Years of research have shown that there are successful methods of reducing the impacts of poverty on children. Examples of such methods include encouraging quality early education and expanding after school and summer programs to help children gain a stronger foothold on their current and future schoolwork.

In addition to enacting solutions that directly benefit children, we must also create an environment in which parents have the tools and ability to provide for themselves and their children. AACF’s report addresses several initiatives aimed at reducing poverty among parents including improved quality childcare, work and income support for parents, adult education, and job training.

AACF’s report can be viewed by clicking here.

The task force is also working with community-based organizations to hold smaller focus groups with low-income citizens to hear personal struggles, identify major barriers to getting out of poverty, and discuss how we can work together to abolish poverty. The findings from these town hall meetings will help inform the analysis and recommendations included in the task force’s final report.

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families also continues to hold “Policy Cafés” throughout the state to share information about the Half in Ten campaign with local advocates and concerned citizens. Many participants take extra copies of the endorsement forms to pass out to elected officials, co-workers, and family members.

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families will also officially release its “Child Poverty in Arkansas 2010: A Deepening Problem” report on May 25, 2010. AACF is holding a luncheon for local advocates and elected officials to present the report. This report, along with Half in Ten resources, will be used to introduce newly elected lawmakers to AACF’s work in November. The materials will also be used during the summer months when AACF staff makes visits with lawmakers gearing up for the January session. This report and the Half in Ten resources will also be available to assist the Legislative Task Force on Reducing Poverty and Promoting Economic Opportunities’ town hall meetings.

The answers were similar and heartbreaking. One woman from Helena-West Helena summed it up best when she describes her life in the delta, “We seem to be a people without vision and a town without hope.” As heartbreaking as her answer was, it unfortunately rings true throughout many parts of the state. But the rallying cry from many of the participants at the end of the discussion in Helena-West Helena was quite different—there can be hope in the delta, and they do have the will to abolish poverty. They joyfully joined the Half in Ten Campaign.

AACF will release a report in May from Senior Policy Analyst Kim Reeve, “Child Poverty in Arkansas 2010: A Deepening Problem.” This report addresses the increasing number of children living in poverty in Arkansas. AACF includes information about the Half in Ten campaign in the report, and highlights policy solutions such as revenue for quality child care, the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and other poverty fighting strategies.

Pat Bodenhamer also gave a presentation to the Arkansas Legislative Task Force on Reducing Poverty and Promoting Economic Opportunities, a committee made up of 22 bipartisan state legislators, service agencies, and advocacy groups. She handed out Half in Ten resources and encouraged all the members and organizations serving on the task force to sign on to the Half in Ten pledge. She is contacting each member by phone or email to further encourage members to read more in depth about the Half in Ten campaign and to endorse their efforts.

The summer months will be dedicated to meeting with elected officials and candidates to inform them of the importance of working together to cut in half by 2020. AACF is committed to working with and finding solutions to help our families step up out of poverty.

AACF’s federal policy and outreach teams had the opportunity while in Washington D.C. this past month to meet with congressional staffers from the offices of Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), and Rep. John Boozman (R-AR). Their staff spoke with the Arkansas congressional delegation about the Half in Ten goals and discussed concrete policy solutions that could cut poverty in half by 2020. Their federal team is planning ways to educate community leaders in Arkansas and enlist them in building out the campaign statewide.

AACF’s outreach team has also been traveling around the state hosting Policy Cafés. We are asking local experts and AACF staff members to facilitate small group discussions around different issue areas. Jokingly referred to as “speed dating for advocates,” participants discuss topics for 30 minutes, then once a bell rings they move to a new “date,” or issue area. Cutting poverty in half has been a popular date so far and individuals are asked to sign a pledge form and then share one with a friend. We have held two Policy Cafés and plan to host at least five more.

Next month, The Arkansas Advocates for Children and Family Steering Committee will meet to review goals and set forth an aggressive plan to educate lawmakers and candidates on the fundamental principles of the Half in Ten campaign. AACF will also release its Child Poverty Report early this spring and submit an op-ed in several local newspapers on the topic. And staff are excited to be invited by the Arkansas Legislative Poverty Task Force to come and discuss the Half in Ten campaign and how we can work together on antipoverty efforts.

• Hosting regional meetings that will educate participants on the facts of poverty and the policies that help and hinder our most vulnerable populations.
• Holding advocacy academies to equip local advocates with the knowledge on the methods of effective advocacy.
• Empowering locally trained advocates to host round table discussions with candidates and elected officials to share what they have learned and how they can work together to abolish poverty in our state and country.

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families is also creating a candidate’s guide that will be used in this training. This guide will outline our different issue areas and encourage local advocates to become active in the electoral process by questioning potential candidates on the issues that affect so many working families in Arkansas.
Finally, we are working with local partners to bring the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) to Arkansas. This tool was created by the Missouri Association for Community Action to educate policymakers and community leaders about the day to day realities of life with a shortage of money and an abundance of stress. Several local partners and staff members of AACF have been trained to facilitate the poverty simulation. We hope to offer this unique opportunity by mid-March. For more information and description of the poverty simulation

The future is filled with opportunities, as are looking forward to working together with dedicated advocates, concerned lawmakers and the faith community to cut poverty in half by 2020 in Arkansas and the United States overall.

Email Pat Bodenhamer at pbodenhamer@aradvocates.org to get involved

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families has teamed up with the Half in Ten campaign to lead efforts in reducing poverty in our state. The Arkansas legislature has taken a step forward in addressing this issue by establishing the Poverty Task Force to look at public programs and policies that have the potential to reduce poverty. By building a statewide network and coalition through the Half in Ten campaign, we hope to work with elected officials to reduce the number of Arkansas children and families that live in poverty. We have partnered with other advocacy agencies to provide education opportunities to leaders in our state by helping them understand the plight of low-income families through the poverty simulation. During the simulation, participants experience the situations that families living in poverty go through every day.

We will work very closely with the Poverty Task Force and other low-income advocates to focus on legislation to improve the lives of Arkansans living in poverty. One such piece of legislation will be enacting a state Earned Income Tax Credit. We will also equip the faith community to be advocates for the poor on a state and national level. Our outreach director for the project is staff member Pat Bodenhamer, an ordained Methodist minister, who will continue to work with faith leaders across the state. We will also use our existing Moving Families Forward network made up of individuals and organizations around the state to work with their local elected officials.

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, a statewide child advocacy organization, serves as a voice for children in public policy decisions. Throughout our 30-year history, we have worked to ensure that all Arkansas children and their families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize their full potential.

Congress listened to advocates, and included unemployment reform in ARRA, allocating $7 billion for the project. And these reforms have begun to reach unemployed workers across the country.  Earlier this week, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) released a report (PDF) detailing the “unprecedented wave” of unemployment insurance reforms that has swept across the country since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) became law on February 17th, 2009.  

In just four months, 25 states have enacted reforms to modernize and expand their unemployment insurance programs, either by considering a worker’s most recent work history and earnings to determine their qualification for UI benefits or specifically offering unemployment benefits to historically-disadvantaged employees, such as women, part-time workers, and the long term unemployed. The states that made these reforms were Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, and West Virginia. These states joined the 8 states and the District of Columbia that had already made these reforms.

In addition to permanent UI reform, 21 states with high unemployment rates have also extended unemployment benefits to cover an extra 13-20 weeks.  Of the $7 billion in federal incentive funds, the NELP report estimates that $3.65 billion will be provided to the states in order to help over one million jobless workers collect the benefits they need.

Catherine Rampell, the economics editor of nytimes.com, emphasizes that most of these state unemployment insurance reforms are new changes that indeed expand program eligibility, as opposed to “technical ‘fixes’ to existing laws.” The NELP report further highlights the broad bi-partisan support of these reforms, indicating that legislation has been signed and enacted by nine Republican governors. About a dozen states are still in debate over reforms.