Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 97

CHAPTER 3 Inclusion for the Excluded and Denied Chapter Summary We can get close to ending hunger in America by making improvements in economic policies as discussed in Chapters 1 and 2. But we cannot end hunger altogether without confronting knottier social issues. Often, hunger is a by-product of social exclusion, which can appear in many forms of discrimination. Ending hunger requires ending discrimination and having a safety net wide enough to protect those who are at the margins of society. This chapter addresses issues of social exclusion, focusing on people with criminal records, at-risk youth on their way to dropping out of school, adults and children with disabilities, and low-income seniors. Clearly, these are not all the excluded groups, nor do they represent all forms of discrimination. They are examples of why ending hunger requires more than just getting to full employment and making sure every job is a good job. MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS CHAPTER • Abolish laws that prohibit people with criminal records from receiving public benefits and that make it hard for them to get jobs and earn an honest living. • Establish an employment program that targets individuals with significant barriers to work so that they are able to gain work experience, build skills, and improve their long-term prospects for employment. • Guarantee every child a high-quality education from Pre-K through grade 12 and assure critical benchmarks are reached. • Increase income assistance for people with disabilities who cannot work; provide better support to those who can and want to work. • Improve SNAP outreach to low-income seniors; ensure that there is sufficient funding to deliver meals to all those who are homebound and in need. www.bread.org/institute? ? 2014 Hunger Report? 87 n