What’s happening right now in our nation’s capital is unacceptable. While the government shutdown appears to be coming to an end, thousands of people here in the Rio Grande Valley are still left confused as to what may come next.
So many locals still have questions about how their food assistance, health care, and pocketbooks will be affected by the dysfunction we’ve been experiencing for the last year now in Washington. It’s all very heartbreaking. It must come to an end immediately.
We see their pain and confusion firsthand in our work at Children’s Defense Fund-Texas, Rio Grande Valley. We connect families with low-cost clinics, federally qualified health centers, and other providers that are affordable in the area. We also assist families when they have questions about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
Due to the government shutdown, SNAP benefits were paused and then promises were made to pay them out only partially. But the truth is many families in the RGV still have not seen anything yet. Families need this assistance to feed their children. Additionally, thanks to changes in policy to existing subsidies, the average premium for an Affordable Care Act health plan in Texas could rise by more than 35 percent next year, according to KFF. Federal lawmakers missed an opportunity to find a solution for this impending crisis during their negotiations to reopen the government.
People don’t seek these types of benefits just because they want to, instead they do so because there's a deep need in the Valley, especially for our children. When we think about children, they're supposed to be happy and healthy and learning and in school. Nothing should come in the way of that, especially not hunger.
We try our best to provide accurate information to parents to ease their mind about what’s happening so they can utilize preventive services and available benefits to the best of their ability for their families. But unfortunately, many of us who help Texans access care by acting as a bridge between government and families, are hurting too.
The demand for assistance is extremely high right now. It’s sad to know we can’t help every family that needs help right now. Our region is among the poorest in the nation. Many rural area families lack reliable internet access to independently apply for essential services.
We hope that lawmakers, particularly in Texas, address the significant needs facing our communities here in the Rio Grande Valley. This is about humanity, it is about children, and it is about families, whether they are citizen families, mixed immigration status families, or families that immigrate into this country. They're all human and they all deserve to be respected and cared for. Our lawmakers must know it's more than just about who resides in your district or who will cast a vote for you.
We need our leaders to do the right thing and end the shutdown but still support the very programs that can help all children and families in South Texas thrive.
In the meantime, as we all navigate through the shutdown crisis, we recommend families who need assistance get the facts from CDF or other reputable community organizations and not misinformation from gossip or social media. Yes, there's some changes on the way with subsidies that will be provided or available in the future. But that doesn't mean they're all going away; some plans will still be low cost and affordable depending on individual circumstances. We will still share the information we have as to who’s impacted and who isn’t, so that we can ease fears.
What we do comes from the heart.
We are deeply committed to our community, its children, and families. Each interaction is more than a service. It's an opportunity to serve and support someone as we would our own family, which is a responsibility we value greatly.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned jointly by Graciela Camarena, Children's Defense Fund-Texas (RGV Office) Program Manager, Mary Carreon, Children's Defense Fund-Texas (RGV Office) Community Health Outreach Associate, and Tina Guel, Children's Defense Fund-Texas (RGV Office) Community Health Outreach Associate. The column appears in the Rio Grande Guardian with the approval of the authors.
