NORTHWEST ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES PANEL DISCUSSION

Health care, food programs, human trafficking impact area

Community leaders gather to highlight major issues

By ANN PARKS CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

Oct. 14, 2010, 4:45PM

The community impact of health care, state funding, human trafficking and payday lending businesses were highlighted during a recent panel discussion hosted by Northwest Assistance Ministries.

For the third year, NAM hosted a breakfast and legislative forum for area state representatives, Harris County and Houston city officials.

Two panels

The forum was divided into two panels. The first panel discussing health care and human trafficking were Houston Mayor Annise Parker, Houston City Councilman C.O. "Brad" Bradford, State representatives Ellen Cohen, Allen Fletcher and Debbie Riddle, Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia, Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia and Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Ron Hickman.

The second panel addressing hunger and payday lending were state representatives Gary Elkins, Armando Walle, Ana Hernandez, Riddle and Senfronia Thompson.

Moderator for the forum was Tom Forestier, past chairman, NAM executive board.

Keeping people healthy

On the topic of health care, Forestier said budget shortfalls could cut programs such as Medicaid and Chips and result in increased use of hospital and emergency rooms, increasing costs at the state level.

Parker said the key is preventive health care and having a regular health provider.

The mayor talked about increasing immunizations and prenatal care while working with Harris County officials.

"Our focus has been on how we can keep people healthier on the front end and focus on wellness activities and making sure the kids are immunized and the community-based health clinics are strategically located around Houston so that people have access in their neighborhoods so they can begin to form that permanent health-care relationship," she said.

With the legislature returning to session in the spring, Forestier asked what legislation could be formed to prevent a reduction of services to the medically underserved while reducing the cost to the uninsured.

"I don't believe there is any type of (state) legislation that we can go in with," Cohen said. "We are facing a $16 billion budget shortfall. The people of Texas are hurting. Going in and demanding more money from them is not an option."

Human trafficking

Forestier addressed human trafficking.

"It's a global issue," Forestier said. "The National Human Trafficking Hotline receives more calls for assistance from the city of Houston than any other city in the U.S."

Cohen added: "We're talking about an issue that affects 800,000 people a year around the world. It's an enormous problem. What can we do at the state level? We've done a couple of things. We passed House Bill 4009 that established a trafficking task force. It was set up to really look into the issues and see exactly what we can do. As far as I can tell, funds have been appropriated for it but it's going to be a little bit down the road before that takes place.

"The other thing we can do is try to tap any kind of bill that tries to limit and penalize (human trafficking). I was able to put into place a $5 fee that was leveled against sexually oriented businesses. If it cost $10 to go to one, it now costs $15. And that $5 goes for programs that involve sexual assault programs. That $5 fee raises over $30 million a year."

The FM 1960 area, in particular, has seen an increase in gangs, human trafficking and other crimes, as well as issues related to sexually oriented businesses.

Since 2004, gangs in all areas of Houston have increased 17 percent.

Gang-related crime has increased 250 percent.

'Tip of the iceberg'

"You've heard from Rep. Cohen how significant our human trafficking problem is as Houston continues to be a transportation and distribution point for narcotics, weapons and humans," Garcia said.

"And we're seeing just the tip of the iceberg. At the sheriff's office we only have five people working for me with the FBI to investigate these SOBs; four are funded by a grant and one is on your dole."

"The Harris County jail is the largest in the state of Texas; we house an average of 10,500 people there. I want to announce to you that in the near future you will be hearing about our relationship with Crime Stoppers. New persons coming into the county jail, male or female, will walk into an environment where they will communicate to Crime Stoppers things that are occurring in their community. It's going to look a little bit like, 'Need a lawyer? Need bond money? Call Crime Stoppers.' " Garcia said they'd also be looking into their prostitution cases for information about human trafficking. But doing the job with five people is a real challenge.

Food program

The issue of families in a food program and its cost-effectiveness in Harris County was discussed by Walle.

"We spend about $1.5 million in fingerprinting to prevent fraud, with one case being proven," he said. "This year we'll spend another $1.7 million doing the process again. We can eliminate that."

Walle said doing so would cut down on the waiting time for families to receive food.

"We can also streamline the program with the asset test," Walle said.

"There are very few instances of folks who are getting a huge inheritance that would knock them off the food stamp program."

Payday lending

Elkins responded to the issue of payday lending by saying many people who secure payday loans can't pay them back on payday. They begin a cycle of adding to their debt each payday, which is exactly what the lenders want.

He reiterated that congress cannot regulate or control the law of supply and demand and the law of unattended consequences. He went on to explain how payday lending has affected bankruptcies, bank fees and other bank charges. He said in states that have outlawed payday lending, all lending has gone underground or to the Internet and the states now have absolutely no regulatory authority. Elkins said it's an issue about which little can be done.