Children of color face barriers
A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows Arkansas has a lot of ground to cover to ensure that all kids – especially children of color – are positioned to thrive. Race for Results: Building a Path...
Children of Color Face Barriers
A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows Arkansas has a lot of ground to cover to ensure that all kids – especially children of color – are positioned to thrive. Race for Results: Building a Path...
More negative outcomes for students of color
Students of color experience more negative outcomes with education than white students. According to a report by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education, students of color experience more suspensions, poorer quality teachers, and...
Minimum wage increase will save on SNAP
Increasing the minimum wage will decrease enrollment and costs associated with programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP, commonly referred to as food stamps) for Arkansas taxpayers. Two proposed minimum wage increases, a state increase to $8.50...
Get enrolled: one student’s enrollment story
For 26-year-old Nate Kennedy, health coverage under the Affordable Care Act arrived not a moment too soon. On January 2nd, the day after his new “silver” health plan kicked in, he developed a high fever and night sweats, and...
Poverty guidelines are out of date
The current poverty benchmarks in the United States are miserably out of date, basing their measurements on decades old research. In the 1960s, the average family of three spent about a third of their after tax income on food,...
Fiscal session budget wrap-up: what changed?
The Arkansas Legislature has published funding allocations for fiscal year 2014-2015 according to the Revenue Stabilization Laws. The total budget is just over $5 billion, an overall increase of about 2.2 percent or $108 million from the current 2013-2014...
Improving the EITC will help Arkansans
The President’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2015 includes several important improvements to the pro-work Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) that will reduce poverty among low-wage workers and their families, reduce income inequality, strengthen...
Arkansas’s Private Option lives on, with new amendments. Now what?
Tuesday, Arkansas’s House of Representatives passed the Department of Human Services Division of Medical Services appropriation for the 2015 fiscal year, by a margin of 76-24. The reason this is big news is because, embedded with the funding for...
AACF statement on passage of the Private Option
A statement from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families Executive Director Rich Huddleson: Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families commends Arkansas lawmakers for supporting the Private Option. An overwhelming majority of our senators and representatives voted for approval. The...