Poverty Law News

Attorneys/Legal Services

Legal Aid Attorney Loan Repayment Act
Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has introduced S. 1167, the Legal Aid Attorney Loan Repayment Act, which would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide funding for student loan repayment for civil legal assistance attorneys. The bill would provide up to $6,000 a year in loan repayments to attorneys employed full-time in civil legal aid organizations, subject to the availability of appropriations.

Disability

Future of Disability in America
To better understand disability in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Education, and the National Institutes of Health asked the Institute of Medicine to assess the current situation and provide recommendations for improvement, which culminated in the report The Future of Disability in America. The committee reviewed the developments since two previous IOM reports on disability, analyzed a number of shortcomings in the nation’s disability policies and programs, and raised serious questions about how individuals and society will cope with the challenges of disability. This report concludes that immediate action is essential for the nation to avoid harm and to help people with disabilities lead independent and productive lives. The book is available for purchase or for download in PDF format.

Food Programs

Food Stamp Participation Dips in January 2007
In January 2007, food stamp participation at 26,364,153 persons dipped over the month by 23,859 people. The Food Research and Action Center reports that the overall caseload for January 2007 was nearly 150,000 persons lower than the prior January, when some 2005 Gulf Coast hurricane victims received disaster food stamp benefits.

Health

Modeling a Medicare Beneficiary Complaint Process for Quality of Care
The Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., convened a working conference in January 2007 that designed a model for resolving Medicare beneficiaries’ complaints about quality of care. Sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund, with assistance from AARP, the conference provided a forum for key stakeholders to discuss concerns and develop a blueprint for change. Documents from the conference and other background information are now available on the Center's website.

Financing State Health Reform Plans
The Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices will sponsor a live webcast on May 3, 2007, on options for financing state health reform plans, including the use of existing Medicaid state disproportionate share hospital payments or other funds to convert to private coverage for the uninsured. The panelists will also examine issues in defining "standard" benefits and the implications for the affordability and adequacy of coverage.

Medicaid Long-Term Care
The Government Accountability Office has published "Medicaid Long-Term Care: Few Transferred Assets Before Applying for Nursing Home Coverage; Impact of Deficit Reduction Act on Eligibility Is Uncertain."

Housing

Ohio Tries to Fend Off Foreclosures
Ohio, which leads the nation in highest foreclosure rates on home loans, is in the forefront of states’ efforts to help homeowners whose once-affordable mortgage payments are now busting family bank accounts. This article in Stateline.org describes Ohio's effort, as well as similar activity in other states.

Welfare

Strategies and Options for Eliminating State Asset Limits
Most states impose limits on the assets that an applicant for or recipient of public benefits may possess and still be eligible. Awareness is growing that such eligibility criteria are counterproductive. As a follow up to Reforming State Rules on Asset Limits: How to Remove Barriers to Saving and Asset Accumulation in Public Benefits Programs, published in the March-April 2007 issue of Clearinghouse Review, the Shriver Center will sponsor a conference call on May 23, 2007, on strategies and options for eliminating state asset limits. Speakers will include Dory Rand, Supervising Attorney of the Shriver Center's Community Investment Unit; Stacy Dean, Director of Food Assistance Policy from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; and a representative from the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services. For more information or to RSVP, contact Meg Dunne at 312.263.3830 x 246.

Measuring Poverty
Most measures of poverty focus narrowly on income rather than including other aspects of economic status, such as assets or debt. This fact sheet from the National Center on Children and Poverty discusses how the United States measures poverty, why the current measure is inadequate, and what alternative ways exist to measure economic hardship.

From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half
Last year, the Center for American Progress convened a diverse group of national experts and leaders to examine the causes and consequences of poverty in America and make recommendations for national action. In this report, the Center's task force on poverty calls for a national goal of cutting poverty in half in the next 10 years and proposes a strategy to reach the goal.

Poverty Law News
April 27, 2007