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Vol. 6, No. 19
October 11 - 31, 2012

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Food Stamps, Welfare and the ‘Culture of Dependency’
By JESSE CALL

Staff Writer
jesse@thecontributor.org

A

The Tennessee Department of Human Services reports that
in August of this year, 657,736 Tennessee families received
SNAP benefits, up from 435,209 total families in 2011.
Photo by Alvine

s the U.S. presidential election approaches,
many of the issues that divide the nation are
being elevated as fodder for the back-andforth banter between the two major party
candidates and their supporters. With the
economy on center stage, the candidates have had to balance garnering votes with adequately addressing the problem
of how best to help Americans struggling to retain or regain
their jobs and housing.
GOP candidate Gov. Mitt Romney recently faced criticism
for his statement that he doesn’t plan to court lower class voters who do not pay income taxes because he presumes they
are already dedicated to voting for President Barack Obama
because of the President’s support for tax cuts and government
assistance programs. Throughout the campaign, Romney has
repeatedly asserted that the best way to assist people experiencing poverty is to increase job growth by lowering the burden of
taxes and regulation on corporations. If jobs are available, the

argument goes, there will be less need for people to seek out help
from the government. Romney’s statements also indicate that
he believes many Americans are losing the initiative to go out
and find work because they can rely on government programs
instead—a signal for Romney that America is falling into a “culture of dependency.”
Two of the programs that have received significant criticism from a variety of political perspectives over the years
are America’s food stamp program—known today as the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—and
the country's Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
(TANF) program, known as Families First in Tennessee.
These programs are designed to help individuals and families struggling to make ends meet cover some of the costs of
food and other living expenses so they do not have to choose
between a meal and a roof. According to many, however, government assistance programs like these should only serve as
rescue programs designed to help families out of emergencies, rather than as a long-term means of assistance.
[Dependent, Page 7]

New prison policies lead to increased violence, group reports
By JESSE CALL

Staff Writer
jesse@thecontributor.org

The Tennessee Department of Correction
(TDOC), which oversees all of the state’s private and public prisons, says it has designed
new policies to help those incarcerated “increase positive commitments to their communities,” but local advocacy groups contend
that TDOC’s new policies make it more likely
for those incarcerated to become victims of
violence. Consequently, the rehabilitation of
those inmates may be impaired by the fear
and frustration those incidents create.
The number of incidents of violence in
Tennessee prisons has “substantially in-

P.O. Box 332023
Nashville, Tn 37203

“In January 2001, Governor Bill Haslam appointed a new
TDOC commissioner, Derrick Schofield, who instituted a
series of new policies related to prisoner behavior.”
creased” in the past two years, to about 367
incidents per month, according to the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), which
collaborated with other advocacy organizations to examine public records between
January 2010 and June 2012. Comparatively,
in 2010, there was an average of 294 incidents
of violence per month. The data indicates that
violence increased in three key areas: prisoner-on-staff violence, prisoner-on-prisoner

PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
FRANKLIN, TN
PERMIT NO. 357

violence and institutional disturbances.
However, according to TDOC spokeswoman Dorinda Carter, this rise in violence
is not as consequential as HRDC would like
people to believe. In a statement, she writes
that the rate of change in violent incidents in
Tennessee prisons is not statistically significant. “While some critics may contend the
steps have led to escalating violence in prisons, data points to the contrary,” she said.

Nonetheless, there were more victims
of violence during that time period, and for
HRDC, the reason for the increase in incidents of violence seems clear.
In January 2001, Governor Bill Haslam
appointed a new TDOC commissioner, Derrick Schofield, who instituted a series of new
policies related to prisoner behavior. These
changes included: requiring inmates to line
up and stand outside no matter the weather
conditions to wait for their turn to enter the
dining facility; forcing prisoners to leave their
hands out of their pockets during cold weather and not offering them gloves; daily cell
[Prison Policies, Page 4]

ON THE INSIDE...
In this issue’s Vendor
Spotlight, Robert
Lancaster shares his
story of becoming
homeless and his
experiences selling
The Contributor.

PAGE 3

Homeless, formerly
homeless and nonhomeless writers
explore faith, the scifi future and breaking
stereotypes surrounding
homelessness.

PAGE 6-14

Join The Contributor at its
costume benefit party on
October 25 beginning at 6:30
p.m. See our backpage for
more details! And buy tickets
online: www.thecontributor.
org/thepaperball

PAGE 16

NEWS

News Briefs...
Metro Homelessness Commission seeks new
chair
NASHVILLE, Tenn – Nashville’s Metropolitan
Homelessness Commission (MHC) is seeking a
new chair after Erik Cole stepped down in September due to anticipated time constraints from
a new housing trust fund venture he hopes to
help develop. Cole will remain on the Commission but will no longer serve as chair. “Erik Cole
has been a great chairman who is dedicated to
the cause of finding solutions to homelessness,
just as his predecessor Howard Gentry was,”
said Bonna Johnson, press secretary for Mayor
Karl Dean. The mayor will be responsible for
appointing a new chair, which he hopes to have
ready to announce at MHC’s monthly meeting
in October. “We are looking for someone who
is dedicated to working in a collaborative effort
with the community on the issue of homelessness,” Johnson said, adding that they would be
taking a recommendation from members of the
Commission. Prior to stepping down as chair,
Cole admitted the MHC was in a phase of transition as it worked to solve logistical issues after
its major fundraising apparatus, The Key Alliance, lost most of its board and staff. He also
says he was unsure how long MHC would continue to operate, as it was hoped the Commission could complete its ten-year comprehensive
plan to end homelessness on schedule in 2015.
Johnson says it will be up to Metro Council
whether the work of the Commission will continue after that date.
Man arrested in murder of homeless woman
NASHVILLE, Tenn – An arrest has been made
in the murder of Stephanie Alexander, a 39-yearold woman who had experienced homelessness
in Nashville. Police say Napolean Harvey admitted to killing Alexander during an argument.
Her body was found in a North Nashville alley
on September 5. Harvey was on parole after being sentenced in 1983 to 50 years for robbery.
America demands Homeless Bill of Rights
USA – In protest against new laws targeting the
homeless, advocates and homeless organizations across America are calling for the creation
of a nationwide Homeless Bill of Rights. Existing laws known as “quality of life” or “nuisance
crimes” predominantly affect homeless people
as they criminalize sleeping, standing, sitting
and even food-sharing in public places. In June,
Rhode Island took a stand against this criminalization by passing the first state-wide Homeless Bill of Rights in the USA. The Western
Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP)—a West
Coast grassroots network of homeless people’s
organizations—is now launching simultaneous campaigns in California and Oregon. With
the number of homeless Americans increasing, homelessness has become a “crime wave”
in recent years. A recent study by WRAP found
that out of 700 homeless people in 13 cities, 77
percent had been arrested, cited or harassed for
sleeping, 75 percent for loitering and 73 percent
The Contributor n October 11-31 n Page 4

for sitting on a sidewalk. Such citations often
harm people’s chances of securing benefits,
housing and employment.
–Homeward Street Journal
Social media gives voice to Berlin’s homeless
GERMANY – A homeless man in Germany has
been using social media to help members of his
fellow homeless community. Helmut Richard
Brox, who has been intermittently homeless for
26 years, set up his own website and blog in 2008
with the help of people he met at an internet
café. Through his websites, Facebook and Twitter accounts, he identifies safe homeless spaces
and support centers throughout the whole of
Germany, writes about his life and offers advice
to other homeless people. The maintenance of
his website is paid for through donations and
out of his own pocket and he currently has 119
followers on Twitter, 31 Facebook subscribers
and receives 40 emails a day.
“So many people living on the poverty line
are isolated and feel embarrassed—I want to give
them a voice. With my website everyone should be
able to find a way back into civic life,” says Brox.
His efforts have now earned him a nomination
for the ‘Deutschen Engagement Preis’ (German
Prize for Civic Engagement) making him the first
homeless man to receive such recognition.
–Strassenfeger
Thousands of Malawian teenage girls die while
giving birth
AFRICA – Teenage pregnancies are on the rise
in Malawi as dire poverty drives young girls into
prostitution and abusive marriages. According to
the United Nations Population Fund some 7,000
women are dying of maternal related causes every
year, many of whom become pregnant very young.
Rates of HIV and AIDS among girls in Malawi
are also increasing. Other health issues prevalent
among young mothers include obstructed labor,
obstetric fistula and permanent damage to reproductive organs. The women’s problems are exacerbated by poorly equipped health facilities and a
lack of drugs and sex education.
“These problems are escalating due to lack of
information among the girls on effects of premarital sex and early pregnancies hence the need for
government to bring nurses closer to people in
communities,” says Dr. Isabera Msisi, former president of Malawi’s Nurses and Midwives Organization. She adds that the government must urgently
improve the living conditions of young women.
–INSP
The International Network of Street Papers (INSP)
supports over 120 street papers in 40 countries
on six continents. Over 200,000 homeless people
have changed their lives through selling street papers. The briefs above was first published by INSP.
Learn more at www.street-papers.org.

Letter to the Editor
People lack understanding of the importance of cell phones for those
living on the streets
I read your front-page article about homeless people and the necessity of having a
cell phone. Your article is absolutely correct. I know from experience. I was homeless myself. There is no more that I can add to what you wrote on that subject; you
said it all. I would say this to those who have such a misunderstanding of homeless
people and such hostility towards them. Follow the old saying: “Never judge a man
until you have walked a mile in his shoes.” I think it would be quite interesting
to see their change in attitude if they were dropped off at random in a strange
neighborhood with no money, nowhere to sleep (or sit without being harassed),
no job and no food. No friends or family to call to bail you out, just the clothes on
your back, your wits (if you still have them) and your survival skills. And it doesn’t
count if they know beforehand that it’s just a few-days-long experiment. If they
believed that their life from then on had taken a drastic change for the worse, and
they had to do everything possible to try to live day-by-day and claw their way
back out of the pit while enduring ignorance and hostility from those more fortunate than them—it would surely be enlightening!

C. SMITH

Formerly Homeless Nashvillian

Prison violence on rise
[Prison Policies, From Page 1]

inspections; and new restrictions on
the kinds of property prisoners may
have and the kinds of arts activities
in which they can participate. During
most of these activities, prisoners are
prohibited from speaking.
Schofield says these new enhanced security measures—or transformations, as he calls them—will
make it easier for inmates when they
are released.
“Transforming program services
builds offender accountability while
providing an opportunity to change.
The results can be lower rates of return to prison and increased positive
contributions to their communities,” Schofield said in a statement.
“Strengthening security, developing
a more sustainable mechanism for
program delivery, and creating a consistent manner of handling offenders
from admission to community supervision have been at the forefront
of our agency’s reorganization.”
HRDC writes in its letter to Schofield that these “militaristic” policy
changes may be leading to the increase in violence, as people incarcerated become frustrated with what
they perceive to be punitive, and not
preventative, measures.
“We believe that the policy changes
you have implemented may have significant unintended consequences,” the organization wrote. “[I]f the policy changes are intended to improve safety and
security at TDOC facilities, they may be
having the exact opposite effect.”
HRDC also points to national research that shows these tactics do not
help prevent recidivism. “Research
by the National Institute of Justice,
among other agencies, has found that
boot camp type programs generally
fail to reduce recidivism. This is in
part because the strict discipline and
militaristic policies imposed during

incarceration are absent after prisoners are released, when they return to
an unstructured environment.”
HRDC adds that it is not alone in
its concerns. “At least four wardens
have resigned or retired since you
were appointed Commissioner, some
due to the implementation of your
new policies,” the organization said.
HRDC contends that even if
Schofield is right about his claims,
his plans have yet to decrease violence in Tennessee’s prisons.
“Questions that need to be answered include why levels of violence
are increasing, whether that increase
is a result of the new policies implemented by Commissioner Schofield,
and if not, what is behind the escalating violence. Also, most importantly,
why the Commissioner apparently
has been unable to curb violence in
state prisons, particularly against
staff,” said Alex Friedmann, HRDC
associate director, who served time
in Tennessee prisons in the 1990s
prior to his release in 1999.
TDOC maintains that its new
standards are not only the way to
go, but are being developed into a
national model. “The Department
[of Correction] is making good progress in building a set of procedures
that will become national industry
standards and have the greatest potential for both taxpayer savings and
successful outcomes,” spokeswoman
Carter wrote.
HRDC is requesting that Schofield
sit down with HRDC and other organizations to discuss the impact of his new
policies, a request he has yet to accept.
The organization also seeks to increase
government oversight of TDOC. In
2011, the Tennessee General Assembly
dissolved the Select Oversight Committee on Corrections, leaving supervision
to the Governor’s office and the timeconsumed Judiciary Committee.