Many income and work support programs include a component aimed to increase the employment and earnings of participants. For example, in the most recent year, states reported spending $557 million of TANF and related state spending on employment and training programs.
CLASP advocates for high-quality employment programs for recipients of work support programs, informed by understanding of both the labor market and the circumstances of recipients, and provides technical assistance to states and localities on how to operate such programs within the framework of the federal programs. CLASP opposes work requirements with harsh sanctions that act as a barrier to access to benefits.
Recently renewed efforts to impose work requirements to receive public benefits reflect a profound misunderstanding of the realities of low-wage jobs. Strong evidence shows that work requirements frequently lead to a loss of benefits, which only makes it harder to work. Further, there is little evidence that work requirements increase employment outcomes or reduce poverty. Finally, work requirements create an unnecessary burden for workers and state governments.
Last year, Arkansas became the first state to kick people off Medicaid for not meeting work requirements. A new study confirms what health policy experts predicted all along: Many people lost their insurance even though they met the state’s requirements.
Recently, CMS issued guidance detailing criteria states should consider if they want to implement proposals to take away health coverage from individuals who do not meet new work requirements. The product of a partnership between CLASP and Community Catalyst, this memo focuses on strategies to…
A federal judge blocked the Trump Administration's attempt to take away health coverage from people who can't document new work reporting requirements.
While work requirements are new to health programs, we have decades of experience with such requirements in other safety net programs. This FAQ and fact sheet translates many of the lessons learned from TANF and SNAP to Medicaid.
This fact sheet shows how the programs funded under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the nation’s primary investment in workforce development, are neither funded nor structured to accommodate the sharply increased need created by proposed Medicaid work requirements.
CLASP hosted a webinar with Dr. Jamila Michener, author of Fragmented Democracy. She discussed research on the impact of federalism on work support programs and resulting political and racial inequality.