Why the Big Beautiful Bill Isn’t the Problem — And Why Mystis Supports Its Hand-Up VisionBy Giovanne Schachere, CEO of Mystis Adult and Family Services

1. Let’s Be Honest — Something Wasn’t Working

For years, I’ve watched well-meaning social programs provide “support” while unintentionally disempowering the very people they aim to help.

We’ve created a system where:

• Case managers chase down Medicaid re-enrollment forms for fully capable adults,

• Clinics hand out pills while ignoring purpose, housing, and structure,

• And many individuals are kept in survival mode instead of being supported into self-reliance.

So when I hear people worrying that the Big Beautiful Bill will “kick people off Medicaid” just because they now have to show up, clock in, or report their hours — I respectfully disagree.

This isn’t cruelty. This is clarity.

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2. A Hand-Up, Not a Handout: The Mystis Model

At Mystis, we don’t babysit our clients — we build them.

That means:

• Creating real employment pipelines (not just referrals),

• Placing people in housing where they pay rent (even if we subsidize it),

• And yes, helping them meet accountability metrics — like logging work hours or staying in a treatment plan.

This is exactly what the new bill encourages:

• 80 hours per month of work, school, or volunteering

• Exemptions for caregivers, pregnant people, and the truly disabled

• A system that says: “We will support you — but you have to be part of the process.”

We already help clients document community service hours. We already have clients in job training. The “work requirement” isn’t a threat to us — it’s the structure we’ve already proven works.

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3. Empowerment Requires Expectations

Let’s not pretend that dignity lives in endless dependency.

I’ve had men come out of incarceration and within 30 days start earning, training, and stabilizing their lives — because someone finally asked them to rise, not just receive.

We’ve seen women in shelter housing become full-time outreach workers.

We’ve seen young people in foster care create their own businesses.

When low-income people say “this bill will take away my coverage,” we should respond with:

“Let’s make a plan to make sure you qualify — and thrive while doing it.”

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4. Where We Do Need to Step Up

This bill isn’t perfect. Implementation matters.

• We need clear communication on exemptions (caregivers, medically frail clients).

• We need navigators and nonprofits funded to help clients report their hours correctly.

• We need humanity and outreach, not cold-letter disenrollments.

But none of that means we should go back to a system that rewards passivity.

We should fix the parts that are broken while preserving the principles that lift people up.

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5. This Is the Future We’re Building

Mystis was never meant to be a check-writing agency.

We are a launchpad for independence — emotionally, economically, spiritually.

The Big Beautiful Bill supports that vision by reinforcing:

• The value of work

• The dignity of effort

• And the need for shared responsibility in public programs

If we’re bold enough to hold people accountable while loving them through the process, we’ll see Medicaid recipients become tax-paying homeowners — not because we “rescued” them, but because we challenged them with compassion.

Let’s stop arguing about whether people should work.

Let’s start building the systems that help them succeed at it.

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Giovanne Schachere

CEO, Mystis Adult and Family Services

Building dignity-based systems for justice-involved and housing-insecure Californians