2186

JOINT RESOLUTIONS

No. 32

{House Joint Resolution No. 44)

A House Joint Resolution concerning

Destitute Persons

FOR the purpose of requesting the Governor President of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House to appoint a Task
Force to study the problem of adults with no source of
income who are ineligible for General Public Assistance
so as to determine their number, their needs, and how
the State can best provide for them; and to report to
the General Assembly by a certain date.

WHEREAS, There are a large number of adults who are in
need of public assistance, but who are ineligible because
they are categorized as "employable"; and

WHEREAS, The majority of adults recently released     from

correction facilities or mental institutions,       are

handicapped and evicted by their families, or      are
transients; and

WHEREAS, These adults have little chance of gaining
employment because of their lack of skills and inability to
cope with finding unskilled employment; and

WHEREAS, Only five subdivisions in Maryland have
General Public Assistance Employable Grants which provide
temporary grants to the employable; and

WHEREAS, These General Public Assistance Employable
Grants provide only a certain amount for a maximum of 2
months per year; and

WHEREAS, Host of these individuals have not worked in
occupations which make them eligible for Employment
Compensation; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 75 percent of these adults are
also homeless and in need of emergency shelter; and

WHEREAS, There is no statewide program to provide
shelter for homeless adults; and

WHEREAS, Priority for the limited amount of emergency
shelters is given to families and children and victims of
disaster, leaving virtually no government facilities
available for these single adults; and

WHEREAS, It is in the best interests of the State, both
economically and from a humanitarian standpoint, to give