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“Lifting the ban on safety net supports reduces material hardship for formerly incarcerated people, who are exceedingly paid low earnings and face high rates of unemployment due to factors such as discrimination in hiring,” CLASP’s Darrel Thompson and Ashley Burnside wrote in a policy brief this year.
In many states, people with drug-related felony convictions are banned from SNAP and TANF. This impedes successful reentry.
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the United States’ most effective antipoverty programs. This brief highlights the EITC eligibility criteria for young workers.
The CARES Act provides most adults a rebate check. But for 3 million people who owe child support, the check will be withheld. However, much of the money withheld will be kept by states rather than given to children.
HUD has proposed a regulation that would effectively eliminate a 2015 policy known as the Assessment of Fair Housing. If implemented, the proposed rule would make it harder to foster inclusive communities and promote fair housing choice for people of color, people with disabilities, and other protected classes.
CLASP wrote comments on HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing proposed rule.
In deciding which policies to advocate for, there’s a tension between aspirational issues like reparations and more immediate solutions. But the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Reparations, however, aren’t just another policy with costs and benefits to assess—they’re about something deeper.
With unmet financial need increasing, SNAP is critical to address student hunger at colleges. Food insecurity is a threat to health, wellbeing, and success.