This newly released report from the Community Action Partnership, representing over 1,000 Community Action Agencies (CAA) nationwide, presents a broad landscape of the activities and impact of CAAs. It identifies several “spotlight stories” to reflect on initiatives undertaken relative to job creation and job training, asset building, supports for health and well-being, community development, and services to strengthen children and families. The emphasis is on community-wide solutions that are designed and implemented to address challenges that low-income families face.

Federal benefits programs, such as TANF and SNAP, and tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit, can help encourage work and reduce poverty among working families. In the 2016 tax year, almost 26 million working families and individuals in every state received the EITC, which is available to low- and moderate-income families and individuals. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), families often use these credits to pay for necessities, repair homes or vehicles, and in some cases, obtain additional education or training to boost their employability and earnings. Additionally, research indicates that children in families receiving the tax credits do better in school, are likelier to attend college, and earn more as adults. Looking at the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), the Brookings Institution reports that these tax credits lowered the national poverty rate by three percent in 2015, equivalent to lifting 9.2 million people above the poverty line. Many states and municipalities also operate state tax credit and subsidy programs that can enhance the benefits associated with federal credits.

This facilitated webinar on January 30, 2019 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET shared how they use their state and local programs, strategies, and informational tools to deliver valuable services and disseminate information about the value of tax credits and their impacts on low-income, working families. Presenters discussed strategies for how TANF programs and others can promote and leverage these programs to support the families they work with.

This University of Maryland report, a part of the annual Life After Welfare series, reviews the outcomes of households that are no longer on TANF caseloads. The report examines the characteristics, employment, and earnings outcomes of 12,597 families who left Maryland’s Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) program between January 2004 and March 2017. The findings suggest that these families improved their financial situations after exiting TCA, compared to their circumstances before TCA enrollment. However, these families still struggle to maintain independence from cash assistance following exit from the program.

This report provides a compilation of the success of financial capability integration efforts for tribal communities. The report focuses on two locations in Alaska: the Kenaitze Indian Tribe and the Aleutian Pribilof Island Association (APIA). Household financial living and assessing organizational and community capacity to deliver services are discussed in depth.

This toolkit from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was designed for victims of the recent hurricanes to assist in securing their financial obligations after a natural disaster. The toolkit provides a checklist of important financial tasks to address, reliable and trustworthy resources and agencies to help, and warnings about potential scams. Included is a printable and easy to use checklist to help consumers work through the necessary steps they need to take to ensure their financial obligations and assets are secure.

In this Brookings Paper on Economic Activity, the authors focus on children within the safety net programs of Medicaid, EITC, CTC, SNAP, and TANF, and how federal money has shifted over time to currently benefit families with earnings above the poverty line. Because much research has been done on the substantial and lasting effects of poverty on child development and later well-being, current social net programs may be negatively affecting the poorest children. Over the past twenty years, funds allocated toward children have mostly remained the same, as have the number of children in poverty, but social program benefits have been shifting to benefit those at or above the poverty line more than those below it. While the authors do not discuss many policy implications, they emphasize the harm that cuts to these programs may do and promote adaptable reforms that quickly supplement income during recessionary times.

In this article issued by the Institute for Research on Poverty, discussion highlights the effects of paid leave on mothers’ post-birth employment and on child well-being. Policies, such as work requirements, time limits, and child care subsidies, are effective levers for increasing employment. Yet this research also suggests that any assessments of these policies must consider not only benefits of increased maternal employment, but also the potential costs associated with reduced child well-being.

This blog post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is part of the "Self-Sufficiency Series: Solutions from the Field" and highlights the Building Wealth and Health Network for the work they do to build social and financial capital of TANF recipients. Based on research that shows the beneficial effects of high social and monetary capital, the Network provides group financial empowerment classes and other resources with a specific focus on those overcoming violence or adversity in their past. There is also a peer support component that creates connections among participants, which increases social capital and helps members feel engaged and self-sufficient and makes the program sustainable. Randomized control trial results suggest that this program increased employment, earnings, and self-sufficiency while decreasing depression and economic hardship among members.