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Establishing Emergency Cash Assistance Programs
A guide by New America to help cities and states set up cash assistance programs for their residents, based on the Alia Cares platform that the National Domestic Workers Alliance built to run their Coronavirus Cares Fund that provides emergency assistance for home care workers to support them in staying safe and at home to slow the spread of COVID.
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Does the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Affect Hospital Utilization Among Older Adults? The Case of Maryland
Accounting for the strong effects of health care access, this study finds that SNAP is associated with reduced hospitalization in dually eligible older adults. Policies to increase SNAP participation and benefit amounts in eligible older adults may reduce hospitalizations and health care costs for older dual eligible adults living in the community.
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“It has meant everything”: How P-EBT Helped Families in Michigan
This report explores Michigan’s implementation of the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program. Drawing on interviews from individuals within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and input from SNAP participants via surveys distributed using the Fresh EBT app, this report provides insights into the strategies that enabled Michigan to roll out an entirely new program quickly and effectively.
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What Government Programs Should Measure: How Well They Help People
It is necessary give the public servants who manage safety-net systems the technology tools and incentives to track critical outcomes and meet people where they are.
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The Pandemic Proved That Cash Payments Work
The $600 cash payments provided by the CARES act prevented joblessness from turning into actual income loss for millions of families. It also gave Americans breathing room to wait for better jobs, rather than settling for bad ones out of desperation.
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Six Recommendations for Implementing the Next Stimulus Package
The US Digital response partnered with dozens of states, counties, and cities to support them in using and tracking CARES Act grants. This article presents six lessons learned from their work to help governments better assist residents, particularly small businesses and low-income communities.
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Responding to the COVID-19 Unemployment Crisis and Meeting the Future of Work Challenge
Due to technology’s disruptive force in society and on the labor force, it is necessary to revisit the relationship between employees, governments, and citizens. This report asserts that the next president should immediately sign two Executive Orders (EOs) to address the current work crisis and the urgent economic emergency that has left Americans evicted, unable to pay bills, make rent, or put food on the table.
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Poverty Results from Structural Barriers, Not Personal Choices. Safety Net Programs Should Reflect That Fact
This Urban Institute article argues that poverty is driven by structural barriers rather than individual choices and advocates for safety net programs that address systemic inequities.
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National Unemployment Data Dashboard
This dashboard highlights key performance indicators for UI systems nationwide, including how they perform during the current economic crisis, the impact of the CARES Act benefits expiring, the timeline for which benefits are delivered, demographics of benefits recipients, and total benefits payments.
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How Well Insured are Job Losers? Efficacy of the Public Safety Net
This resource is a research paper examining the role of the public safety net in insuring job losers against income loss, analyzing which government programs provide financial support and how benefits vary based on pre-job loss income levels.
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Does Administrative Burden Influence Public Support for Government Programs? Evidence from a Survey Experiment
This study examines how providing information about administrative burden influences public support for government programs like TANF, showing that awareness of these burdens can increase favorability toward the programs and their recipients.
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Can States Finally Fix Their Unemployment Systems?
This article explores ongoing efforts to modernize state unemployment insurance (UI) systems, addressing long-standing inefficiencies and challenges exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.