The Check Cashers Act of 1999 classified the charge for borrowing from a payday lender as a “fee” rather than as interest. As a result of this legislation, Arkansas now has more payday lenders (281) than McDonald’s restaurants (127)....
Payday lenders are a major source of instant cash for Arkansas’ low-income working families and consumers with heavy debt burdens and poor credit histories. Instead of benefiting borrowers, payday loans trap them in high-cost debt. To qualify for a...
The federal minimum wage was originally passed as a part of the Fair Labor Standards Act to ensure that low-income workers would earn a “decent living.” The idea that no one who works full-time should live in poverty is...
The federal Food Stamp Program (FSP), which was established as a pilot project in the early 1960s and was expanded nationwide in the early 1970s, helps low-income families and individuals purchase a nutritionally adequate diet. The Food Stamp Program...
Does the title look a little bit like an encrypted message? No idea where to find the decoder? This brief guide will translate the acronyms into understandable language and provide you with key questions to ask your local decision-making...
Historically, changes in Arkansas’ child welfare system have been closely tied to high profile incidents of severe abuse or deaths in cases involving child maltreatment and the resulting public and legislative responses to these events. It has been more...
This week the nation celebrates the 40th birthday of Medicaid. It was signed into law on July 30, 1965. And 40 years later it is providing 605,000 Arkansas residents with access to life-saving and life preserving health care. In...
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) took issue with comments made recently by Governor Huckabee concerning reform of the state and federal Medicaid system that provides health care for many of the state’s families. “We don’t agree with...
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, in conjunction with Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, Community Health Centers of Arkansas and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) joined hundreds of communities around the country in spotlighting the 45 million Americans,...
As Cover the Uninsured Week is launched in Arkansas, a new analysis of government data shows that millions of uninsured adults in the U.S. suffer with chronic illness and have medical needs that are unmet. Nearly half (45 percent)...