By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
Rumor has it the federal government is issuing free cell phones to “welfare” recipients.
Not true, said Sonya Toman, director of the Beaufort County Department of Social Services.
“There are no government programs providing free cellular phones,” Toman said in a recent e-mail to the Washington Daily News.
Even if the gossip contained some truth, it would be partly in error — in North Carolina, what was called the “welfare” program is known as Work First.
The DSS director was alerted to the “welfare phone” rumor by entries in the Daily News’ Sound Off column and by inquisitive calls to the Department of Social Services.
An Internet search quickly revealed such rumors have been in circulation for years, but they’ve apparently gained new life of late with the emergence of the tag “Obama phones,” a subtly derisive term linking the president to a wireless program that started under the last Bush administration.
“It’s just been the public perception,” said Toman, who added the perception isn’t factual.
SafeLink Wireless “does indeed offer a cell phone, about one hour’s worth of calling time per month, and other wireless services like voice mail to eligible low-income households,” the center’s Web site reads. “Applicants have to apply and prove that they are either receiving certain types of government benefits, such as Medicaid, or have household incomes at or below 135 percent of the poverty line.”
A SafeLink fact sheet provided by Toman notes that TracFone Wireless — which FactCheck said operates the SafeLink program — “provides the wireless handset at the company’s expense.”
SafeLink and FactCheck said money for the program comes from Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund, which FactCheck said “is sustained by contributions from telecommunications companies.”
A call to an FCC spokesman wasn’t returned Friday.
The cell phones supplied under the program are not “smart phones” or fancy devices, Toman pointed out.
“It’s very basic,” she said.
The Rev. Ed Moultrie, a Washington councilman, was asked for his opinion of the “Obama phone” rumor.
“They think with an African-American president all the tension will be off of people who are disadvantaged,” said Moultrie, who heard the rumor on a television news program recently.
“That was a very silly thought to me, that someone would come up with a thought like that,” he said.
The rumor is focused on those “who are low on the totem pole,” and the goal of programs like the cell-phone initiative is to help people who are down to elevate themselves, he said.
“That will make them want to get off the system and will make them want to go out and do for themselves,” Moultrie added.
Evelyn Roberson, chairwoman of Washington’s Human Relations Council, said she planned to put the rumor on the council’s agenda so it can be addressed at a future meeting.
Part of the council’s mission is to disseminate correct information to the community, Roberson said.
“Right now, it would be awful if someone had to dial 911 and had no access to a phone,” she commented.