The following statement can be attributed to Wendy Chun-Hoon, president and executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Washington, D.C., August 19, 2026—On September 15, the U.S. Census Bureau will release reports with national data on Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance for 2025. While we anticipate a slight rise in poverty across the board compared to the data from 2024, we know that next month’s numbers will serve as a bellwether for what’s coming.
The changes wrought by H.R.1, signed into law by President Trump in July 2025, are already taking effect in communities across the country. For example, Congress let the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits expire last December when it passed H.R.1, pushing nearly three million people off their health insurance in early 2026. While the 2025 data don’t yet capture this drop in access to affordable health insurance for millions, we know that individuals and families are desperately struggling to pay for health care.
We should anticipate a rise in poverty for women, higher poverty for children of all races, and more poverty among immigrants, all driven by the many provisions in H.R.1 that are destabilizing families, such as the elimination of more than $200 billion in basic food assistance over the next decade. SNAP work requirements have also been tightened for elderly people and people with disabilities. Already, between October 2025 and February 2026, we’ve seen WIC participation decline by 250,000 people.
The administration’s relentless attacks on immigrants and their families will continue to have a chilling effect on access to the public benefit programs they are eligible for. This includes policymakers imposing significant eligibility restrictions on Medicaid, ACA, and SNAP for immigrants authorized to be in the U.S. In addition, immigration enforcement has created conditions in which workers lose wages and can fall into poverty if they stay home due to fear of ICE officers at workplaces.
While the administration and Congressional leaders have targeted immigrants in their slashing of social safety net programs, populations across the country are seeing their Medicaid, food assistance, and child care assistance gutted at the federal level in favor of funding military actions and aggressive immigration enforcement. We also know that last fall’s longest-ever government shutdown—a crisis manufactured by the White House and Congress—pushed countless people to the economic brink. Moreover, millions are living with the consequences of policy choices that have driven up inflation, driven down wages, and reduced funding for programs that meet basic needs. As a result, far too many people are taking on debt just to buy groceries and pay for the gas they need to commute to work.
We expect the September reports will show a wider gender pay gap and a rise in income inequality for Black households relative to white households. This phenomenon is largely driven by the disproportionate job losses experienced by Black women and the fact that it took Black women twice as long to find a job as white women in the second half of 2025. After attaining employment, Black women are paid less than their white peers, regardless of their educational level.
The Census reports will be much more than a look-back at the state of the country in 2025. Sadly, they will be a preview of the harm ahead for our communities because policymakers have chosen to enrich the wealthiest and finance a siege on immigrants over helping people meet their most basic, human needs. Poverty is the result of systemic failures, and our nation and the people who show up every day to make our economy work deserve better.
CLASP submitted comments opposing a new federal policy that would allow citizenship and immigration data from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to be shared with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The comments warn that expanded data sharing could deter eligible immigrant families from accessing cash assistance and other public benefits, increasing financial hardship for children and families with low incomes.
By Diana Rocha
My Indigenous Mexican heritage shaped how I understand community. I was raised with the belief that our responsibility to one another extends beyond our immediate families—that our well-being is intertwined with that of our neighbors, our elders, and the generations that come after us. That understanding has also shaped how I view other Indigenous communities. While our Nations each have their own histories, cultures, and traditions, the struggles of other Indigenous communities are not distant from my own. They are part of a broader story of resilience, responsibility, and the enduring pursuit of self-determination.
That belief followed me to Arizona, where my work addressing food insecurity brought me alongside Tribal communities in ways that profoundly shaped my understanding of federal nutrition policy. From supporting food access in the Grand Canyon to working with child nutrition programs serving rural reservation communities throughout the state, I witnessed challenges that extended far beyond whether food was available. Families spoke of wanting healthier options for their children, while broader barriers—including limited infrastructure like a lack of grocery stores, inadequate food distribution systems, and limited transportation; geographic isolation; and policies that often failed to reflect Tribal priorities—continued to shape daily life. Those experiences made clear that addressing food insecurity requires more than expanding food assistance. It requires recognizing Tribal Nations as leaders in designing policies and programs that affect their communities.
The Farm Bill shapes many of the nutrition programs that support children and families across the country, making it one of the federal government’s most important tools for addressing food insecurity. At a time when millions of people are already losing access to nutrition assistance, the next Farm Bill will play a critical role in determining whether federal policy expands opportunity or deepens existing inequities. For Tribal communities, the Farm Bill is one of the most important federal opportunities to strengthen Tribal food sovereignty, improve children’s health and nutrition, and advance racial equity by ensuring Tribal Nations have a greater voice in shaping the systems that nourish their communities. As Congress negotiates the next Farm Bill, Tribal food sovereignty should be understood as an early childhood and racial equity priority.
Colonization, Food Systems, and Racial Equity
Indigenous food insecurity did not emerge by chance. It is rooted in centuries of federal policies shaped by settler colonialism that displaced Tribal Nations from their homelands, fractured Indigenous food systems, and undermined Tribal self-determination. Policies such as the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the General Allotment (Dawes) Act of 1887 dispossessed Tribal Nations of millions of acres of land, disrupting traditional practices of farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering that had sustained Indigenous communities for generations. As access to land and natural resources diminished, many Tribal communities became increasingly dependent on federal food assistance programs and commodity foods to meet basic nutritional needs.
While programs like the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) have long played a critical role in reducing hunger, they also reflect a broader history in which the federal government largely addressed food insecurity for Tribal Nations rather than with them. Early commodity foods often replaced nutritious, culturally relevant traditional foods with highly processed alternatives, contributing to disproportionately high rates of food insecurity, diabetes, and other diet-related illnesses that persist in many Tribal communities today. These disparities are not simply public health concerns. They are the enduring consequences of historical federal policy and long-standing racial inequities in the government’s treatment of Tribal Nations.
Tribal Food Sovereignty Matters for Young Children
These investments are especially meaningful for young children. Nutritious foods support healthy growth and development during the earliest years of life, while culturally relevant food systems help preserve the traditions, knowledge, and relationships that connect children to their families and communities. Strong Tribal food systems also strengthen the economic stability of caregivers and create healthier environments in which children can thrive. Nearly three-quarters of Farm Bill funding supports nutrition programs, making it one of the federal government’s most significant investments in food security and the health of children and families.
The Farm Bill Is an Opportunity to Advance Tribal Food Sovereignty
The Farm Bill is the nation’s primary food and agriculture law. In addition to legislating farming policy, the bill also governs nutrition assistance, conservation, forestry, rural development, and agricultural research.
The 2018 Farm Bill included 63 Tribal-specific provisions that expanded Tribal self-governance, strengthened nutrition programs, and supported local food production, Native agriculture, and traditional foodways. These investments helped create new opportunities for Tribal Nations, but persistent disparities in food security demonstrate that more remains to be done.
In 2022, more than 78,000 American Indian and Alaska Native Producers stewarded 58,336 farms and ranches across 63 million acres, generating more than $6 billion in agricultural sales annually. Yet despite this significant agricultural presence, Native communities continue to experience disproportionately high rates of food insecurity. A nationwide survey of Native households found that half of the respondents experienced food insecurity, while one in four experienced very low food insecurity, with households raising children facing even greater challenges. Together, these data reveal that food insecurity in Indian Country is not simply a matter of food production. Despite the strength of Native agriculture, enduring structural barriers continue to prevent many Tribal communities from fully benefitting from the food systems they have long sustained.
The 2026 House Farm Bill includes nearly 40 provisions specifically referencing Tribes, including a new 638 demonstration project for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which would give Tribes greater authority over food procurement for older adults; a cooperative purchasing program that reserves 10 percent of funding for Tribes; and conservation initiatives that recognize Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), the ecological knowledge and land stewardship practices developed by Indigenous communities over generations, and provide Tribes with enhanced federal cost-sharing opportunities. These provisions reflect meaningful steps toward expanding Tribal self-determination. However, they exist within a broader Farm Bill that does not adequately respond to the growing food insecurity facing families across the country. At a time when over four million people have already lost access to SNAP, the bill misses a critical opportunity to strengthen the nation’s nutrition safety net and instead advances policies that are likely to deepen hardship for millions of households.
While certain provisions would make important progress, significant gaps remain. The 2026 House Farm Bill does not make the existing FDPIR 638 Demonstration Project— which allows participating Tribes to directly procure culturally relevant foods through Tribal self-determination agreements—permanent, leaving one of the most significant Tribal-led nutrition initiatives without long-term certainty. Several Tribal initiatives also remain dependent on pilot authorities or future appropriations, creating uncertainty for Tribal governments seeking to make long-term investments in local food systems. In addition, persistent gaps in federal data collection on Native food insecurity continue to limit policymakers’ understanding of community needs, making it more difficult to ensure that federal investments effectively reach Tribal communities. These shortcomings are especially concerning given the broader erosion of nutrition assistance nationwide. Together, these limitations suggest that meaningful progress toward Tribal food sovereignty requires not only recognition in federal law but also sustained implementation, funding, and accountability.
Advancing Tribal Food Sovereignty
While the Farm Bill offers one of the strongest opportunities to advance Tribal food sovereignty, lasting progress will require sustained federal commitments that extend beyond a single piece of legislation. Priorities for Congress must include:
The Path Forward
The next Farm Bill presents an opportunity to recognize that Tribal food sovereignty is a matter of child well-being, racial equity, and Tribal self-determination. The choices made in this legislation will shape more than food programs; they will shape who has the authority to nourish communities, preserve cultural knowledge, and define what food security looks like for future generations. A truly equitable food system cannot be built without recognizing Tribal Nations as leaders in shaping their own food futures. The impact of this legislation cannot be measured solely in acres cultivated or dollars appropriated, but in whether Native children inherit not only food security but also the freedom and authority to define it on their own terms.
Excerpt:
But some experts fear the accounts will further solidify the nation’s wealth gap as more well-off parents contribute to their children’s accounts while those in low-income households are unable to fund them. Others caution that, as an investment, Trump Accounts are not the best option for parents looking to give their children a financial leg up at age 18.…
Giving charitable donations to families who don’t need them is troubling as it comes when inflation is high, and the administration is slashing funding for social services and other supports that many families rely on, said Ashley Burnside, senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy in Washington, D.C.
“They’ve made dramatic cuts to Medicaid, to SNAP,” Burnside said, referencing federal programs that provide health insurance and help purchasing food. “If a parent can’t afford groceries each month, it’s going to be very unlikely that they ‘re going to be able to put money away towards a child’s account or towards college savings.”
Note: This article also appeared in the Denver Gazette in CO; The Herald Enquirer in NC; Lancaster Online in PA; Sun-Sentinel in FL; CPA Practice Advisor; and Daily Gazette in NY.
By Rachel Wilensky, Shira Small, and Stephanie Schmit
Beginning in the summer of 2025, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) engaged with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to support a workgroup of administrators of the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Child Care program. CalWORKs Child Care is a critical supportive service associated with California’s Welfare-to-Work program. It is funded by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dollars and the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), as well as supplemental state funding.
Since 1997, CalWORKs Child Care has had three stages designed to provide care and to facilitate paths to self-sufficiency for CalWORKs participants. Stage One is currently administered by county welfare departments, and Stages Two and Three shift the family’s child care from county social service and welfare offices to Alternative Payment Programs (APPs), contracted organizations that administer child care vouchers.
The focus of the workgroup was to solicit feedback on factors that would be important for the state to understand when considering consolidation of the existing program. The administrator workgroup was established to enable CDSS and the State to learn from the expertise and experience of the counties and child care contractors to create a program that is more supportive for families and easier to administer—giving administrators more time to focus on the families they serve. The workgroup aimed to elicit insights and ideas using various feedback strategies, with the goal of informing a consolidation proposal for CDSS.
This report, drafted by CLASP, reviews the context for how the workgroup was initiated, outlines the feedback that was elicited in the workgroup, offers considerations and insights from CLASP based on the workgroup’s feedback, and documents the work materials from the group.
>Learn more information about the CalWORKS Child Child Consolidation Project.
By Teon Hayes
Excerpt:
For more than fifty years, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) has been a critical lifeline for millions of pregnant and postpartum people, infants, and young children. The federal program provides healthy food, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and connections to healthcare. WIC helps families build healthier beginnings during some of life’s most vulnerable moments.
But behind the program’s success, a troubling shift is taking place: The number of people receiving assistance through the program has dropped.
Between October 2025 and February 2026, WIC participation declined by nearly 250,000 people, according to a new report by the National Center for Children in Poverty. Every group served by the program shrank, whether it was for pregnant people, breastfeeding mothers, infants, postpartum people, or young children. Programs serving children ages one to four experienced the largest decline.
While participation ticked up slightly for some groups in March, those modest gains recovered only a small fraction of the total lost participation.
Why are so many families dropping away from a program that we know works? These families did not suddenly stop needing WIC. Rather, they encountered new barriers to accessing it. For many immigrant families, fear of immigration enforcement, spurred by public charge policies from the Department of Homeland Security, has created a chilling effect that keeps eligible families from receiving the help they need…
Note: this commentary was republished in many other media outlets including Chattanooga Times Free Press in TN; Wichita Eagle in KS; Herald Enquirer in Charlotte, NC; The Island Packet in Beaufort, SC; The Modesto Bee in CA; Lexington Herald-Leader in KY; The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, SC; Fort Worth Star-Telegram in TX; The State in Columbia, SC; The Olympian in WA; The Bellingham Herald in WA; Idaho Statesman in ID; The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, SC; Merced Sun-Star in CA; The News & Observer in Raleigh, NC; The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, CA, The Jonesboro Sun in AR; Mercury News in San Jose, CA; Marin Independent Journal in CA; East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, CA; and MSN News.
CLASP submitted this comment in support of the USDA’s proposed expansion of retailer access to SNAP incentive waivers. Programs such as the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) have demonstrated that when families have greater access to affordable fruits and vegetables, they purchase and consume healthier foods at higher rates. Importantly, these programs work not because they are punitive or prescriptive, but because they increase access, affordability, and choice.
Co-authored by Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, Center for Law and Social Policy, National Association for the Education of Young Children, and National Association for Family Child Care
[Editor’s Note: Last Updated July 22, 2026]
Medicaid is an important source of health coverage for the early childhood education professionals who support child development and care for children while parents work, and for the children and families these educators serve. Twelve states cover a third or more of the child care workforce through Medicaid, making the program an essential part of ensuring the health and well-being of child care professionals. In turn, a healthy early childhood workforce can most effectively support the positive development of children in their earliest years. Threats to Medicaid coverage for early childhood educators would likely further deepen a child care crisis driven in large part by inadequate compensation for this critical workforce. To address the root of this problem, the child care workforce needs higher wages and access to quality benefits which requires significant, robust, and sustainable public investments. Until this core problem is addressed, many workers necessarily rely on Medicaid and SNAP.
Read the report on the Georgetown Center for Children and Families’ website here.
On July 14, Ashley Burnside spoke at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) conference about the affordability crisis
By Erin Flynn Jay
Excerpt:
“For Pennsylvania, the approximate 2028 cost shift amount based on the FY 2025 error rate is $410 million,” said Teon Hayes, senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy. “However, the actual cost shift amount will depend on each state’s FY 2025 OR 2026 error rate, as well as anticipated SNAP benefit costs in FY 2028. Therefore, this estimate is not final and could definitely change.”
This is likely to be one of the most significant consequences of the new law.
“States are required to balance their budgets, so absorbing new SNAP benefit costs means those dollars to support the program have to come from somewhere,” said Hayes. “This could potentially lead to stricter eligibility rules, reduced benefit amounts, or both. States will have to make difficult decisions about reducing spending in other areas or finding ways to lower program costs.”
Some states may also look for ways to reduce administrative costs or limit participation, which could make it more difficult for eligible households to access nutrition assistance. The Center for Law and Social Policy is already seeing evidence of this concern, as SNAP participation has declined by more than 4 million people since last July.
“This decline is not because people no longer need assistance or because food insecurity has disappeared,” said Hayes. “Rather, it reflects the growing barriers families are facing in accessing a program designed to support them.”