Resources & Publications: Opportunity and Equal Justice
- Mar 29, 2013 | Lavanya Mohan CLASP Work Supports Newsletter - March 2013 The Work Supports Newsletter is a monthly update that summarizes CLASP's work on safety net programs that include cash assistance (TANF), nutrition supports (SNAP), refundable tax credits, health insurance, child support enforcement and child care subsidies. Read Online
- Mar 18, 2013 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Insights from the Ideas for Action Awards: Financial Asset Building Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity hosted a national audio conference, in partnership with the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, the Northwest Area Foundation and the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs, to explore programs that help families build financial assets. Read Online
- Mar 04, 2013 | Lavanya Mohan CLASP Work Supports Newsletter - February 2013 CLASP is inaugurating this Work Supports e-newsletter to highlight the efforts of CLASP and our colleague organizations to help ensure low-income families get the support they need to stay employed and provide for their families. Read Online
- Nov 15, 2012 | Spotlight on Poverty and the National League of Cities Building Opportunity This audio conference explores how STEP UP is promoting opportunity and ways businesses can make a real difference in local anti-poverty efforts. The Employers in Savannah are increasingly at the forefront of new steps to provide opportunity and remove barriers to success. It's the third of a three-part "Cities Promote Opportunity" audio conference series. Read Online
- Oct 18, 2012 | Spotlight on Poverty and The National League of Cities New City Strategies to Alleviate Poverty This audio conference highlighted how Providence, R.I. is carrying forward the work of its Poverty, Work and Opportunity Task Force and its recommendations for how the city could build opportunity for its residents. The event was sponsored by Spotlight on Poverty, which CLASP manages, and National League of Cities, Institute for Youth, Education & Families. It's the second in the three-part "Cities Promote Opportunity" audio conference series. Read Online
- Sep 20, 2012 | Spotlight on Poverty and the National League of Cities "Cities Promote Opportunity" Audio Conference Series: New City Task Forces Battered by the recession like so many other cities, both Hartford, Conn. and Richmond, Va. recently established task forces to develop recommendations aimed at providing greater opportunity to area residents. This audio conference explored questions like: What are the priority recommendations in each city? What is the expectation around implementation? How will progress be assessed? And what are the key components of making job creation ideas work and stick over long the haul? Read Online
- Feb 13, 2012 President Proposes to Restore Civil Legal Aid Funding, But More Is Needed The Budget released by the President on Monday recommends a budget level of $402 million, a $54 million increase over FY 2012, for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). This increase would be targeted solely toward direct funds to civil legal aid programs and would fully restore the funding that was cut from those programs in 2012. Read Online
- Sep 16, 2011 Poverty Impact Projections: What Are They and How They Can Make a Difference This audio conference, a state advocate describes how the number has mattered, a state legislator tells why he wants a poverty impact projection attached to bills, and researchers will discuss how states can tailor analysis to their own policies and programs designed to decrease poverty. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
- Aug 23, 2011 At the Forefront: Poverty Impact Projections A Poverty Impact Projection (PIP) is an emerging tool that asks and answers the question at the forefront of the policy process such as, "If we pursue this policy, how much should it increase or decrease poverty?" This new report examines states where PIPs have been considered and offers thoughts about structuring PIPs. Download PDF
- Jul 28, 2011 Poverty and Opportunity: What Difference Can a Task Force Make? About 20 states, including Washington D.C., have established a state government poverty and opportunity task force. Eleven of these states have set poverty reduction targets, such as cutting poverty in half in a decade. This report profiles four of these task forces in Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois and Colorado, and provides an overview of their impacts. Download PDF
- Jul 05, 2011 CLASP Comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on SNAP Eligibility, Certification, and Employment and Training Provisions These comments, submitted to the US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), were in response to a request for public comment on SNAP Eligibility, Certification, and Employment and Training Provisions. CLASP's recommendations are intended to help FNS implement provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (FCEA) of 2008, Pub. L. 110-246. The recommendations focused on four main areas: the dependent care deduction, access to benefits, transitional benefits, and employment and training services. Download PDF
- Jun 24, 2011 Spotlight on Poverty Audio Conference: Rep. Paul Ryan Discusses Latest Budget Developments This national audio conference was sponsored by CLASP-managed Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity: The Source for News, Ideas, and Action and featured Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) discussing the latest budget developments in Congress. Read Online | Download Audio
- May 10, 2011 The U.S. Budget and Low-Income Families: Rep. Jan Schakowsky's Inside View In this audio conference cosponsored by Spotlight on Poverty and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) offered an insider's perspective on the latest budget developments as Congress debates funding for FY 2012. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
- Mar 29, 2011 Audio Conference: Reducing Child Poverty - Tips for the U.S. from Across the Pond This audio conference featured two experts on the United Kingdom's successful child poverty reduction efforts, even during the recession. With child poverty on the rise since 2000 in the U.S., these experts provided U.S. poverty advocates with lessons learned after the U.K. government pledged in 1999 to cut child poverty in half by 2010. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
- Feb 17, 2011 | CLASP Two Years Later: Impacts of Select ARRA Programs for Low-Income Workers & Families This document looks at select provisions in the Recovery Act that affected low-income people and their families. In areas where there is available data, it notes the impact of the program on the number of people who benefited from ARRA provisions. While the effect of the Recovery Act will be debated and analyzed by policy experts and researchers for years to come, some of the early evidence makes it clear that the Recovery Act benefited the nation by easing some immediate effects of the recession and preventing deeper hardship. Read Online | Download PDF
- Jan 26, 2011 | Jodie Levin-Epstein and Vickie Choitz Career Pathways Lead Low-Income People Out of Poverty In a new Spotlight on Poverty webcast, Vickie Choitz, senior policy analyst with CLASP's workforce development team and co-author of Funding Career Pathways and Career Pathway Bridges: A Federal Policy Toolkit for States, discusses approaches to help low-skilled, low-income adults earn postsecondary credentials that lead to good jobs with family-sustaining wages. Read Online
- Dec 10, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Illinois Poverty Commission Recommendations This Spotlight on Poverty national audio conference featured Illinois state legislators and experts discussing newly released recommendations from the state's poverty commission. Read Online | Download Audio
- Nov 25, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein State and Federal Approaches to Poverty Reduction (C-SPAN's Washington Journal Interview with Jodie Levin-Epstein) On November 25, 2010, Jodie Levin-Epstein, deputy director at CLASP, joined C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss strategies for reducing poverty. Watch the video. Read Online
- Nov 08, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Interview with Author Wes Moore from November Policy Series Event Author Wes Moore joined CLASP on November 8 for "Wisdom and Wine." He discussed his book The Other Wes Moore: One Name Two Fates, and what role policy can play in our life trajectories. Read Online | Download PDF | Download Audio
- Oct 25, 2010 | Melissa Boteach and Jodie Levin-Epstein Battling Poverty in the Golden State: Recommendations for the California Statewide Poverty Commission This brief offers best practices and strategies learned from other state poverty commissions in advance of California's statewide symposium on poverty. Despite times of economic distress and deep budget, California is the latest state to undertake a comprehensive plan to reduce poverty. It's exactly during these times that states must convene stakeholders to stop the bleeding and provide a vision to move forward. Download PDF
- Sep 14, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Projected Increase in Poverty (MSNBC interview with Jodie Levin-Epstein) On Sept. 14, 2010, MSNBC news anchor Tamron Hall broadcast a segment on the projected increase in poverty. She interviewed CLASP's Jodie Levin Epstein. Watch the video. Read Online
- Jun 07, 2010 Fighting U.S. Poverty from the U.K. Experience... "A Conversation with Jane Waldfogel In this 5 minute interview with poverty researcher Jane Waldfogel, learn the lessons and messages out of the U.K.'s ability to cut child poverty in half (in absolute terms) that can help you in your own poverty reduction efforts. How to learn about them quickly? Listen or look at the text. Just click below. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
- May 21, 2010 Letter Supporting the 2010 Jobs Bill On May 20, CLASP Executive Director Alan Houseman sent this urgent letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urging support for the Promoting American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010. Read Online | Download PDF
- Apr 26, 2010 Behind the Scenes: Adopting a Supplemental Poverty Measure Part two examined how the process of adopting a supplemental poverty measure will work. The webinar also discussed state and local efforts to implement more accurate measures of poverty. Speakers included Clifford Johnson of the National League of Cities, Rebecca M. Blank of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution and Mark Levitan of the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity. Read Online
- Apr 19, 2010 Supplemental Poverty Measure: What It Will and Won't Do On April 14, Spotlight co-sponsored the first installment of a two-part webinar series on the supplemental poverty measure with the Brookings Center on Children and Families, the Half-in-Ten Campaign, the New America Foundation and the National League of Cities. The webinar focused on why a new poverty measure is needed and how the supplemental poverty measure will compare to the official poverty measure. Read Online
- Mar 09, 2010 Mollahan MAP Appropriations Letter 20100305 Download PDF
- Mar 09, 2010 Obey MAP Appropriations Letter 20100305 Download PDF
- Feb 22, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Members of State Commissions on Poverty and Opportunity Urge Federal Action on Poverty Measure As members of state economic opportunity and poverty reduction task forces that are currently in operation or have completed their mission, we write to urge the federal government to move forward in implementing a modernized income poverty measure. Download PDF
- Jan 25, 2010 | CLASP Federal Policy Recommendations for 2010 Our nation faces many domestic challenges, including improving access to affordable health care, improving access to education as well as education outcomes, and providing debt and foreclosure relief. CLASP's 2010 federal policy recommendations are equally essential to achieving healthy and thriving families and improving the nation's prosperity. Read Online | Download PDF
- Jan 08, 2010 | Dorothy Smith Poverty and Opportunity - State Poverty Task Force Recommendations Around the nation, a growing number of state governments have established task forces or commissions to develop new strategies and recommendations for tackling poverty and providing opportunity. Download PDF
- Dec 02, 2009 | Dorothy Smith State Poverty Task Forces a Step Ahead on Modern Poverty Measure In the absence of a modern federal measure of poverty, a growing number of state poverty task forces are calling for federal action and have begun exploring alternative ways to more accurately measure income poverty. Download PDF
- Nov 24, 2009 | Dorothy Smith Measure by Measure: Modernizing the Poverty Measure This audio conference focuses on federal efforts to implement a modernized federal poverty measure and what states can do in the absence of one. Click here for additional resources. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
- Nov 03, 2009 | Dorothy Smith Measure by Measure: The Current Poverty Measure v. the National Academy of Sciences Measure This report highlights alternative poverty measures for each state and the District of Columbia using a Census tool that calculates alternative measures based on a National Academy of Sciences recommendation and an NAS recommendation that considers geographic price difference adjustment. Download PDF
- Sep 01, 2009 | CLASP Federal Policy Recommendations for 2009 and Beyond The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) has developed an extensive federal policy agenda for President Obama and the 111th Congress directed at improving the lives of low income people. That agenda is outlined in this document. Download PDF
- Jul 01, 2009 | Alan W. Houseman Civil Legal Aid in the United States: An Update for 2009 While there is new hope for increased federal funding and a renewed interest in civil legal aid at the federal level, civil legal aid is facing reductions in funding from state sources which, until 2009, had been expanding and had overtaken LSC as the largest source of civil legal aid funding. State funding actually increased for civil legal aid in 2008. Today, however, state budgets are facing far greater crises than the federal budget and have far fewer options for financing because most cannot create significant deficits. Download PDF
- Apr 19, 2009 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Delaware State on Track to Tackle Child Poverty Article discussing Delaware's upcoming Governor's Summit on Child Poverty and Economic Opportunity and the start of Delaware's actions to provide opportunity for all. Download PDF
- Feb 22, 2009 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Provisions in Economic Stimulus Bill to Help Low-Income Families (Interview with Elizabeth Lower-Basch on C-SPAN's Washington Journal) On February 22, 2009, Elizabeth Lower-Basch, senior policy analyst with the Workforce Development team at CLASP, joined C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss provisions in the economic stimulus to help low-income individuals and families. Read Online
- Jan 22, 2009 | Alan W. Houseman, Linda Perle What Can and Cannot Be Done: Representation of Clients By LSC-Funded Programs Download File
- Nov 28, 2008 Poverty Task Forces: The Experience of 3 State Advocates This audio conference focuses on three states' (Connecticut, Minnesota and Illinois) lessons learned in establishing and working with a poverty task force. It explores the pros and cons of task forces and other issues, ranging from why bother with a task force to how does the current recession influence pursuit of a task force. Download Audio
- Nov 18, 2008 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Sustaining Anti-Poverty Solutions: Keep an Eye on the Prize This article first appeared in "Bridging the Gap: Reshaping Poverty Policy in America" a special issue of the Neighborhood Funders Group newsletter\". Download PDF
- Nov 12, 2008 | CLASP Recover, Renew, Rebuild: Workforce Policies for a Strong and Fair Economy Education and training are major contributors to economic prosperity. They are drivers of economic mobility and opportunity. Workforce policies to help individuals who are struggling in the labor market also are a critical component of a recovery package to get America working again. This report contains CLASP workforce policy recommendations for Congress and the Administration to address the immediate economic crisis and to make a down payment on the longer-term agenda of building a stronger and more equitable economy. It includes actions they can take to: help workers and families recover from the current recession; renew the nation's commitment to good jobs and upward mobility for all and rebuild middle class jobs. Read Online | Download PDF
- Oct 16, 2008 | Alan W. Houseman and the CLASP Staff CLASP Federal Policy Recommendations for 2009 and Beyond CLASP has developed an extensive federal policy agenda for the next President and Congress directed at improving the lives of low income people. The detailed agenda makes recommendations for changes in policy at all levels of the federal government: the White House, Federal departments and agencies, the budget and appropriations' process, and the law-making process in Congress. This publication provides an overview of our agenda organized into eleven key recommendations. Taken as a whole, the eleven recommendations call for increasing investments in effective programs and funding streams that concretely help children, youth, and families thrive; strengthening and modernizing the nation's safety net; and building supportive pathways for low-income youths and adults to good jobs that sustain families and communities. Download PDF
- Sep 19, 2008 What's a Poverty Commission to Do about a Recession? This audio conference focuses on actions states can take to address the high costs of food and fuel and job losses that are causing more to struggle to make ends meet and pushing more and more families toward poverty. Download Audio | Additional PDF
- Jul 30, 2008 First hand-facts: visits, tours, testimony and more The Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota has spent two years trying to understand the nature, causes and consequences for the state and for individuals who struggle to make ends meet in today's economy. This audio conference focuses on: What role do first-hand facts have? How can advocacy organizations work collaboratively with a commission to zero in on the most pressing problems? How can policymakers best hear from those experiencing low incomes? And, how does a commission keep getting first-hand insights after it makes recommendations? Download Audio | Additional PDF
- May 20, 2008 | Aaron Nelson and Vicki Turetsky Second Chance Act of 2007: Community Safety Through Recidivism Prevention This brief on legislation outlines the provisions of the Second Chance Act, which was signed into law in April 2008. Download PDF
- Apr 17, 2008 | Jodie Levin-Epstein and Kristen Michelle Gorzelany Seizing the Moment: State Governments and the New Commitment to Reduce Poverty in America The three leading presidential candidates are now on record with a public commitment to address poverty and opportunity in the United States. This is in concert with growing state efforts and signals a dramatic turnaround in tackling poverty. In just the last two years, one of every five states has taken action to put poverty on the political agenda. This joint report from CLASP and Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity outlines those efforts and provides charts detailing action by policy area. Download PDF
- Jan 30, 2008 | Kirsten D. Levingston and Vicki Turetsky Debtors' Prison--Prisoners' Accumulation of Debt as a Barrier to Reentry First published by the Clearinghouse Review Journal of Poverty Law and Policy in Summer 2007, this paper describes the types of criminal financial sanctions levied against people as they make their way through the criminal justice system and the child support policies that lead to unrealistic and counterproductive payment obligations. Cost-recovery policies enforced by criminal justice and child support agencies are ill-advised, undermining the criminal justice system's rehabilitation goals, the child support system's goals to support children, and society's interest in fully reintegrating people after release from prison. Download PDF
- Jan 30, 2008 | Tiffany Conway and Rutledge Q. Hutson Parental Incarceration: How to Avoid a "Death Sentence" for Families First published by the Clearinghouse Review Journal of Poverty Law and Policy in Summer 2007, this paper highlights a number of promising services and supports for incarcerated parents and recommends what attorneys representing or working with incarcerated parents and their children can do to minimize harm to children. Download PDF
- Aug 01, 2007 Poverty and Opportunity: Developments around the Nation This audio conference focuses on the latest developments about solutions to poverty that are emerging around the country. Download Audio | Additional PDF
- Mar 12, 2007 | Vicki Turetsky Staying in Jobs and Out of the Underground: Child Support Policies that Encourage Legitimate Work This policy brief explains why policymakers and practitioners should manage the child support obligations of incarcerated and re-entering men to help them maintain regular employment, limit participation in the underground economy, reduce recidivism, and provide steady support to their children over time. A companion brief will outline specific child support strategies to help these parents reconnect to work and family. Download PDF
- Feb 06, 2007 | Jodie Levin-Epstein and Pat Wilson-Coker Connecticut's Commitment to End Child Poverty An Interview with Pat Wilson-Coker, former commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Social Services (audio) Connecticut aims to reduce child poverty by 50 percent between 2004 and 2014. In this audio conference, Pat Wilson-Coker, former commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Social Services, outlines the positive effects of targets on accountability, partnerships, and planning. Download Audio | Additional PDF
- Nov 13, 2006 | Linda Harris with Charles Modiano, consultant Making the Juvenile Justice - Workforce System Connection for Re-entering Young Offenders: A Guide for Local Practice This guidebook is designed to provide advice from the field to communities who are interested in pursuing more formal connections--or strengthening existing connections--between the workforce and justice systems. It draws on experiences in eight communities and focuses on on-the-ground challenges and solutions related to blending the cultures, adapting programming, engaging employers, and meeting performance. Download PDF
- Aug 29, 2006 | Jodie Levin-Epstein and Webb Lyons Targeting Poverty: Aim at a Bull's Eye Forty years after the war on poverty and a year after Katrina struck, commitments to tackle poverty are beginning to come back onto political and policy agendas. The report identifies efforts around the nation to set poverty targets -- numerical goals and timelines -- for the reduction or elimination of poverty. For example: In California, a 2006 bill calls for child poverty to be eliminated by 2026; in Connecticut, state law already establishes that child poverty is to be reduced by 50 percent by 2014. Among the reasons why poverty may be gaining attention is the increasing concern among many Americans that at some point they and their families may experience poverty. These and other issues are explored. Download PDF
- Aug 28, 2006 | Vicki Turetsky Realistic Child Support Policies that Support Successful Re-entry These slides describe 8 child support strategies to improve employment and long-term child support outcomes for parents leaving prison. Click here for the PowerPoint version of this presentation. Download PDF
- Dec 31, 2003 | Amy Hirsch Some Days Are Harder Than Hard: Welfare Reform and Women With Drug Convictions in Pennsylvania This report consists of interviews of 26 women with drug convictions and of staff in the criminal justice system in the state of Pennsylvania. These women are banned from ever receiving cash assistance or food stamps, no matter what they do, because they have felony drug convictions. Federal law allows states to opt-out of the ban, but requires them to pass legislation in order to do so. At least 27 states have taken the option to support women in recovery. (Originally published in 1999.) Download PDF
- Nov 06, 2003 | Alan W. Houseman and Linda E. Perle Securing Equal Justice for All: A Brief History of Civil Legal Assistance in the United States This document chronicles civil legal assistance for the low-income community in the United States from its privately funded beginnings, through its achievement of federal funding, to its expansion and growth into a national program operating throughout the United States. It also describes some of the political battles that have been fought around the legal services program and the restrictions that have come with government funding. It concludes with some brief thoughts about the future. Download PDF | Additional PDF
- Sep 26, 2003 | Alan Houseman Civil Legal Aid in the United States: An Overview of the Program in 2003 This paper provides an overview of the current U.S. civil legal aid system; a brief history of legal aid in the United States; the future of the legal aid system, including the evolution of state justice communities, the increased use of the Internet and hotlines in service delivery, and pro se developments; future funding sources; efforts to improve service quality; and other developments affecting civil legal aid. Download PDF
- Jul 16, 2003 | Elise Richer, Abbey Frank, Mark Greenberg, Steve Savner, and Vicki Turetsky Boom Times a Bust: Declining Employment Among Young Less-Educated Men During the 1990s, employment rates for less-educated young women rose significantly. Less-educated young men, however, did not experience a similar jump in employment rates. In fact, their employment rates remained stagnant during the decade, failing to return to higher rates of prior years. This report explores why these young men are not in the formal labor market and offers potential policies to raise their employment rates. Download PDF
- Nov 12, 2002 | Leaders for Justice Advisory Council Leaders for Justice Draft Report: A National Leadership Development Initiative for the Legal Aid Community and the Equal Justice Movement This report from the Leaders for Justice Advisory Council sets forth a vision and plan for developing a collaborative national leadership initiative for the equal justice community. Download PDF
- Jul 23, 2002 | Camille D. Holmes, Linda E. Perle, and Alan W. Houseman Race-Based Advocacy: The Role and Responsibility of LSC-Funded Programs This article, from the May-June 2002 issue of Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy focusing on racial justice, discusses the mistaken belief that legal aid programs funded through the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) cannot effectively participate in race-based advocacy. The article examines what LSC-funded programs may do under their regulatory framework and highlights examples of race-based advocacy strategies that help communities of color within the confines of the LSC restrictions. Download PDF
- Jul 23, 2002 | Alan W. Houseman Racial Justice: The Role of Civil Legal Assistance Featured in the May-June 2002 issue of Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy focusing on racial justice, this article argues that the civil legal aid and state justice communities need to give greater priority and commitment to race-based advocacy. As an introduction to the issue, the article provides some specific examples--from the federal anti-discrimination laws to use to office hiring practices--of how these communities can better pursue racial justice. Download PDF
- May 15, 2002 | CLASP and Community Legal Services, Inc. Every Door Closed: Barriers Facing Parents With Criminal Records Last year, approximately 400,000 mothers and fathers finished serving prison or jail sentences. As these parents struggle to make a fresh start, they will encounter many legal barriers that will make it very difficult for them to successfully care for their children, find work, get safe housing, go to school, access public benefits, or even, for immigrants, stay in the same country as their children. This groundbreaking report, a joint publication of CLASP and Community Legal Services, Inc., of Philadelphia, documents the legal challenges these families face, illustrated by compelling stories of ex-offenders who are frustrated in their attempts to rebuild their lives and families. Download PDF | Additional PDF