Improving Access to Work Supports: Strengthening State Policies and Practices

Lingo to Know

Work supports refer to cash and non-cash benefits that help low-income working families narrow the gap between what they earn and what it costs to make ends meet. Examples of work supports include rental subsidies, unemployment insurance, education benefits and earned income tax credits.

Underutilized Aid

Many eligible families are missing out when it comes to work supports. Case in point: Among households that qualify for public health insurance, nutritional aid and child care assistance, just 5% take up all three supports.

A Five-Pronged Focus

The Working Poor Families Project urges its partners to focus their policy efforts in the following five areas: 1) expanding eligibility and outreach; 2) simplifying the application process; 3) streamlining the renewal process; 4) pinpointing performance measures tied to family economic advancement; and 5) supporting state investments in work support programs and systems.

Two Routes to Boosting Access

The two basic approaches for expanding access to work supports are: 1) enhancing outreach efforts to connect with more potential users; and 2) improving how efficiently a system administers benefits.

Model Move: Collegiate Bundling

Central New Mexico Community College — an Annie E. Casey Foundation Center for Working Families site — is one of only a few two-year colleges to consciously connect its students to bundled work supports. The approach has paid off; students receiving these services had a 61% chance of achieving short-term economic success. For students who didn’t receive benefits, this measure dropped to just 16%.

Tech Support

Experts identify six characteristics to check for when selecting new software to aid in outreach and screening. One item on their list? Ensuring that the technology is easy to use and can be catered to address specific population needs, such as reading and language abilities.