Crittenton Women's Union - Helping Women and Their Families Achieve Economic Independence

Crittenton Women's Union works to advance broad policy changes that address barriers low-income women face to achieving economic self-sufficiency. CWU works with community partners to promote policy initiatives in the areas of education, job training, child care and affordable and safe housing to help low-income women bridge gaps from poverty to self-sufficiency.

POLICY PRIORITIES 2011�2012

One out of every four Massachusetts residents (close to 900,000 people) lives in a working poor family that cannot afford to meet its basic needs even after receiving supports such as Mass Health or Earned Income Tax Credits. Nearly 75% of poor families in Massachusetts, both working and unemployed, are headed by single women.

Helping more women achieve their dream of becoming economically independent is necessary to address poverty and requires a multi-faceted approach. CWU needs your help in urging Massachusetts leaders to invest in education, job training, affordable housing, and subsidized child care to help low-income women bridge the gap from poverty to self-sufficiency.

CWU's Advocacy Department has developed a comprehensive legislative and budget agenda to tackle the many issues facing low-income families in their quest towards economic self-sufficiency.

Legislative Priorities

The Workers Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Act (SB37) which addresses the pressing need of Massachusetts businesses for skilled workers and the corresponding necessity of expanding access to the education and training required to obtain high-demand jobs paying family-sustaining wages.

The Workers Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Act of 2009 includes:

$4.5 million in funding for the Educational Rewards Program for working adults, including grants and services; and
Improvements in Department of Transitional Assistance policies and procedures that will encourage the pursuit of vocational education training by public assistance recipients.

An Act to Establish a Self-Sufficiency Standard in the Commonwealth (HB1792/SB730)

This Act calls for the Commonwealth to define a self-sufficiency standard in order to provide a measure of the extent to which the incomes of households in Massachusetts are sufficient to support the costs of living, working, raising a family, and paying taxes in Massachusetts.

Budget Priorities for Fiscal Year 2011-2012

Help low-income women prepare and succeed in education and training.

Invest $500,000 in the Educational Rewards Grant program.
The Educational Rewards Grant program provides grants for tuition and living expenses and is the only state level grant program accessible to part-time low-income students. Thus far, the program has been funded one time as part of the 2006 MA Economic Stimulus Act at $1.5 million and will run out of funds at the end of the 2010 academic year.
Fund ABE/ESOL in line item 7035-0002 at $28 Million.
While more funding is needed to increase ABE capacity, intensity and access to services, and strengthen infrastructure, $30.1 Million is needed to maintain ABE's current level of services.

Increase access to affordable housing.

Fund the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) at $35.4 Million in line item 7004-9024 to preserve the 5,100 existing homes currently leased with MRVP.
Households currently enrolled in MRVP have an average household income of less than $11,000 per year ($917 per month). Yet, the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Massachusetts is as high as $1,345. Rents are significantly higher than incomes, making housing unaffordable to many.
Provide high quality subsidized child care for low-income working parents and homeless families.
Provide level funding for low-income child care vouchers in line item 3000-4060 so that working poor families and homeless families can access high quality and reliable child care.

For more information on CWU's public policy agenda,

contact Ruthie Liberman, rliberman@liveworkthrive.org or 617.259.2933

Voices Advocacy Network

Add your voice to those seeking to help low-income women achieve economic independence! Click "read more" to sign up for CWU's Voices Advocacy Network.

The Workers' Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Coalition

TheWorkers' Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Coalitionbrings together community, business, and civic leaders, educators, and advocates across Massachusetts who work to expand access to education and training leading to a skilled workforce which can command livable wages in Massachusetts.

The Coalition focuses on legislative and budget advocacy efforts to provide low-income working and unemployed adults access to the education and training needed to secure a sustaining wage and to develop an educated workforce necessary to remain globally competitive. The Coalition is founded on the concepts included in SB37 which calls for increased funding for the Educational Rewards Grant program and enactment of DTA guidelines to promote educational advancement for TAFDC recipients, both of which provisions will contribute to the long-term health of the Massachusetts economy by filling in-demand jobs, reducing tax dollars spent on public supports, and adding new taxpayers.

Sign on to support SB37

"Fits & Starts: The Difficult Path for Working Single Parents"

"Fits & Starts: The Difficult Path for Working Single Parents," published in partnership with The Center for Social Policy at UMass Boston, is our latest policy brief that highlights the tough choices Massachusetts low-wage working parents must make between taking higher paying jobs and losing critical work supports before they can afford to meet their basic living expenses.

The report reveals that a single parent with two children working in Greater Boston earning $8 an hour or $16,000 a year, the state's minimum wage, and receiving all the major support programs available to her can better support her household than she could earning $16 an hour ($32,000 a year) and receiving aid because of the disjointed public work support system.

To make the path to economic self-sufficiency smoother for families, our key recommendations include

Expanding child care and housing supports for low-income parents.
Restructuring work support programs and eligibility rules to make benefits indexed to cost of living and benefit loss more graduated.
Providing financial aid and expanded supports to low-income working parents to enable them to pursue the education and training necessary to get jobs paying family-sustaining wages.

Please read the full policy brief that includes all of our findings and recommendations.

The Working Poor Families Project

Launched in 2002, the Working Poor Families Project (WPFP) is a national initiative focused on state workforce development policies involving: 1) education and skills training for adults; 2) economic development; and 3) income and work supports. The WPFP supports nonprofit groups in 20 states to assess and improve the economic conditions and policies affecting working poor families in those states. Crittenton Women's Union is the Massachusetts partner for the Working Poor Families Project. As part of this initiative, CWU released the new policy brief, "Unlocking the Doors to Higher Education and Training for Massachusetts' Working Poor Families," detailing policy recommendations to help low-income adults complete post-secondary education and training to secure employment at self-sufficiency level wages.

Click here to read the Massachusetts WPFP policy brief (PDF)

Workforce Solutions Group

The Workforce Solutions Group is a coalition of organizations that advocates for an effective workforce development system that increases workers' skills, promotes job creation and economic growth, and advances families to self-sufficiency.