THE JOB AHEAD Recognized the Impact of Current Policy and Practice on Low-income Parents and Their Families

Focus On:  Family policy -- Child support  Economic Security policy -- Saving  Tax policy -- EITC  Fines and Fees

Low-income Parents and Tax Policies  Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs), provide minimal income support, if any, to parents who don’t live with their children.  Tax refunds are intercepted and first used to pay down child support debt owed to the government.  State income and local sales taxes disproportionately burden low-income people of color trying to achieve basic economic security.  According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, they are the only Americans taxed into poverty.

Low-income Fathers of Color and Child Support  Family courts often order struggling parents to pay unaffordably high amounts of child support.  Courts frequently disregard the actual income of parents who have low or no income.  For low-income parents, leads to insurmountable debt.  Often, fathers of color have higher debt, because they are more likely to face structural barriers: –Racial bias and discrimination in hiring  longer unemployment and lower wages. –Racial & gender bias in the justice system  increased risk of arrest & incarceration.

Savings Policies Can IDAs work for parents who owe child support? Recent reports from Building Assets for Fathers and Families (BAFF) ■In program’s first ~20 months, 1,750 participants, only 37 IDAs opened (2%), and just 6 assets purchased. ■81% have incomes below $1,000 per month, including 36% with no income. ■Average arrears owed is $11,700, the highest individual arrears is $140,000. ■Program staffers said that their “clients are not employable” and that most men are not IDA ready.

New Thinking We might have thought:  Financial Literacy education is necessary for imprudent, and ignorant parents and other adults  No matter how “literate” poor people become about money, they don’t have enough (any).  Social welfare policy prohibits the accumulation of assets by parents who owe who need services and support (TANF, child support, child welfare) We should consider:  Experimental research results discount this theory of insolvency  Economic security and employment initiative and research theses presume increased income through policy change.  Social welfare policy prohibits the accumulation of assets by some low- income parents. Going forward, policy makers must incorporate this information into their analysis and recommendations

Criminal Justice Surcharges  $165 filing/recording fee  Crime lab and drug law enforcement surcharge  Jail surcharge  Justice information surcharge  DNA analysis surcharge

Practically, individuals and parents need:  Family-sustaining employment  Safe and affordable housing  food security  health care  reliable transportation And so…

Families will continue to struggle for economic security:  If we give:  And take:

Race Matters  Whether or not race is explicitly stated in the result, stopping at “all” when it comes to data and strategy design will jeopardize your partnership’s ability to develop targeted interventions that maximize your resources.  our attempts to be race-neutral rarely have race-neutral outcomes. * Janay Queen, Applying a Racial Equity and Inclusion Lens to Collective Impact, Living Cities.

Identification and disposition of race, gender and class discrimination in social welfare policy and practice Safety from family and community violence Social Justice Supportive, non-punitive TANF services Responsive fines, fees, and lending policies Responsive violence prevention and intervention Income support Holistic Family Support Stable living wage employment Self-sufficiency Parent/Adult-directed family structure and operation Economic Security and Opportunity