POVERTY TASK FORCE REPORT - Michigan

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2021POVERTY TASK FORCE REPORTDEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

SUMMARYWhen Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issuedExecutive Order 2019-19 creating theMichigan Poverty Task Force (PTF)on Dec. 18, 2019, she could not haveknown that less than three monthslater, the world would be plunged intothe most consequential public healthcrisis of the past century.Like all crises, COVID-19 has laid barehow poverty affects every dimensionof existence, from physical health toeducation, employment and training tohousing and food security and beyond.It seems prescient, then, that Gov. Whitmerdesigned the PTF to harness the powerof state departments, philanthropy,community organizations and local leadersto develop a comprehensive anti-povertyagenda for Michigan. There is no area ofstate government that does not have arole in the efforts to eradicate poverty. Thework – if it is to succeed – must not besiloed. Cross-departmental collaborationis a linchpin of our approach and wehave combined that with Michigan’smost insightful nongovernmental povertythought leaders for partnerships that willbuild this agenda from the ground up.Over the span of four months, leadersrepresenting 14 state departments met inworkgroups that researched and developeda list of 35 policy recommendations to helpstruggling Michiganders and restore thestate’s safety net. The Task Force presentsthese recommendations understandingthat the innovative adjustments to themachinery of state government needed inthe short term to help Michiganders whosefinancial security has been underminedby COVID-19 must also be considered forthe long-term stability and effectiveness ofanti-poverty efforts. These short, mediumand long-term strategies include expansionof existing, effective anti-poverty policiesas well as bold new initiatives to helplow-income Michiganders navigate andtranscend poverty.We present this agenda fully recognizingthat the economic challenges brought onby the COVID-19 crisis will severely limitthe ability to create new programs andinitiatives that require significant financialinvestments. In 2021, the PTF will usethese recommendations as a platform tocreate long-overdue conversations withstakeholders both within and outside ofstate government about building the state’sintentional commitment to focus on antipoverty policymaking. The construction ofthis agenda has, as a guiding principle, theidea that a primary goal of state economicpolicy should be rising householdincomes for all Michiganders, especiallythose who are struggling. Some of therecommendations would require stateinvestment that is not likely to materializein the near future. But it is our fervent hopethat this document and the ideas withinwill serve as a roadmap for a discussionabout how the state can better leverageexisting resources, create pathways tonew resources and build partnershipswith external stakeholders to better servestruggling Michiganders.LABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT2

01. POVERTY TASK FORCEOBJECTIVESLABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT3

When Gov. Whitmer issued ExecutiveOrder 19-19, she set out a list of 12objectives for the PTF’s work:01. Identify and evaluate poverty’s rootcauses and contributing factors inMichigan, the needs of those in povertyin Michigan, and the effectivenessof efforts on all levels that have beenundertaken or are currently beingundertaken to address poverty. Developstrategies for supporting or otherwiseimproving the efficacy of those efforts,including programmatic effectivenessand administrative efficiencies.02. Identify and evaluate the nature andscope of poverty’s impact on variouslocations and communities throughoutthe state and what response actionswould be most effective in helpingeach of those impacted areas. Developstrategies for implementing thoseresponse actions.03. Identify and evaluate what financialand other resources are availableon all levels to combat poverty inMichigan. Develop strategies forsecuring, coordinating, augmentingand deploying those resources.04. Identify and evaluate key barriers toupward mobility among populations inpoverty in Michigan. Develop strategiesfor overcoming these barriers, focusingon improved economic developmentand opportunities for upward mobilityamong families and individualsexperiencing poverty in Michigan.05. Develop strategies for increasing publicawareness of poverty in Michigan,its causes and effects, the resourcesavailable to those impacted by it, and theactions that can be taken to combat it.06. Develop routine communication andinformation-sharing protocols betweenmembers of the Task Force andstakeholders on all levels.07. Identify key stakeholders in impactedareas, and perform outreach toensure stakeholders are informed,educated and empowered. Stakeholderoutreach will include, but is notlimited to, community leaders, partnerorganizations, tribal governments, localgovernment officials and other electedofficials representing the impacted areas.08. Perform outreach to the general publicregarding poverty in Michigan and thework of the Task Force.09. Create measurable goals and objectivesalong an established timeline.10. Recommend changes in Michigan law,and policy-related changes that canbe implemented by governmental andnongovernmental agencies, relevant tofighting poverty in Michigan.11. Provide other information and advice andperform other duties as requested by thedepartment directors or the governor.12. The Task Force shall report regularly tothe governor on its activities.LABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT4

02. POVERTY TASK FORCESTRUCTURE AND WORKFLOWLABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT5

The PTF’s first meeting was held in January2020 and then PTF staff began meetingone-on-one with department directors togain insight into their current strategiesand collaborate about new initiatives,pilots, policies and legislation that couldhave meaningful impact in the state’s fightagainst poverty. Department directors thenappointed key staff to PTF work groups,which met for several months to developpolicy recommendations to coordinate andactivate efforts within state government.Using the ideas generated by thosemeetings as a platform and deployingthe expertise and experience of keystaff from the 14 state departments, thePTF divided its work into four groups:ਅ Safe and Secure: This work groupwas charged with creating andstrengthening safety nets that ensureeconomic security and quality of life forall. Examples: housing security, foodsecurity, utilities, crime prevention andrebuilding the social safety net.ਅ Providing Opportunity: Theworkgroup was charged with creatingdurable pathways to jobs and higherincome, including higher education,high-quality certifications andindustry-recognized credentials.The work was organized around threekey organizing principles.First, our goal is to reduce the state’sALICE population. According to theMichigan Association of United Ways,43% of Michiganders are Asset Limited,Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE).These are Michiganders who work everyday but struggle to pay for basic needssuch as shelter, food, transportation,communication and child care. Ourapproach to poverty eradication will notonly lift the poorest Michiganders, but willalso help stabilize the income of those whohave seen their middle class status slipaway because of stagnant wages and anevolving job market.ਅ Strong Beginnings: This work group wasfocused on programs targeting children tocombat generational poverty. Examples:child care, school-based nutritionprograms and youth employment.ਅ Removing Barriers: This work groupwas responsible for grappling withstrategies to address structural barriersfor poor job seekers. Examples: effortsto expand eligibility for expunction ofcriminal records and support for returningcitizens who face barriers to employment,housing and other staples of life.LABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT6

Second, the work groups were askedto leverage the broad representation ofstate departments at the table to buildintentionally collaborative programs.The causes and effects of poverty aremultidimensional and our approach toaddress them must also be.Finally, in recognition of the Whitmeradministration’s commitment to racialequity, our work groups approachedtheir assignments with a racial equitylens. Michigan Department of Civil Rightsofficials met with each work group beforethey started their assignments to shine alight on how state policies have contributedto racial inequity in Michigan and to offerstrategies to acknowledge and addressracial disparities in policy decision-making.As the groups met, they organizedthemselves into smaller issue groupsto develop policy recommendations infive categories:ਅ Benefits: The committee examinedcurrent state policy and imagined pilots,priority shifts and administrative changesdesigned to streamline processes to givelow-income Michiganders the resourcesand supports they need to thrive.linked with barriers to economic mobilityand explored strategies to untanglethese links.ਅ Economic: This committeefocused on strategies that will helplow-income Michiganders buildwealth through entrepreneurship,homeownership, employment andtraining and other pathways.ਅ Education: This committee targetedstrategies to build educational equityto ensure every K-12 student inMichigan is being prepared to succeedin postsecondary education or workand meet the state’s Sixty by 30 goalwhere at least 60% of Michigan’sworking adults have a postsecondaryeducational credential by the year 2030.ਅ Health, Housing and Safety: Thiscommittee examined strategies to ensurestate government is effectively deployingpolicies to ensure that the basic needs oflow-income Michiganders are met.These issue groups produced thefollowing 35 policy recommendationsthat constitute the first iteration of ananti-poverty agenda for Michigan.ਅ Criminal Justice: Acknowledgingthe groundbreaking work of Lt. Gov.Garlin Gilchrist and Michigan SupremeCourt Chief Justice Bridget MaryMcCormick on criminal justice reform,this committee examined the many waysengagement with the justice system isLABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT7

03. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONSLABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT8

BENEFITS POLICYRECOMMENDATIONSMichigan is an outlier in the way stategovernment distributes benefits to itspoorest citizens, lagging far behind thenational average and Midwest states in thepercentage of Temporary Aid to NeedyFamilies (TANF) dollars that are dedicatedto core purposes. Additionally, the state’sbenefits processes have been designedwith the intent to make access to neededassistance extremely difficult and inadequate.While the Whitmer administration has takensteps to expand eligibility and streamline theprocess to receive benefits such as food andcash assistance and emergency relief, muchwork remains to be done.Simply put, Michigan needs to completelyoverhaul its approach to how it allocatesTANF dollars. Too often, the state’s TANFblock grant has been used for purposesthat do not fulfill the foundational goal ofgiving needed assistance to Michigan’spoorest families.What is needed is a sober examinationof how Michigan’s deployment of TANFdollars does – or does not – forward thegoal of giving poor families access toeconomic stability. To that end, the PTFmakes the following recommendations:01. Conduct an In-Depth Study of theEffectiveness of TANF DistributionTo better understand the effectivenessof the state’s TANF distribution asa safety net strategy, the PTF willcommission an in-depth study from aqualified third-party academic entity in2021. As of 2017, only 19% of availableTANF dollars were used for basicassistance, child care and resourcesto help poor Michiganders connect toand retain jobs. This compares witha national average of 52% of TANFdollars being used for core purposes bystate governments. Instead, much ofMichigan’s TANF block grant is allocatedto pay for foster care services and forother priorities such as funding meritbased college scholarships for students ofany economic status who earn high scoreson standardized tests. Gov. Whitmer hasrequested funding for a comprehensivestudy of whether the state’s approach toTANF distribution is serving low-incomefamilies well.02. Rethink College Scholarships FundedWith TANF DollarsThe PTF recommends that Michigantarget TANF dollars that are used forcollege scholarships to low-incomestudents who will most benefit fromLABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT9

postsecondary education and training.There is ample evidence that a collegeeducation is the single most effectiveanti-poverty strategy. States with highercollege attainment rates typically havea bevy of positive outcomes rangingfrom higher per capita income to betterhealth outcomes.Currently, Michigan spends more than 125 million of the state’s 700 millionTANF allocation to provide collegescholarships for Michigan students whoearn high standardized test scores,regardless of students’ financial status.We propose a study of that policy inthe previous recommendation, butat a minimum, state leaders shouldconsider redirecting those scholarshipsto benefit only low-income studentsgiven that this is the population that istargeted by TANF.03. Commission a ComprehensiveStudy on Outcomes for Former StateAssistance RecipientsMichigan’s TANF rules have locked manyout of opportunities to get assistancefor life staples. While supporters ofthese policies point to falling benefitenrollment numbers as evidence of theirsuccess, there has been no evidencebased research about what happens topoor Michigan families who lose theseresources. Gov. Whitmer has requestedfunding for a comprehensive study thatwill examine how former TANF recipientshave fared in the years since theirbenefits ended.Furthermore, current state policies areintentionally designed to make accessingbenefits difficult. The Michigan Department ofHealth and Human Services (MDHHS) teamhas successfully streamlined some processesto make benefits more accessible during theCOVID-19 crisis. For example:ਅ Early in the COVID-19 crisis, Michiganused federal funds to greatly expandits food assistance programs throughthe Pandemic EBT program, providingbenefits to 300,000 additional strugglingfamilies. The expansion required anaggressive process to reach the familiesof students who were eligible for freeand reduced lunch at school but were athome due to the pandemic.ਅ The state expanded eligibility for foodassistance to all low-income collegestudents in Michigan who are enrolled incareer or technical education programsand met food assistance eligibility criteria.The policy change will help studentsavoid food insecurity as they invest intheir own long-term economic stability.This policy change aligns with the state’sSixty by 30 goal.LABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT10

MDHHS should continue to prioritizeinnovation, leveraging technologyto boost flexibility and make thedepartment’s efforts to provide benefitsnimbler and more responsive to theneeds of poor families.One critically important way Michigan canand should innovate is by addressing itsbenefits cliff. A core purpose of Michigan’spublic assistance safety net is to supportlow-income Michiganders on their pathto self-sufficiency. A key roadblock facingfamilies on that path is the benefits cliff,the steep loss of public assistance benefitsas income increases. This phenomenondisincentivizes work as the amount ofbenefits loss is often greater than theamount of increased income earned, leadingto an overall decline in household resources.The following policy options couldreduce the benefits cliff by providingadditional time for maintaining benefitsand creating smoother off-ramps frompublic assistance:04. Improving FIP Participants' Transitionto Self-SufficiencyFederal law imposes lifetime limits oncash assistance provided under theTANF program, known in Michiganas the Family Independence Program(FIP). States have considerable flexibilityto “stop the clock” for particular groups,such as adults working substantialhours or adults facing barriers to workparticipation, an option that Michiganonce had. Pursuing that flexibility couldensure that recipients have access tocash assistance even as they pursuework, which would significantly curtailthe benefits cliff.In addition, the law allows states to seta time limit shorter than 60 months,and in Michigan, the limit is 48 months.Increasing the time limit from 48 monthsto 60 months will ensure families haveadditional assistance that can helpsmooth their transition to self-sufficiency.05. Increasing the FIP Grant AmountIn Michigan, the monthly TANF/FIPbenefit level for a single-parent family ofthree is 492. While Michigan’s currentbenefit level is an increase from 459in 1996, benefits are 34 % lower ininflation-adjusted dollars, meaning thatthe purchasing power of FIP benefitshas eroded substantially over time. FIPremains the primary cash assistanceprogram in Michigan and plays animportant role in stabilizing a family’seconomic situation by ensuring they havethe income to meet basic needs such asfood, shelter, clothes and transportation.However, the decline in the purchasingpower of cash assistance means thatassistance is failing to push familiesabove the poverty line. Research hasalso shown that state decisions on FIPgrant amounts have consequencesfor racial disparities, as Black childrenare more likely to live in states withthe lowest benefit levels. A moresubstantial benefit can help recipientsfind work, thereby reducing the impactof the benefits cliff.LABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT11

06. Adopt COLA for FIPMichigan has the option of reformingFIP by raising benefit levels to accountfor the cost of inflation. The state canalso adopt a cost-of-living adjustment(COLA) like that used by Social Securityand Supplemental Security Income toensure that benefits keep pace withinflation over time. A cost-of-livingadjustment is already done in the foodassistance program.07. Adopt a TANF Shelter StipendWith the growing cost of housing, cashassistance benefits often fail to cover rentfor a modest two-bedroom apartment. InMichigan, cash assistance benefit levelscover only 55% of average Fair MarketRents (FMR). This coverage has erodedover time, with FIP benefits covering84.5% of FMR in 1996. Cash assistanceis often the primary benefit used tostabilize housing costs, as only 17% ofTANF families receive U.S. Department ofHousing and Urban Development (HUD)housing assistance. Without properhousing support, TANF families face therisk of housing instability, eviction andhomelessness, which are associated withpoor school performance and physicaland mental health risks.A TSS can increase the purchasingpower of FIP and stabilize housingsituations, thereby helping clientssecure better forms of employment.08. Adopting a Short-Term FamilySupport ProgramOne way to reduce the benefitscliff is to provide families with ashort-term lump-sum payment toaddress immediate needs. Families whoare normally self-sufficient and facingtemporary obstacles to continued selfsufficiency may be better served bya one-time lump-sum payment thanongoing cash assistance. States canimplement a Short-Term Family SupportProgram (STFS) to provide a lump-sumpayment to targeted cash assistanceapplicant families, such as those withrecent work history and promise of workin the future.One way to combat the growingcost of housing is to adopt a TANFShelter Stipend (TSS). A TSS providesadditional assistance to families withhigh housing cost. In Minnesota, 110is given to all TANF clients who are notin subsidized housing.LABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY2021 POVERTY TASK REPORT12

09. Adopting an Extended FIP ProgramAnother way of reducing the benefitscliff is to provide benefits to familieswho are transitioning out of TANF aftermeet

nongovernmental agencies, relevant to fighting poverty in Michigan. 11. Provide other information and advice and perform other duties as requested by the department directors or the governor. 12. The Task Force shall report regularly to the governor on its activities.

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