CLASP ARRA Audio Conference Series
CLASP held a series of audio conferences on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act just after the President signed the measure in February 2009. The act inclulded needed and, in some cases, unprecedented investment in programs that help low-income children, youth and families. Following are recordings of audio conferences that provide information for state and local lawmakers and advocates on opportunities for investing ARRA funds.
George Soros' donation of $35 million to New York State, allowing the state to draw $140 million in federal funds from the TANF Emergency Fund to provide back to school payments of $200 to more than 800,000 children in low-income families, has drawn a great deal of attention from across the country. In this CLASP audioconfernece, hear from some of the people who made it happen, learn about the processes involved, and get ideas about how to make public-private partnerships to help low-income families with TANF Emergency Funds happen in your state.
The National Women's Law Center and CLASP hosted a conference call to discuss how states are using their economic recovery funds to help boost support for child care. The audioconference discussed strategizes about how to best utilize the economic recovery funds.
Black men and boys face disproportionately negative life outcomes in many domains, particularly education, employment and justice. This audio conference identified opportunities in the ARRA to provide education, training, and supportive services in a targeted manner to black men and boys. View resources.
Even before the economic downturn, youth in our economically distressed urban and rural communities were hurting. This audio conference identified opportunities in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to serve older youth and outlined approaches states and local communities should consider to improve youth outcomes. View resources.
This audio conference highlighted Transitional Jobs programs to help individuals with barriers to employment enter and succeed in the labor market, and featured new opportunities created through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to develop and expand such programs. It was co-sponsored by the National Transitional Jobs Network.
This audio conference featured opportunities for improvements in income support programs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Contingency Fund both provide additional funds for states - but only if they take action to expand program access. The expansion in tax credits for low-income workers also provides opportunities for community tax assistance providers.
This audio conference highlighted opportunities created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for addressing the needs of low-skill workers under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and linking training to job creation and retention efforts.
The audio conference discussed the opportunity for states and local communities to serve more low-income working families and to make long-term investments in quality programs through new investments in child care and early education in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA).