and work expertise are becoming more and more specialized, and, modern technology allows people to find that fraction of the population that have similar interests and values to their own. Increasingly, we don't live in geographic communities but rather "communities of interest".

The big problem with this separation into different sub-communities is that we create what business consultants call "information silos". That is to say, groups of people tend to congregate with people who have similar life experience and expertise but are walled-off from others with significantly different life experience or expertise. (Those are people in a different "silo".) It's easy to begin to think that your life has been the same as everyone else, and that government policy needs to be created only to deal with your particular experience---because everything else is "nonsense". In a democracy people need to have some basic level of knowledge about what is happening to everyone in their community before they will be able to elect officials to pursue policies that will work for all people---not just themselves. This blog is---among other things---an attempt to provide some of that information.

One of the biggest problems that I see is that some sub-communities are much better than others at telling their stories to everyone else. To a large part this comes down to who has the money to advertise their concerns about their particular problems. Another part involves the sheer numbers of people affected. I see ads on YouTube from the oil industry suggesting that the tar sands are just OK. I also see lots of "warm bodies" protesting the climate emergency. But poor people have a huge disadvantage when it comes to fighting for the attention of the general population. There are several reasons. They are poor, so they can't pay for advertising campaigns. There aren't that many of them, so they can't influence elections or stage huge protests. And they are generally too busy just treading water to put much energy into making a fuss.

For those of you who don't know---that "silo thing" thing again---Hope House is a downtown initiative aimed at helping the poor folks of Guelph survive in a world where there is increasingly little space for them to live. It's housed at 10 Cork Street in the Downtown Core. Last June I was privileged to spend a couple hours with its Executive Director, Jaya James. We talked about a lot of things, but they all centred around the issue of poverty---why some people are poor, what it's like, and, what can we do to deal with it. I learned a lot. I hope that what follows will also inform my readers.

Hope House, 10 Cork Street East, in downtown Guelph.
As viewed from Gordon Street. Photo by Bill Hulet.

Like a lot of deep thinkers who are trying to give honest answers, James sometimes struggles to find the right words. (It's a lot easier to be glib when you are just repeating well-worn "talking points" or reinforcing people's pre-conceived ideas.) Just to be as clear as possible, I've edited our conversation a little bit. At the same time, I've tried to retain some of the flavour of our conversation. James tries very hard to express herself in a very nuanced way to ensure that her language expresses concern for the dignity of all human beings. This concern can make her a bit hesitant to make forceful, universal statements. To my way of thinking, however, this makes me tend to trust her opinions more than I would otherwise.

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Bill Hulet: What's the relationship between mental illness and poverty?

Jaya James: That's a very good question. 

Everyone who comes to Hope House we call a "community member"---we try to use that language to remind ourselves that they are part of our community. We know that the community members that tend to stay with us over the long term---versus community members that come in during periods of their life for a number of different reasons---are the ones that usually have one of three things: 

• developmental delay
• a physical disability
• a mental health issue

Sometimes it's a combination of those things. And sometimes on top of that they have an addiction issue. We also know many people who have mental health issues, also have addictions and part of that is because they are attempting to self-medicate. 

This experience they are having---they are trying to get relief. Drugs are a way of doing that and if you don't have access to the right drugs, then you are going to get access to whatever drugs are available. 

So we know as well it's very common for individuals with significant mental health challenges to also have addiction issues. So if you take that combination of just mental health---which makes it very challenging to hold down a job---because you don't fall neatly into whatever box they want you to fall into. This also forces you to fall into primarily one of two things: reliance on the community to support you or reliance on social assistance services. 

"We also know---at least in Canada---these are fairly complicated systems to navigate. So when you're struggling with mental health issues, you're also being asked to understand and work with a process that requires your cognitive ability to be clear to some degree. You've got to do this, and you've got to do this, and you've got to do this,---then you've got to go back to this,---and then it's over to there. 

A large part of the on-going work of the support staff at Hope House is that system navigation. Many of the agencies that are doing poverty relief, they have individuals helping with the system navigation because mental health makes it very challenging to manage all the different ways we have to work through the system." 

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The Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy has a program titled "Ontario 360" which analyses public policy with a fact-driven approach. It recently published a report titled Resetting Social Assistance Reform. Part of the report spoke to the problems that James is talking about.

Social assistance recipients and their caseworkers spend a great deal of time filling out application forms and documenting their continued eligibility, rather than on activities that will help recipients move out of poverty. While accountability and program integrity are important, the current system understands accountability in terms of individuals completing paperwork, rather than in terms of accountability for producing results across the system.  

Monitoring and reporting for social assistance far exceed the requirements of nearly any other source of support for individuals or businesses – including supports that are far more valuable financially (such as child benefits).

Resetting Social Assistance Reform, p-18

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Hulet: If you are a person with psychiatric issues, do you have to be totally destitute---no savings, no house, etc---to get onto a disability pension? Also, are you expected to "take the meds"?

James: The main component for mental health, the government assistance would be the Ontario Disabilities Support Program. Your disability has to be proved. There's a process you go through to prove that you really are disabled and not be able to work again. That's the big thing---not being able to work again. 

I haven't heard that you are required to take your meds, but I haven't asked either, so that might be a requirement. I know that many people struggle with getting the documentation they need to demonstrate that they need the support. That can be for a variety of reasons. 

One would be that you have to make sure that the documents get to your doctor and make sure that the doctor fills out the form. Most doctors will charge a fee for filling out this extra paper work. And it has to go back. And the case worker may decide that it's not complete enough and send it back. Or they may want a second opinion. 

You don't have to be---to my knowledge---destitute to do it, but the amount of money you're going to get on your Ontario Disability Support will mean over time that you will use up whatever savings you may have---which will leave you with nothing. I'm not totally up to date about it, but I believe that the amount for a single person is $1200 to $1400/month. That's to cover your rent, food, everything. In Guelph I believe I read the other day that the average bachelor or one bedroom was around $1100/month. 

I know that many people on Ontario Disability try to find a room mate. But depending on your mental health issue it might be good to live with someone else---or it might be triggering and cause more trouble. 

You are in this tight financial box that you are trying to function in a very tight real estate market so that's an added pressure that's put on and that's one of the things people see as being very common. 

If you have very low income, the amount of money you are expected to live on using social assistance is way below what you need to live a healthy lifestyle. As a result, you tend to have these compounding cycles. If you are spending your time always trying to find ways to supplement---. 

Maybe I only have enough money to pay rent. I still have to find food and clothing. And that eats up a lot of energy. Not that there aren't systems across the city that you can use. There's the food bank, and you can go to support groups and community cupboards. There're lots of pockets, but it's not that you can go there when it's convenient for you---most limit you to a once a month visit, or every two weeks. That means you have to patch things together and that takes a lot of time. 

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I've included a chart below from the Income Security Advocacy Centre that describes the financial situation that poor people face in Ontario when they go on social assistance, in the form of either Ontario Works (OW) or the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). Just to give you and idea about how low the shelter allowances are in this chart, I get the National Rent Report from Bullpen Consulting emailed to me on a regular basis, and the latest one stated:

Although Guelph was not included in the 36 cities in the graphic, the city had an average monthly rent for a one-bedroom of $1,522 and average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $1,778.

In short, the Ontario Works maximum shelter allowance for a single person---$390---only provides 26% of the cost of the average single bedroom apartment in Guelph. The Ontario Disability Support Program is marginally better---$497---but it still only provides 33%. Even if you rent a two-bedroom unit and get a roomie, the results are only marginally better at 44% and  56%, respectively. 

Family Type	Current				New as of Sept / Oct 2018
OW	Basic Needs	Max Shelter	Max OCB	Total	Basic Needs	Max Shelter	Max OCB	Total
Single	$337	$384	$0	$721	$343	$390	$0	$733
Single Parent - 1 child	$354	$632	$114	$1,100	$360	$642	$117	$1,119
Single Parent - 2 children	$354	$686	$229	$1,269	$360	$697	$234	$1,291
Couple	$486	$632	$0	$1,118	$494	$642	$0	$1,136
0BCouple - B1 child	$486	$686	$114	$1,286	$494	$697	$117	$1,308
Couple - 2 children	$486	$744	$229	$1,459	$494	$756	$234	$1,484
ODSP
Single	$662	$489	$0	$1,151	$672	$497	$0	$1,169
Single Parent - 1 child	$805	$769	$114	$1,688	$815	$781	$117	$1,713
Single Parent - 2 children	$805	$833	$230	$1,868	$815	$846	$234	$1,895
Couple	$954	$769	$0	$1,723	$969	$781	$0	$1,750
0BCouple - B1 child	$954	$833	$114	$1,901	$969	$846	$117	$1,932
Couple - 2 children	$954	$904	$230	$2,088	$969	$918	$234	$2,121

Chart copied from the Income Security Advocacy Centre's statement on Sept 10, 2018

(Just in case you are wondering, "OCB" means "Ontario Child Benefit", which is a further assistance program for children in poor families.)

Resetting Social Assistance Reform also supplies the following background information. To apply to both Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program people have a maximum allowable amount of assets. People are expected to "spend down" their savings to this point before they can apply for assistance:

Ontario Works

• Single Person $10,000
• Single Parent with one child $10,500
• Single Parent two children $11,000
• Couple $15,000
• Couple, one child $15,500
• Couple, two children $16,000

Ontario Disabled Supplement Program (ODSP)

• Single Person $40,000
• Single Parent with one child $40,500
• Single Parent with two children $41,000
• Couple $50,000
• Couple with one child $50,500
• Couple with two children $51,000

It's important to understand that there are exemptions to these numbers. Household assets like furniture are exempt under the ODSP and Ontario Works, as is the principle residence and an automobile. Furthermore, there are also exceptions for things like student scholarships (as long as the recipient stays in school), and a few other things. But as you can see, Ontario Works expects people who have managed to amass savings for their retirement, to buy a house, or, to start a business to burn through most of their savings before they can apply for assistance.

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I feel a bit weird asking for money in the middle of an article about people who are desperately poor. But the fact remains that what I'm providing is something that requires a lot of work to produce. If you think it's worth reading---and you can afford it---why not subscribe? Even a dollar a month is appreciated. You can do it through Patreon or PayPal. 

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One of the things that's become clear to me is that to do changes in your life that might lead towards a healthier well-being, you have to have energy. And if your energy is being expended trying to survive you don't really have the capacity to make whatever change you might want to make to get you to a better spot. 

Hulet: Especially if what energy you do have is being drained by your anti-psychotic drugs.

James: Right! Right!

So society has this weird expectation that if you are in a low-income situation you should "change" and those changes will address your problems. But at the same time our system is set up---or has evolved, I wouldn't say it was intentionally designed, it's more like pieces have all come together this way. Our system has evolved to give you the least amount of capacity to to actually make a change.

Hulet: People often just don't understand how much hard work it is to survive when you are poor.

James: There's a TED talk about research that shows that when your income is low your IQ actually drops because of the stress it puts on the human system. I think the TED talk was "being poor makes you stupid" or it might be "makes you dumb". 

The example he used was a community that is above subsistence, but they are farmers that get all their money at once when they sell their crop. Even if the crop in the fields looks great and they can expect a good return, when they take a test---because they are getting to the end of their reserves---their IQ drops. This is because as the money disappears they have the natural concern about "what if something goes wrong?"

What the presenter was trying to say is that sometimes when we look at the decisions that people on low income are making and we are concerned about their choices----it's because they aren't functioning at their highest capacity, because they are in a high stress situation.

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I rooted around on the Web and eventually found what I think is the TED talk that Ms. James is talking about. The title is "Poverty isn't a Lack of Character: it's a Lack of Cash". The point he is making is that people who are poor end up mired what he calls "the scarcity mentality", which limits their ability to make the best choices in life.

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I know myself that when I've had some physical health things and whenever I've had to deal with that testing, I often have to have them repeat things because my brain just will not process as well as normal---because it's into that stress mode. 

I think that this is interesting research because it suggests that if we can help stabilize incomes at a point where people aren't stressed all the time, we are building additional, personal capacity for people on top of simply saving people all the time and effort that people put into searching for resources. In effect, we are opening up space for people to develop higher level thinking.  

I don't know if that's the right way to describe it---but the point is to help people to be able to use their full cognitive ability.

Hulet: That's the same phenomenon that even middle-class people experience. If you've ever had to navigate a complicated bureaucratic procedure that is tremendously important to you, the result is the same. Your ability to think clearly constricts and you stop being able to easily make good decisions. How could piling pressure onto poor people possibly help them get out of poverty?

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Resetting Social Assistance Reform also talks to this matter.

However, in practice, social assistance does not achieve the goal of connecting people to employment. The system has consistently prioritized punitive rules and mechanisms in the name of accountability and limiting beneficiaries, rather than lowering the barriers to employment. For example, people receiving social assistance face strong incentives not to work. Recipients have their benefits reduced by 50 percent for each dollar they earn from employment (with an exemption on the first $200 earned each month). By contrast, the top one percent of tax filers in Canada pay an effective combined federal and provincial tax rate of 31 percent.

Resetting Social Assistance Reform, p-15 

The report goes on to describe the way the "welfare trap" holds onto people by cutting off important benefits like drug plans, subsidized housing, childcare, etc, before people have gotten more than a tenuous hold onto employment. This includes things like pushing people off social assistance when they get temporary work, which means that they cycle in and out of Ontario Works---sometimes several times in one year. The extreme emphasis on finding employment immediately forces some recipients to take the very first job that comes along---whether it is abusive, dangerous, or just a terrible fit for the person's skill set. In the long run, this dramatically limits the ability of people to permanently enter the work force. 

I think that this might be a good place to stop for now as we've already raised a fair number of points. 

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Furthermore, I say onto you the Climate Emergency must be dealt with!