New Tactic in Overall Strategy to Address Underenrollment

Work supports such as the earned income tax credit (EITC), Medicaid, food stamps, and child care assistance can both raise disposable family income and improve employment retention. Yet many low-wage workers who are potentially eligible for these government programs are not enrolled either nationally or in Illinois. A policy paper last month from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) reviews a new approach to increasing enrollment. Drawing on observations from CLASP’s visits to six programs, “Getting Connected: Employer Engagement in Work Supports” discusses efforts to connect employees with work supports in the workplace. Connecting employees with benefits in the workplace capitalizes on the opportunity to reach low-wage workers through employers.

CLASP observed six sites engaged in connecting low-wage workers to work supports: the Greater Miami Prosperity Campaign, operated by the Human Services Coalition of Miami, Florida; the EarnBenefits program, run by Seedco, of New York, New York; the Family Economic Progress program, run by the United Way of San Antonio, Texas; a partnership between the United Way and the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce in Denver, Colorado; and two employers, Detroit Chassis, in Detroit, Michigan, and Cascade Engineering, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first four programs reach out to employers to educate them about work supports; or they ask employers to give information about work supports to their employees or host mobile outreach workers that can assist employees with benefit applications; or they do both. The two employers, Detroit Chassis and Cascade Engineering, sponsor on-site workers—a social worker and a case manager from the Michigan human services agency, respectively—to assist families in accessing benefits. 

CLASP drew six lessons. First, employers have limited knowledge about work support programs and worker eligibility. Employers often did not know about work supports that were available to their low-wage workers, and many were unaware of how many of their workers were in low-income families and needed benefits. Second, many employers are willing to play a role in connecting employees with work supports, but only a limited one. Employers preferred disseminating information about resources that employees could use to access the benefits of hosting an agency worker on site. Some businesses, however, were open to mobile clinics on site in connection with tax assistance during tax-filing season and to on-site financial education that included information about accessing benefits. Third, employers are most receptive to EITC outreach; employer initiatives often begin with the EITC. Fourth, most programs to engage employers in increasing enrollment in work supports are local or regional and benefit from relationships between employers and trusted nongovernmental organizations. Fifth, a strong and trusted champion from the coordinating organization is critical for an outreach effort to employers; the best champions are close to the business community. And sixth, some employers believe that income affects employment retention and productivity. More information on these lessons and recommendations for expanding efforts to connect employees with benefits in the workplace are available in the CLASP paper. See http://www.clasp.org/publications/employerworksupports.pdf.

CLASP cautions that efforts to connect employees with benefits in the workplace, while promising, may not be a viable strategy for substantially increasing enrollment in work supports and so should be only one part of a larger effort. Involving a broad range of employers may simply be too difficult. Employers may be unwilling to participate in connecting employees with benefits because of general caution toward government benefits or because of the stigma that might result from perceptions that they do not provide wages or benefits sufficient for their employees to cover their costs of living.

“Getting Connected: Employer Engagement in Work Supports” is the first policy paper to be released in CLASP’s Workforce Development Series.

For more information, contact John Bouman.