Poverty

The new health reform law will cover over 30 million uninsured Americans, including 16 million low-income adults and children through Medicaid. A substantial number of the people who will gain Medicaid coverage under health reform have disabilities or chronic health care conditions. Medicaid is particularly well-suited for these individuals because it is both affordable and comprehensive, covering a number of services that they need (such as case management and mental health care and therapy …

The new health reform law includes a number of insurance reforms to aid consumers, several of which will take effect this fall. But plans that existed when the law was enacted on March 23, 2010 — known as “grandfathered” plans — aren’t required to comply with some of these reforms. The law created this exception to avoid disrupting the health insurance market and to generally allow people to keep the plans they have. A key question, then, is how much a …

On July 30, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board will post on its website, www.recovery.gov, data on jobs funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This data release will capture only a portion of the jobs created and saved by the Act, due to ARRA’s limited reporting requirements. According to the Council of Economic Advisers, ARRA’s reporting system covered only 22 percent of ARRA expenditures through the end of June. [1] Most of ARRA’s …

The average level of federal spending over the years since 1970 — about 21 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) — does not provide a reasonable benchmark for the level of spending that will be necessary or appropriate in the future. The Heritage Foundation has proposed that, in developing its recommendations, the President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform “should target the historical levels of taxes . . . and spending.” [1] …

Executive Director Robert Greenstein and former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Alan Blinder discuss whether policymakers should extend President Bush’s tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of this year, for those at the top of the income scale. Duration: 10:17

To help reduce projected budget deficits, some have suggested paring back the tax credits that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 provides to help low- and moderate-income families afford health coverage through new state-based health insurance exchanges. Those deficit hawks recommending this course should set their sights on other prey: the credits are not generous (even with the credits, families will pay a substantial and growing share of their income on health …

Health Policy Analyst Sarah Lueck discusses the great news that millions of Americans will soon be able to receive preventive health care services free of charge. Duration: 2:58

The health reform law will significantly reduce the large overpayments Medicare makes to the private "Medicare Advantage" health plans that serve some beneficiaries. This will reduce premium costs for other Medicare enrollees and strengthen Medicare's overall finances. The law also includes stronger protections for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in these private plans, particularly those who are in poorer health, to ensure they have access to needed care. …

Letting President Bush’s tax cuts for families making over $250,000 expire as scheduled at the end of 2010, while temporarily redirecting this money to more efficient ways of boosting the economy while it is weak, would help the nation address two key challenges: short-term economic weakness (with nearly one in ten Americans out of work) and unsustainable long-term deficits. Over the next year or two, policymakers could channel the savings from letting the tax cuts …

The subsidized jobs programs that states have created through the TANF Emergency Fund are a bright spot in an economy that is producing new jobs at a very slow pace, but some of these programs have already stopped taking applications in anticipation of the fund’s September 30 expiration, and most programs will shut down or significantly scale back their operations on that date (see Figure 1). Unless Congress extends the fund, tens of thousands of people across the …

.g { color: #FFF; } The Food Stamp Program (renamed SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is the cornerstone of the nation's safety net and nutrition assistance programs. It currently provides over 40 million participants in more than 18 million low-income households with debit cards they can use to purchase food each month. Because eligibility is not restricted to specific subgroups of people, the Food Stamp Program serves a wide range of …

A call by several members of the President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform for the commission to focus on the federal government’s gross debt, rather than debt held by the public, is misguided and could inhibit efforts to address the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges. Debt held by the public consists of promises to repay individuals and institutions, at home and abroad, who have loaned the federal government money to finance deficits. Gross …

The Senate’s move today toward extending the Recovery Act’s extra weeks of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed will provide much-needed help to almost 3 million unemployed workers and a boost to the economy, since those workers will spend their benefits quickly to cover household expenses. These extended unemployment benefits will have a significant impact on jobless workers all across the country, as the maps show. Congress should now take two …

Immigrants who are not citizens or legal permanent residents (LPR) and are domestic violence survivors now face one less barrier to achieving higher education. In August 2008 the U.S. Department of Education determined that “qualified” battered immigrant students and their children were eligible for financial aid under the same rules that applied to citizens and other eligible immigrants. More recently the Education Department released a “Dear Colleague” letter that describes and clarifies how an immigrant who is a survivor of domestic violence can qualify for federal financial aid. The National Immigration Law Center, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and Legal Momentum have been at the table with the Education Department for over two years discussing and advocating clarity and guidance for this rule change on behalf of immigrant domestic violence survivors.
   
The “Dear Colleague” letter, released in June 2010 and entitled “Student Aid Eligibility—Eligibility for Title IV Aid for ‘Battered Immigrants–Qualified Aliens’ as provided for in the Violence Against Women Act,” addresses the procedures under which qualified immigrant domestic violence survivors, with the correct documentation, can qualify for Title IV, Higher Education Act, assistance due to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The letter formalizes the policy that has been in effect since 2008 but was not officially publicized to financial aid officers or the public. Financial aid staff and education advocates can now assist immigrant domestic violence survivors applying for financial aid.

Generally, when a U.S. citizen or LPR marries an immigrant and wishes to bring his or her spouse to the United States, the citizen or LPR spouse submits a petition to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) office so that the immigrant spouse may legally reside in the United States. However, in the case of domestic violence, too often an abusive citizen or LPR spouse uses his or her ability to control the immigration status of the survivor as another method of abuse. Immigrants who are spouses of U.S. citizens or spouses of LPRs, and who are survivors of domestic violence, as determined by USCIS, may be deemed “qualified aliens”; under VAWA this makes them and their designated children eligible for federal public benefits, including federal student financial aid. Instead of depending upon the abusive spouse to apply for the survivor’s immigration status, a survivor can apply on his or her own behalf and on behalf of his or her children under VAWA. The abusive spouse plays no role in the application and does not have to know that the survivor is applying. In fact, VAWA is clear in prohibiting USCIS from informing an applicant’s spouse that a survivor has applied for a VAWA self-petition.

Because of additional confidentiality concerns, the abused spouse’s VAWA status is not maintained in the Department of Homeland Security system, which is used to confirm immigration status for the Education Department when the abused spouse is applying for financial aid. Consequently there are a few more steps in submitting documentation directly to the financial aid officer. In order for a noncitizen who is a domestic violence survivor to be eligible for financial aid, he or she must have appropriate documentation to qualify. Any of the following three types of documents is appropriate:

1) I-360 self-petition—that either is approved or establishes a prima facie case—for status as a Battered Immigrant–Qualified Alien under VAWA;

2) An approved application for suspension of deportation or withholding of removal under VAWA; or

3) Cancellation of a removal case under VAWA.

Financial aid is now available to many immigrant women who are domestic violence survivors and who otherwise could not pursue higher education because of financial barriers. Determining immigrant domestic violence survivors to be eligible for financial aid is a critical step toward ensuring equal access to postsecondary education, increasing our skilled workforce, and opening opportunities for economic advancement.
   

For more information, contact Wendy Pollack, director, Women’s Law and Policy Project, Shriver Center, at 312.368.3303 or wendypollack@povertylaw.org.

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Volume 14, Issue 1
July 20, 2010

Dr. LaDonna Pavetti, Director of the Center’s Welfare Reform and Income Support Division, discusses how states are using the TANF Emergency Fund to create jobs – and the need for extending the program. Duration: 4:35

At least 15 states are using federal stimulus dollars provided through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Fund to assist the growing number of needy families that are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless because of the recession. The number of homeless families has increased for each of the last two years and the number of families in emergency shelters and transitional housing jumped 30 percent from 2007 to 2009. [1] Similarly, the U.S. Department of Education …

Policy Analyst Phil Oliff discusses what the new fiscal year brings for states. Duration: 2:56