Join us for our annual Communities Against Poverty event on Thursday, December 12th from 11am to 1pm at History Colorado Center! Learn more and register today!

¡Únase a nosotros para nuestro evento anual Comunidades Contra la Pobreza el jueves 12 de diciembre de 11am a 1pm en el Centro de Historia de Colorado! ¡Aprenda más y regístre hoy!

News

Jan 19, 2017

by

An expert in policy advocacy and coalition building, Chaer has dedicated her career to helping people meet their basic needs and expanding economic opportunity. She serves on the executive committee of the All Families Deserve a Chance (AFDC) coalition. Staff page ›

Recent articles

CCLP’s 26th birthday party recap

Aug 13, 2024

CCLP celebrated our 26th birthday party while reflecting on another year of successes on behalf of Coloradans experiencing poverty.

Legislative & Policy Preview 2017: Family Economic Security

by | Jan 19, 2017

Family Economic Security

During this year’s legislative session, CCLP’s Family Economic Security program will focus on expanding job opportunities and training for all Coloradans, renewing the Colorado Child Tax Credit for low-income workers, encouraging the development of more affordable housing units throughout the state and extending the notification period so that tenants without leases have enough time to relocate from their homes when their landlords order them to leave their residences or raise their rent.

We expect this year’s session to strike some familiar themes since leadership in the House and the Senate is still divided along party lines. As always, the state’s constitutional budgetary constraints will factor heavily into lawmakers’ decisions. However, the “wild card” this session seems to be how policy changes in Washington will affect Colorado. To that point, CCLP will collaborate with national partners to protect the interests of low-income Coloradans in federal policy discussions.Since Congress may delegate additional authority to states regarding critical programs and services, we are prepared to work this year with partner organizations to ensure that decision-makers in Colorado make choices that are in the best interests of struggling families throughout the state.

Below is CCLP’s legislative agenda for 2017:

Renew the Colorado Child Care Tax Credit for low-income workers
In 2014, CCLP championed a successful bill to introduce a child-care tax credit for workers earning less than $25,000 a year. Our bill established an alternative calculation method for those who did not qualify for child-care tax credits because they earned too little to owe federal income tax. Since the passage of the bill, over 32,000 families have claimed the credit, providing a total of $4.9 million to help defray the cost of child care for low-income working parents. The current law expires on Jan. 1, 2018, so we will fight for renewal of this important tax credit.

“Chance-to-compete” legislation
Society expects people to work, pay restitution and support their families after they’ve been incarcerated. Unfortunately, many Coloradans with criminal records experience unemployment, food insecurity and housing instability — fueling poverty and recidivism rates.

To address this problem, CCLP is again running legislation to address preliminary barriers to employment by prohibiting most employers from asking about past criminal records on preliminary job applications. The bill has garnered support from a diverse coalition that includes 45 different nonprofits, faith-based organizations, labor groups and businesses.

Extend notice periods for tenants without leases
In Colorado, a tenant who is renting without a lease is only assured seven-days of notice before being required to vacate their home or pay higher rent. Similarly, tenants are only required to give seven days of notification to landlords before ending their tenancy.

Only two other states have notice periods this short. The current notification period presents an extreme challenge for tenants in Colorado’s tight housing market. For families with children, older adults and people with disabilities, finding new housing can be nearly impossible in a short period of time. CCLP will run a bill to extend the notification period from seven to 28 days. This bill would not change the three-day eviction process for non-payment of rent or non-compliance with a lease. It also would not apply in cases when there is a lease.

Transparent consumer information for students of for-profit schools and training programs
By 2020, 74 percent of all jobs in Colorado are projected to require some level of post-secondary training. Analysts estimate that Colorado will need to increase post-secondary credentials by 2 percent annually to meet workforce needs in the future. For-profit occupational schools are an important component of post-secondary education. However, these programs tend to be more expensive than community colleges, are often unlikely to lead to gainful employment and frequently result in high debt loads and student-loan defaults. Nationally, the surge in student loan defaults in the last decade was largely concentrated among relatively older, low-income students who attended for-profit colleges.

Given this context, it’s important that students and their families have the best information available so they can make informed decisions about what types of training to pursue and what programs will prepare them for gainful employment. The Skills2Compete Colorado Coalition, led by CCLP, will run legislation requiring prospective students to receive more information about educational outcomes, such as completion rates, total costs, estimated debt load and average starting salaries for students. The legislation will also call for the state to develop comparative website to help students make informed decisions when investing in a secondary education.


Child care for education and training
Nationally, 26 percent of post-secondary students are parents. Many more parents are not able to participate in employment and training programs because of child-care obligations.

Some of the highest poverty rates are among parents of young children. Advancing a parent’s education level could improve employment prospects, increase a family’s income and help a young child’s development and future outlook. Currently, the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program is not equipped to meet the child care needs of parents who attend night classes or classes for short blocks of time. CCLP is developing a bill that would create an interagency and community task force to assess available resources, improve coordination and identify gaps in meeting the child-care needs of parents seeking to upgrade their skills for today’s job market.

Other legislation we expect to support
CCLP supports Gov. John Hickenlooper’s funding requests for affordable housing.  The governor has asked for $12 million in marijuana tax dollars to build 1,200 new permanent supportive housing units in five years for chronically homeless individuals. The allotment also will cover the cost of “rapid rehousing” units for individuals experiencing episodic homelessness. In addition, the governor has asked for $4 million of marijuana tax revenue to provide housing vouchers for people with behavioral-health issues.  CCLP supports these requests as well as a plan to appropriate $2 million per year from the general fund for the Housing Development Grant Fund, which would cover the cost of 250 affordable housing units for Coloradans who are currently spending more than 50 percent of their income on housing.

CCLP believes manufactured housing plays a critical role in promoting and preserving affordable housing in Colorado. In recent years, construction standards for manufactured housing have improved to prevent depreciation — making manufactured housing an investment that could provide long-term shelter for low-income Coloradans. CCLP is helping to craft legislation that could make it easier for owners of manufactured homes to establish resident-owned communities that would be more secure and less expensive than other residential alternatives.

We also support the Bell Policy Center’s legislation to conduct an actuarial study that could lead to the establishment of individual retirement saving accounts for those without access to other retirement savings plans. The shortfall in retirement savings is a danger both to individuals who could retire unprepared and for our state which likely would struggle to meet the needs of a growing older population that runs out of retirement savings. We also support the Bell Policy Center’s efforts to prevent financial institutions from raising interest rates on short-term consumer loans that could potentially hurt low-income Coloradans.

– Chaer Robert

Related articles

CCLP Policy Forum: Tax credits & you recap
Facing the facts: Advocates present to the JBC on glitch-plagued PHE Unwind
2024 Legislative session: addressing economic challenges at the individual and state level

Recent articles

CCLP’s 26th birthday party recap

Aug 13, 2024

CCLP celebrated our 26th birthday party while reflecting on another year of successes on behalf of Coloradans experiencing poverty.

HEALTH:
HEALTH FIRST COLORADO (MEDICAID)

Health First Colorado is the name given to Colorado’s Medicaid program. Medicaid provides public, low-cost health insurance to qualifying adults and children. It is an entitlement program funded by the federal, state, and county governments and is administered by counties in Colorado. Those who are required to pay must pay a small co-pay when receiving certain health care services.

State Department: Department of Health Care Policy and Financing

Eligibility: Most adults 18 to 64 are eligible for Medicaid in Colorado if their household income is at or below 133% of the federal poverty limit (FPL). Pregnant women are eligible with incomes of up to 195% FPL, while children under 18 may be eligible if the live in a household with income at or below 142% FPL. Some adults over 65 may also be eligible for Medicaid.

Program Benefits: Through Medicaid, low-income Coloradans are eligible for a range of health care services at little to not cost. Services provided include doctors visits, prescription drugs, mental health services, and dental care. Co-pays for certain individuals may be needed for certain services.

Program Funding and Access: Colorado funds our Medicaid program through state and federal dollars. Medicaid is an entitlement program, which means that all who are eligible for Medicaid can access the program, regardless of the funding level in a given year. This does not mean that it is always easy to access Medicaid, even when eligible. And since the program is administered by counties, funding levels for county staff and other administrative roles can make it easier or harder for Coloradans to access the program. On top of this, not all medical providers accept Medicaid which limits the ability of Coloradans to seek health services even if enrolled, such as if the nearest provider is a 2+ hour drive away.

Note: This data is from before the pandemic and does not reflect changes in enrollment rules during the COVID-19 pandemic and public health emergency.

Statewide Program Access 2015-19: Over the study period of this report, an average of 89.0% of the population at or below 133% of FPL (i.e., the population who is likely to be eligible for Medicaid) were enrolled in Medicaid in Colorado.

FOOD SECURITY:
SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP)

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP helps low-income Coloradans purchase food by providing individuals and families with a monthly cash benefit that can be used to buy certain foods. SNAP is an entitlement program that is funded by the federal and state governments and administered by counties in Colorado.

State Department: Department of Human Services

Eligibility: Currently, Coloradans qualify for SNAP if they have incomes below 200% FPL, are unemployed or work part-time or receive other forms of assistance such as TANF, among other eligibility criteria. Income eligibility for SNAP was different during the study period of this report than today—it was 130% FPL back in 2019 for example. The US Department of Agriculture uses the population at or below 125% FPL when calculating the Program Access Index (or PAI) for SNAP. We follow this practice in our analysis despite Colorado currently having a higher income eligibility threshold.

Program Benefits: SNAP participants receive a monthly SNAP benefit that is determined by the number of people in their household and their income. Benefit amounts decrease as income increases, helping households avoid a sudden loss of SNAP when their incomes increase, even by a minor amount. Benefits are provided to an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card that can be used to purchase eligible food items, such as fruits and vegetables; meat, poultry, and fish; dairy products; and breads and cereals. Other items, such as foods that are hot at their point of sale, are not allowable purchases under current SNAP rules.

Program Funding and Access: SNAP, like Medicaid, is a federal entitlement program. This means that Colorado must serve any Coloradan who is eligible for the program. As such, funding should not be a limit to how many Coloradans can be served by the program. However, funding for administration of SNAP at the state and county level can limit the ability of county human service departments to enroll those who are eligible. Other program rules and administrative barriers can make it difficult for Coloradans to receive the benefits they are legally entitled to receive.

Statewide Program Access 2015-19: Over the study period of this report, an average of 61.1% of the population at or below 125% of FPL (i.e., the population who is likely to be eligible for SNAP) were enrolled.

FOOD SECURITY:
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR WOMEN, INFANTS AND CHILDREN (WIC)

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also know as WIC, provides healthcare and nutritional support to low-income Coloradans who are pregnant, recently pregnant, breastfeeding, and to children under 5 who are nutritionally at risk based on a nutrition assessment.

State Department: Department of Public Health and Environment

Eligibility: To participate in WIC you must be pregnant, pregnant in the last six months, breastfeeding a baby under 1 year of age, or a child under the age of 5. Coloradans do not need to be U.S. citizens to be eligible for WIC. In terms of income, households cannot have incomes that exceed 185% FPL. Families who are enrolled in SNAP, TANF, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), or Medicaid are automatically eligible for WIC. Regardless of gender, any parents, foster parents, or caregivers are able to apply for and use WIC services for eligible children.

Program Benefits: WIC provides a range of services to young children and their parents. These include funds to purchase healthy, fresh foods; breastfeeding support; personalized nutrition education and shopping tips; and referrals to health care and other services participants may be eligible for.

Program Funding and Access: WIC is funded by the US Department of Agriculture. The state uses these federal funds to contract with local providers, known as WIC Clinics. In most cases, these are county public health agencies, but that is not the case in all Colorado counties. Some WIC Clinics cover multiple counties, while others are served by multiple clinics. Private non-profit providers are also eligible to be selected as a WIC Clinic.

Statewide Program Access 2015-17: Between 2015 and 2017, an average of 52.2% of the population eligible for WIC were enrolled in the program in Colorado.

Financial Security:
Colorado Works

Colorado Works is the name given to Colorado’s program for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or TANF. It is an employment program that supports families with dependent children on their path to self-sufficiency. Participants can receive cash assistance, schooling, workforce development and skills training depending on the services available in their county.

State Department: Department of Human Services

Eligibility: In general, Coloradans are eligible to enroll in TANF if they are a resident of Colorado, have one or more children under the age of 18 or pregnant, and have very low or no income. For example, to be eligible to receive a basic cash assistance grant through TANF, a single-parent of one child could not earn more than $331 per month, with some exclusions—and would only receive $440 per month (as of 2022). That said, there are other services provided by counties through TANF that those with incomes as high as $75,000 may be eligible for. In addition to these, participants in TANF are required to work or be pursuing an eligible “work activity” or work-related activity. Any eligible individual can only receive assistance if they have not previously been enrolled in TANF for a cumulative amount of time of more than 60 months—this is a lifetime limit that does not reset. Counties may have additional requirements and offer benefits that are not available in other counties in Colorado.

Program Benefits:  While the exact benefits that one is eligible for under TANF can vary, all qualified participants are eligible to receive a monthly cash payment, call basic cash assistance. Other than cash assistance, counties are have a lot of choice in how to use their TANF funding; generally a use of TANF funds is appropriate so long as it advances one or more of the four purposes of the program: (1) provide assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of their relatives; (2) end the dependence of needy families on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; (3) prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and (4) encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

It is important to note that those eligible for TANF are also eligible for many of the other programs we’ve included in this report, such as SNAP, Medicaid, and CCCAP.

Program Funding and Access: Colorado funds its TANF program through funds received from the federal government through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant. Most of the federal funds are allocated by the state to counties, which are required to provide a 20% match of state funding. Federal and state rules allow the state and counties to retain a portion of unspent funds in a TANF reserve.

Statewide Program Access 2015-19: Over the study period of this report, an average of 50.7% of the population at or below 100% of FPL (i.e., the population who is likely to be eligible for TANF) were enrolled in TANF in Colorado.

EARLY LEARNING:
COLORADO CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (CCCAP)

The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program provides child care assistance to low-income families and caregivers living in Colorado in the form of reduced payments for child care. It is a program funded by the federal, state, and county governments and is administered by counties in Colorado. The share owed by parents/caregivers is determined on a sliding scale based on the family’s income.

State Department: Department of Early Childhood Education

Eligibility: Counties set eligibility for families separately, but must serve families with incomes at or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Limit. Families accepted to the program are no longer eligible once their income exceeds 85% of the state median income. Parents or caregivers must be employed, searching for work, or engaged in another approved activity to be eligible for CCCAP. Parents and caregivers enrolled in Colorado Works (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or TANF) or in the child welfare system are also eligible to participate in CCCAP. Generally, CCCAP serves families with children under 13, although children as old as 19 may be eligible under certain circumstances.

Program Benefits: If a family is eligible for CCCAP and has income, they may likely have to pay a portion of their child’s or children’s child care costs each month. The amount that families owe is based on their gross income, number of household members, and the number of children in child care in the household. As such, households tend not to experience a benefit cliff with CCCAP when they see their incomes increase

Program Funding and Access: Colorado funds the CCCAP program using federal dollars it receives from the Child Care and Development Block Grant program. The state allocates federal and state funds to counties using a formula that takes into account factors like current caseloads and the number of eligible residents. Assistance is available until the county’s funds are spent, so the number of families that can be served is often a function of how much funding is available and the income and composition of the household that applies. It is not uncommon for counties to overspend or underspend their allocations of funds. The state reallocates unspent funds from counties who underspent to those who overspent. While underspending could indicate a problem with the way a county administers its CCCAP program, it could just as likely be a sign that there are few providers in the county who participate in CCCAP—or a lack of providers generally.

Statewide Program Access 2015-19: Over the study period of this report, an average of 10.8% of the population at or below 165% of FPL and younger than age 13 (i.e., the population who is likely to be eligible for CCCAP) were enrolled in CCCAP.

Housing:
HUD rental assistance programs

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has three housing assistance programs that we look at together: Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8), Project-based Section 8, and Public Housing. In Colorado, these programs provided assistance to over 90% of the households who received federal housing assistance from all HUD programs. Through federally funded, local or regional public housing agencies (PHAs) are the agencies that administer these programs, through not all are available in all counties. These are not the only programs available in Colorado that assist households afford the cost of housing, such as units funded through federal and state tax credit programs.

State Department: Department of Local Affairs

Eligibility: Generally, households with incomes under 50% of the area median income (AMI) of the county they live in are eligible for these rental assistance programs, although PHAs have discretion to select households with incomes at higher percentages of AMI. That said, HUD requires that 75% of new vouchers issued through the Housing Choice Voucher/Section 8 program in a given year are targeted to households with incomes at or below 30% of AMI. PHAs are also able to create criteria that give priority to certain types of households who are on waiting lists for these programs.

Program Benefits: These rental assistance programs help households afford the cost of housing by reducing their housing costs to around 30% of their household income. In the case of the Housing Choice Voucher program, the PHA pays the voucher holder’s landlord the remaining portion of the rent.

Program Funding and Access: Funding and access are both challenges for these rental assistance programs. In addition to limitations on the number of public housing units or housing vouchers a PHA can manage or issue, lack of funding compared to the need constrains the ability of PHAs to assist low-income households. In 2020, Coloradans were on waitlists for Housing Choice Vouchers for an average of 17 months. Waitlists also exist for the other rental assistance programs.

Statewide Program Access 2015-19: Over the study period of this report, an average of 21.1% of renter households with incomes at or below 50% AMI (i.e., the population who is likely to be eligible for HUD rental assistance programs) were living in subsidized housing.