Perusing recent OIA responses, a handful caught my interest:
405 people registered for public housing were living in their car at December 31, 2020
20 minutes and 44 seconds was the average speed of answer for Studylink calls in March 2021
2 of 28 sexual harrassment claims at MSD between 2016 and 2020 were substantiated
378,132 MSD clients recieve an Accommodation Supplement at end December 2020. A third receive the maximum amount payable (eg $305 in Auckland with two children).
$1,905,659,255 is owed to MSD by way of recoverable assistance loaned to clients
$301,404 spent with My Food Bag Ltd since August 2019
909 people opted out of the Winter Energy Payment in the winter of 2020
4 comments:
Lindsay, any idea why expensive My Food Bags would be provided instead of a trip to a local food bank?
Reading the fine print it appears every effort is made to take responsibility for their own welfare away from the recipient of the grant.
When will the state start paying for families to simply go to restaurants 7 days a week and cut out the foodbanks all together to support the needy and private enterprise at the same time? They do it for the moteliers.
Mark, For those who have spent all their benefit before the next pay day "...from October 2019 to February 2020, the Ministry partnered
with Bargain Box (My Food Bag Ltd) to trial the Emergency Food Kit in Auckland. This
voluntary trial offered families the choice between money on a payment card or the
Emergency Food Kit. The Ministry recognises for some families getting access to
affordable and nutritious food can be difficult. This is particularly true for those without access to transport or supermarkets.
The proposed Emergency Food Kit, which was developed through co-design workshops
held with clients in 2017, included everything needed for breakfast, lunch, snacks and
dinner for seven days.
Before commencing the trial, the Ministry tested the food kit with 101 families to find
out how the product worked for them in their home. Feedback was overwhelmingly
positive with 95% of clients rating their experience as 'good' or 'very good'. "
It looks good on paper but I'm told many recipients don't know how to cook.
I'm also informed that when facilities were provided to teach needy people to cook, they stole the ingredients!!
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