Over the past decade, there have been significant expansions in policies that support low-income working families, such as refundable tax credits, health insurance, child support enforcement, child care subsidies, and nutritional supports. These programs help hard working families who struggle to meet basic needs due to low wages, irregular hours and lack of benefits. However, this safety net is incomplete. CLASP advocates for improvements in individual programs and in the service delivery system to help ensure low-income families have the support they need to stay employed and provide for their families.
States Strengthen Work Support Strategies in First Year of Initiative
In the midst of tighter budgets and cuts in benefits spending, some states are focusing on more effective administration of public benefits that support working families. They're doing so because they know that these benefits, which include programs focused on nutrition, health care and child care, help families become and stay employed and promote children's success in school and life. By streamlining eligibility processes and cutting red tape for these programs, states can reduce administrative costs and make it less daunting for working families to get the help they need.
For example, states involved in the Work Support Strategies (WSS) project are making administrative and programmatic decisions that help families more easily acquire benefits for which they're eligible. Reports on the initial planning year of the project (2010-2011), released by the Urban Institute today, indicate that participating states have made progress in simplifying application processes, streamlining eligibility policies, and coordinating the administration of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP - formerly Food Stamps), Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and child care assistance.
As a partner in the WSS project, CLASP provides technical assistance to states to strengthen the administration of their child care assistance programs in the context of the broader WSS focus on coordinating across multiple programs. In the first year of the project, WSS states took steps to reduce barriers to families' enrollment in child care assistance programs and to improve continuity of care for children. Read More >>
Benefit Access and Health Care Reform Resources
Health care reform has the potential to dramatically change the way low-income individuals and families apply for and receive other benefits, such as nutritional assistance and the earned income tax credit. READ MORE »- Helly Lee | Feb 01, 2013 Research Shows Long-Lasting Benefits of EITC
- Helly Lee | Nov 06, 2012 Removing Red Tape: New Strategies for Strengthening the Safety Net
- Abigail Newcomer and Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield | Sep 24, 2012 Benefits Access for College Completion
- Stan Dorn and Elizabeth Lower-Basch | May 17, 2012 Moving to 21st-Century Public Benefits: Emerging Options, Great Promise, and Key Challenges
- Stan Dorn | Nov 02, 2011 How Human Services Programs and Their Clients Can Benefit from National Health Reform Legislation
- Lavanya Mohan | Mar 29, 2013 CLASP Work Supports Newsletter - March 2013
- Elizabeth Lower-Basch and Neil Ridley | Mar 15, 2013 Navigating Federal Programs to Build Sustainable Career Pathways in the Health Professions: A Guide for HPOG Programs
- Lavanya Mohan | Mar 04, 2013 CLASP Work Supports Newsletter - February 2013
- Helly Lee | Jan 24, 2013 Research Shows Long-Lasting Benefits of EITC
- Coalition for Access and Opportunity | Nov 05, 2012 Data Sharing in Public Benefit Programs: An Action Agenda for Removing Barriers





