Sep 19, 2019 | Blog Post

SNAP Recipient to Trump Administration: I am not a fraud.

When President Trump suggests that I, among 3 million other SNAP recipients, am fraudulently accessing benefits without need, I am compelled to push back. We are the real people who would be harmed by the administration’s “broad-based categorical eligibility” proposal ... I share my story because nobody else can tell it for me.

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Dec 21, 2018 | Blog Post | Kisha Bird

When a FIRST STEP is not enough

Yesterday, Congress passed the First Step Act with overwhelming bipartisan support. The compromise bill is the first federal legislation in decades that attempts to address the nation's unacceptable mass incarceration problem, while also providing critical reentry resources to support returning citizens' access to employment, training, and support services. 

Dec 13, 2018 | Blog Post | Whitney Bunts

No Time Like the Present: Congress approves JJDPA

Congress passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). The bill strengthens JJDPA’s core protections, adds accountability measures, and stipulates use of evidence-based and trauma-informed approaches to juvenile justice policy and practice.

Dec 11, 2018 | Blog Post | Renato Rocha

Farm Bill Deal Is A Critical Step to Protect SNAP, But Administrative Threat Looms

Recently, after months of stalemate, the U.S. House and Senate have reached a 2018 farm bill agreement that not only protects SNAP, but also rejects the House-passed bill to take away food assistance from people through cuts and stricter work requirements.

Dec 6, 2018 | Blog Post | Duy Pham

Asian-American Students Have Highest Amount of Unmet Need

Asian-American students have the greatest amount of unmet need among any race/ethnic group, regardless of income and type of institution.  We speculate about some of the reasons in this blog post

Dec 3, 2018 | Blog Post | Suzanne Wikle

Significant Gains for Medicaid Expansion, Yet Inequities Remain

Voters in Utah, Nebraska, and Idaho all gave a resounding “yes” to Medicaid expansion when they went to the polls in November. And in Kansas, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, the results signal improved political climates for expansion. 

Dec 3, 2018 | Blog Post | Elizabeth Lower-Basch

Power Grab in Wisconsin Would Harm SNAP, Medicaid Recipients

Democrats won all statewide offices in Wisconsin last month and Republicans are now attempting to rush through a set of bills that would make early voting harder, protect a conservative candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, bar the state from vacating litigation that threatens the ACA, and strip power from the new Democratic governor and attorney general.

Nov 16, 2018 | Blog Post | Kisha Bird

Midterm elections usher in long overdue justice wins in the states, but more progress is needed

While the justice policy wins represent important progress that will meaningfully improve millions of people’s lives, they also highlight just how much further the nation must go to unwind a system of overcriminalization, mass incarceration, and injustice that’s rooted in racism.

Nov 15, 2018 | Blog Post | CLASP

Trump administration advancing proposal to weaken apprenticeships

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a framework to establish a new class of apprenticeship programs known as Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs, or IRAPS. The framework, released in July, raises serious questions about the future and quality of apprenticeship under the Trump Administration. 

Nov 5, 2018 | Blog Post | CLASP

Advancing Youth Enrollment Act would help 5.7 million uninsured young adults gain coverage

A new bicameral bill would help more than 4 million young adults (ages 18 to 34) access affordable health care.

Oct 31, 2018 | Blog Post | Renato Rocha

Why the Current Workforce System is Not Suited to Help Medicaid Beneficiaries Meet Work Requirements

For the first-time in the 53-year history of Medicaid, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance in January saying it would consider state proposals to take health coverage away from people who don’t meet work requirements. Since then, over a dozen states have requested such waivers from CMS.

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