Wednesday
• September 30, 2015
www.magicvalley.com •
$1.50
Schools, Nonprofits Plan Fall Food Events • B1
Refugee Food Stamp, Medicaid Deputies Seek Tips Stats Paint Complex Picture in March Slaying
NATHAN BROWN nbrown@magicvalley.com
WIN FALLS • T American-born residents of Twin Falls County are more likely to receive welfare than their foreign-born neighbors, according to an analysis of data by the Times-News. The argument that immigrants eat up a disproportionate chunk of social services costs has been common among immigration opponents for decades, and many of the same arguments are being heard against the refugee program at the College of Southern Idaho. The language of a proposed ballot measure to end the CSI refugee center cites the federal debt, “epidemic welfare fraud” and refugees “overburdening our welfare system” as reasons to end the program. Opponents of the program have frequently spoken about federal benefits for refugees in the context of the total cost of the program and of the federal debt, which was at more than $18.16 trillion and growing as of Tuesday. But at a forum on the refugee resettlement program last week hosted by the Times-News, the panelists, most of whom head agencies that serve refugees and support the continued existence of the program, emphasized the temporary and limited nature of these benefits. Numbers back them up. The Times-News examined Medicaid, food stamps and cash assistance programs for refugees after obtaining the data through public records requests. Figures show that native born residents rely on government health care and food assistance in greater percentages than those born in foreign countries, though refugees are also eligible for short-term cash assistance to pay for things like food and housing after their arrival. Zeze Rwasama, the director of CSI’s refugee center and a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said people are encouraged to find work as quickly as possible, and many refugees don’t get the full eight months of cash assistance because they get a job first. On average, refugees in Twin Falls have a job after two-anda-half months, although for a minority who need more help adjusting because of health issues or trouble integrating, the average is five-and-a-half months, Rwasama said. “The goal is to get the people to self-sufficiency as quickly as possible,” said Lee Williams, the vice president and chief financial officer of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. The federal refugee program CSI runs has become controversial since news came out this spring that some Syrians may be among the 300 refugees to be resettled here over the fiscal year starting in October. The program has helped to resettle about 5,000 refugees in the Twin Falls area since the mid-1980s.
Medicaid and Food Stamps Other immigrants must wait five years before getting Medicaid
TIMES-NEWS FILER • Detectives are asking the public for any information on an unsolved March homicide. No one has been arrested and prosecutors have not named a suspect in the death of Glenn Russell Cawley, 55, who was found shot to death in his home March 12. Tuesday, the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office released a statement that investigators are still seeking tips in the case. Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said the decision to turn to the public came after discussing the investigation with the Cawley sheriff’s office. “A lot of times when they are working on a case I think it reaches this point when they want to see what is out there,” Loebs said. Investigators ask anyone with information on Cawley’s activities prior to his death, his known associates or anyone who might have seen or heard something unusual that could be related to Cawley’s death to contact Crime Stoppers at 208-7325387. Callers may remain anonymous. Please see CAWLEY, A10
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
People enter the auditorium to hear a group of panelists speak about refugees and the center that helps them at the College of Southern Idaho on Tuesday in Twin Falls.
For more detailed charts visit Magicvalley.com.
TIMES-NEWS GRAPHICS/SOURCE: IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND WELFARE
Pie chart data is for Twin Falls County. and food stamps, but people who come as refugees qualify for food stamps as soon as they arrive if they meet the same income criteria as anyone else, said Tom Shanahan, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Welfare.
“Most refugees coming in, they’re escaping,” Shanahan said. “They really don’t have resources.” Refugees get Medicaid for their first eight months here. After that, their eligibility is measured the same as anyone
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High I f You Do One Thing: Company of Fools presents “August: Osage County” for a “pay what you feel” preview at 7 p.m. at Liberty Theatre, 110 N. Main St., Hailey. Tickets are on sale one hour before performance. Partly Cloudy. B10
else, he said. In states like Idaho, which have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, few able-bodied adults are eligible. “There (are) very few adults on Medicaid, unless they’re elderly or they’re disabled,” Shanahan said. DHW records the citizenship status and country of origin of benefits recipients. Using its data for Twin Falls County: • People who weren’t born in the U.S. are slightly less likely, in terms of their percentage of the population, to receive either Medicaid or food stamps than people who were born here. Using the Census Bureau’s 2013 estimates of birthplaces, 25 percent of Twin Falls County residents who were born in the United States received food stamps and Medicaid that year. For the foreign-born population, 22 percent received food stamps Please see WELFARE, A9
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Major Reporting Project Returns This Sunday TIMES-NEWS With an influx of young Hispanic families, Jerome has become a surprisingly young city. Its median age is 28 — seven years younger than the state’s median — and a third of Jerome’s population is younger than 18. Across the city, Jerome’s youth is driving the shape of the rapidly changing community. On Sunday, the second installment of a special reporting project will examine Jerome’s shifting cultural and business scenes. Education reporter Julie Wootton and government reporter Nathan Brown are devoting six months to “El Nuevo Jerome,” the Times-News’ four-part series led by Enterprise Editor Virginia Hutchins. From 11:30 a.m. to noon Friday, tune in to Benjamin Reed’s talk and news show, “En Vivo y en Directo con el Chupacabras,” on Spanishlanguage FM radio station 99.1 La Perrona. Wootton and Brown will be guests on the show, talking about the upcoming special coverage and taking questions from listeners. They’ll speak in English, and Reed will interpret for Spanish listeners. The radio show takes live callers, at 208-324-9910. On Friday, Reed will take calls in English or Spanish.
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Wednesday, September 30, 2015 • A9 AT A GLANCE
Idaho Agencies Support Contracting System, see Need for Help BOISE (AP) • Most directors overseeing Idaho agencies say the state’s contracting system works fairly well, even though some agree changes should be made to help prevent future scandals surrounding Idaho’s most expensive business agreements. Idaho lawmakers reviewed feedback from state directors on Tuesday, while discussing Idaho procurement policies. The legislative interim committee is tasked with finalizing a recommendation for the 2016 legislative session. According to anonymous responses collected from more than 50 agencies, directors said they wanted more help providing training staff on contracting laws. Idaho’s system has come under scrutiny, particularly after a district judge in February voided a $60 million contract that provided broadband access in public schools. The judge determined state officials violated Idaho procurement laws by amending the contract after it had been awarded.
Group Sues over Idaho’s Participation in Common Core
Paul Walker’s Daughter Sues Porsche over his Death in Crash
BOISE (AP) • Ten Idaho residents led by the chairman of a conservative free-market think tank are suing the state over Common Core education standards. In the lawsuit, Idaho Freedom Foundation board chairman Brent Regan contends that Idaho’s participation in an agency that helps test and implement Common Core standards is illegal under federal rules governing agreements between states. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium includes about 19 states and territories as members, and in exchange for membership dues the states get access to curriculum tools and assessments. Similar lawsuits have targeted the same consortium in Missouri and North Dakota. A state judge in Missouri ruled in February that the state’s membership in SBAC was illegal and that payments must stop; that ruling is under appeal. The lawsuit in North Dakota is ongoing.
LINDSEY BEVER
Welfare Continued from A1
and 17 percent received Medicaid. In 2010, 24 percent of the native-born population received food stamps and 23 percent received Medicaid. Among the foreign-born population, 19 percent received food stamps and 14 percent received Medicaid. • From 2010 to 2015, the percentage of food stamp recipients in Twin Falls County who were born in the United States varied from 91 percent to 93 percent, according to numbers from DHW. In the same time frame, about 94 percent of all Medicaid recipients were born in the U.S. In both 2010 and 2013 91.5 percent of the county’s population was estimated to be Americanborn. • High numbers of people from countries where many people have recently arrived from under the refugee program, such as Bhutan, Iraq and various African countries, receive Medicaid and food stamps. The numbers are far lower among more established groups such as southeast Asians and Bosnians. • The number of food stamp recipients in the county peaked at 20,034 in 2011 — 26 percent of the county’s population that year — and has since fallen to 15,520 in 2015. The number of Medicaid recipients was a bit lower than food stamps until 2014, when it pulled ahead. Twin Falls County seems to be following larger patterns. The number of food stamp recipients skyrocketed nationwide after the economy tanked in 2008. As the economy recovered, fewer people have relied on the program. Medicaid enrollment, though, has grown nationwide even in states that didn’t expand Medicaid. Some Idaho state officials have called this the “woodwork” effect of people who were always eligible for Medicaid but not enrolled signing up because of Affordable Care Act enrollment campaigns. Statewide, 277,213 people were enrolled in Medicaid in July, according to a report the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services released Monday. According to Idaho Health and Welfare, 18,542 U.S. citizens in Twin Falls County receive Medicaid in 2015. There are also 436 refugees and 728 lawful permanent residents enrolled. The state’s budget for Medicaid in 2015-2016 is $2.1 billion. More than $500 million is from the state’s general fund and the rest from the federal government. As for food stamps, there were 195,814 recipients in Idaho in May 2015, according to data from the Food Research and Action Center. In Twin Falls County, 439 were refugees, 820 lawful permanent residents and 14,261 U.S. citizens were enrolled. The average benefit per person in Idaho in 2014 was $116.34, less than the national average of $125.35, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service. According to DHW’s numbers, proven cases of welfare fraud among noncitizens are almost nonexistent. From 2010 to 2015 the agency investigated 620 fraud allegations. Out
The Washington Post
Nearly two years after Paul Walker’s death, the actor’s teenage daughter is suing Porsche, claiming that the sports car her father was riding in when he was killed in a fiery wreck had numerous design flaws. An attorney for 16-yearold Meadow Walker filed a wrongful death suit this week against the automaker, claiming the company knew the Porsche Carrera GT “lacked safety features that are found on well-designed racing cars or even Porsche’s least expensive road cars—features that could have prevented the accident or, at a minimum, allowed Paul Walker to survive the crash,” according to news reports. The lawsuit, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, said the car lacked suitable side door reinforcement bars as well as an electronic stability control system, which helps drivers maintain control in extreme conditions. The court filing also said that the car had a faulty fuel hose and a faulty seat belt
system, designed so that upon impact, the shoulder belt anchor was pulled to the rear while the seat belt anchor stayed attached. “This snapped Walker’s torso back with thousands of pounds of force, thereby breaking his ribs and pelvis, flattening his seat and trapping him in a supine position, where he remained alive until the vehicle erupted into flames one minute and 20 seconds later,” the lawsuit claims, according to the Los Angeles Times. These design defects, the lawsuit claims, kept the “Fast & Furious” star trapped in the car when it crashed and caught fire in Los Angeles nearly two years ago, according to the Associated Press. Walker, 40, was riding in a friend’s Porsche Carrera GT on Nov. 30, 2013, when the car crashed into a light pole and tree and burst into flames. Both Walker and his friend, Roger Rodas, were pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators, who questioned the automaker’s technicians at the time, concluded that high speeds—not mechanical issues—were to blame.
... .. e c e. n o wic G in G T o G oin G TIMES-NEWS GRAPHICS/SOURCE: IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND WELFARE
of that it found 172 cases where a person intentionally defrauded the program. Four of those cases involved non-citizens. A person’s citizenship status was not a direct factor in any of the cases, according to numbers the department released in response to a records request.
Cash Assistance
When refugees first arrive, they receive help finding housing and some financial help initially, through federally funded programs that are run by the local resettlement agencies. The overall cost can be a bit tricky to track because the funding is split up between different resettlement agencies. Refugee Council USA, a refugee advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., said the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement directed $6.8 million to
Idaho in the 2014 fiscal year, the bulk for various social services and cash assistance programs. The CSI Refugee Center gets $1,125 per arriving refugee, Rwasama said at last week’s forum. That has to cover first month’s rent, damage deposit and furnishing the apartment. After 30 days, Rwasama said, refugees are temporarily eligible for one of two assistance alternatives — a cash assistance program, or the Voluntary Agencies Matching Grant Program. That program helps resettlement agencies find federal grants. The agencies are required to provide assistance to refugees with the goal of getting them to economic self-sufficiency in 120 to 180 days. Rwasama said refugees who enroll in this program get $200 per adult and $40 per child per month,
KADE ROGGE (208) 431-0074
JED SOUTH (208) 670-4042
Hollinger Liquidation Auction Oct. 3, 2015 • 11:00 am
3800 North 4000 E., Hansen, Idaho Loader available
Watch for Rogge Auction signs
Lunch available
McCORMICK FARMALL 350 TRACTOR
MASSY HARRIS 44 TRACTOR
990 DAVID BROWN 2WD TRACTOR
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Appliances, Furniture, Office Furniture, Special Items, Lawn & Garden, Shop Tools, Misc. Times News Ad 10/2/2015 Mastersauction.com
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as well as having their rent and utilities paid for another two months. They get bonuses of $150 if they are employed after 120 days and another $150 if they still have a job after 180 days, but the financial assistance ends after that, he said. The other option, the Transitional Refugee Assistance program, provides payments of $382 a month for up to eight months. Recipients are required to take English classes and look for a job. “They have to pay rent and utilities out of that,” Rwasama said. With payments so low, he said, refugees are forced to get a job as quickly as possible, and most don’t collect for eight months. The payments end two months after refugees get a job, to give them a bit of time to learn how to budget and get on their feet.
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CONSIGNMENT ITEMS
Former Twin Falls Clinic Includes Building & Over 17 City Lots 660 Shoshone Street E - Twin Falls, Idaho
Timed Online Auction Starts closing on Oct. 20th @ 6:00 PM
Over 80,000 sq. ft. of floor space located in the heart of Twin Falls, Idaho. This building was a fully functioning hospital & clinic for many years. Most recently, it was home to several Twin Falls County Agencies. There is a cafeteria with all the equipment intact. A 250 KW stand-by diesel generator is also included. The building is earthquake rated, and has more then adequate electrical service and fiber optics to serve most all needs. Includes 150± off-street parking spots. Property is being offered by Twin Falls County.
Bidding Starts at Only $250,000 For bidding details, pictures & terms go to:
2013 KUBOTA L3940 HSTC 4WD TRACTOR
2008 HONDA FOREMAN 500
GUNS
Z425 JOHN DEERE RIDING MOWER
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