Mississippi's public assistance 'most meager, least accessible' in the nation, report says

Mississippi puts up more barriers to receiving public assistance than nearly any other state, concludes a report from New America released Tuesday.

And those roadblocks not only affect folks economically, the report states, they perpetuate harmful, inaccurate narratives about the families receiving benefits, while not actually helping them out of poverty.

D.C.-based policy research group New America and Springboard to Opportunities, a Jackson-based group that assists families in affordable housing, partnered on the report, which pulls from the experiences of low-income mothers.

"They all have much bigger aspirations for their lives and their careers," said Aleta Sprague, one of the report's authors. "Many of them are not even accessing a lot of the supports they are eligible for because there are so many hurdles and because they've faced so much condescension in the process … all for what really amounts to such a small level of support."

Read more: http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/15/mississippis-public-assistance-most-meager-least-accessible-nation-report-says/864628001/