Economic Opportunity

Federal Policy Proposals Present Promising Measures to Increase Equity

In federal legislative proposals last week, such as the HEROES Act, House members presented many of the supports needed by low-income individuals and families to move out of this public health and economic crisis. This is really the first time since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic that we have seen proposed policy solutions from Congress that are more holistic and grounded in human rights.

As companion legislation is being considered and proposals are being debated, we urge the Senate to prioritize the following:

  • Clarifying that all people regardless of immigration status can get COVID-19 treatment through emergency Medicaid;
  • Continuing to provide cash support to people, including to those who were not included in the first-round of stimulus payments, such as immigrant families and adult dependents;
  • Increasing funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and extending maximum benefits, while suspending harmful administrative rules that would terminate or decrease food assistance, to reduce hunger and provide economic stimulus;
  • Providing significant investments in homelessness prevention and housing services and programs;
  • Implementing a moratorium on evictions, repossessions, foreclosures, debt collection, and utility disconnections, and adding consumer protections for debt repayment;
  • Investing in phone and Internet infrastructure for families who cannot afford it;
  • Addressing gaps that left tens of millions of workers, especially women and workers of color, without guaranteed emergency sick and paid leave; and
  • Providing states and localities with funding to support correctional facility releases, including pre-trial, and resources for reentry programming and housing.

The next round of federal stimulus and recovery measures should also emphasize the following in order to lay a strong policy foundation for true recovery:

  1. Provide targeted investments and implementation in communities of color, as they are the communities that have been most impacted by COVID-19;
  2. Provide for ongoing cash supports for the duration of this crisis;
  3. Ensure the duration of proposed relief measures are based on public health and labor market indicators rather than arbitrary future dates; and
  4. Include deep investments in workforce development as a key strategy for our economic recovery.

Additionally, we know that housing stability, access to employment, and economic opportunity are inextricably linked, and are key to exiting poverty. Many of the current federal proposals address emergency issues related to family finances, housing, and healthcare, but without simultaneous investments in robust and equitable jobs programs, we are not giving individuals and families the tools they need to recover.

There is still much work to do to heal our city, state, and nation, but by continuing to advocate for equitable systems change focused on health and well-being, economic opportunity, and safety and justice, we can reduce inequities and help build a bright future that includes everyone.

Financial Literacy Month: Moving Forward in the Face of COVID-19

“This work is now even more important than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of Chicagoans and millions of people across America will need assistance with their financial recovery and financial stability.”

– Barbara Martinez, manager Heartland Alliance’s Asset Building program.

The repercussions of COVID-19 have created more than just a public health crisis. With tens of millions losing their jobs in a matter of months and entire economic systems changing in the blink of an eye, the financial impact on working families has already forced many to make hard economic decisions.

The financial coaches, teachers, and social workers within Heartland Alliance’s Asset Building team have faced economic crises before. Through in-depth trainings and long-term financial coaching, our Asset Building and Family Self Sufficiency programs have helped hundreds of individuals and families address unique financial challenges, adapt to varied circumstances, and achieve financial goals – even in the face of recessions and economic slowdowns.

But this new crisis is different. With social-distancing measures and stay-at-home orders changing the way people interact and connect, our teams have had to adapt – and fast. With the combination of both physical and financial health problems arising at the same time, our teams continue to adapt and provide new ways to continue to build their assets and wealth.

In our features below, see how we are changing the way we coach, teach, and provide case management to hard-working Chicagoans – even in the face of this epidemic.

Latesha

Andres

Karen

 

National Volunteer Month 2020

Our amazing volunteers help expand the reach of Heartland Alliance into more communities than we could reach alone and contribute profoundly to the scope of services we can offer to our participants. From providing youth mentorship to pulling weeds at our urban farm, to staffing airport information kiosks and ESL classes for newly arrived refugees, our volunteers use their own personal expertise to help us make a difference in thousands of lives.

As we face new obstacles during this pandemic, we are proud to see our volunteers continue to rise to the challenge. Below, see how some of us are continuing to help build community and serve vulnerable populations during COVID-19.

Jean

Kinsey

Priyanka

Miguel

 

Virtual Panel: Second Chances in the Age of Coronavirus

Second Chances in the Age of Coronavirus: Ensuring People With Criminal Records and Their Families Aren’t Left Behind in the COVID-19 Response

Click above to watch the full panel.

Following decades of mass incarceration and overcriminalization, between 70 million and 100 million Americans, or 1 in 3, have some type of criminal record. Meanwhile, nearly half of all children in the United States now have at least one parent with a record. With nearly 9 in 10 employers and 4 in 5 landlords using background checks to screen applicants, the stigma of a criminal record can be a significant, long-lasting barrier to basic necessities such as employment and housing.

Heading into the coronavirus pandemic, formerly incarcerated people were already facing an unemployment rate of more than 27 percent—higher than any previous U.S. unemployment rate, including during the Great Depression. Formerly incarcerated people are also 10 times more likely than the general public to experience homelessness. People with criminal records and their families will likely see their already disproportionate levels of economic disadvantage multiplied by the coronavirus downturn. Unless policymakers act, they will also be among the people who fare the worst in the recovery as the economy begins to bounce back after the pandemic.

Heartland Alliance Criminal Justice Campaign Manager, Quintin Williams, joined leaders from Forward Justice, Center for American Progress, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, and R Street Institute came together for an online event on the steps we need to take now at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure that people with criminal records and their families are not left behind in the nation’s COVID-19 response.

Watch the full panel.

 

Opening remarks:
Rep. Jordan Harris, Minority Whip, Pennsylvania Assembly

Panelists:
Daryl Atkinson, co-director, Forward Justice
Sharon Dietrich, litigation director, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia
Arthur Rizer, director, criminal justice and civil liberties, R Street Institute
Quintin Williams, campaign manager, Heartland Alliance

Moderator:
Rebecca Vallas, senior fellow, Center for American Progress

Why Transitional Workforce Strategies Are Needed Now

By Melissa Young, Chris Warland, and Livia Lam

Both the public health and economic fallouts from the COVID-19 outbreak are expected to be massive. Making certain our essential workforce is protected through expanded paid leave, ensured food and housing assistance, enhanced unemployment insurance, cash payments and other targeted measures is decisively the blunt force needed for short-term countercyclical change. As the country mobilizes to beat the public health crisis, we must do even more to prepare our workforce against the economic devastation to come.

Even before the outbreak, job quality and working conditions were awful for low-wage workers. Now these workers are on the frontline of this crisis or they have been laid off as their employers are closing shop. The crisis has laid bare long-standing structural problems that have generated precarious employment conditions and job insecurity in the American labor market. The coronavirus recession only magnifies economic inequality by how women, people of color and immigrants are disproportionately impacted and why the need to strengthen protections for our workforce is urgent.

Moving forward, large-scale federal jobs programs and workforce responses that aim to change existing employment structures are necessary to counter the magnitude of growing coronavirus cases and snowballing job losses. Despite enacting targeted economic relief for small and mid-sized employers and bailouts for large corporations, post-COVID-19 unemployment is estimated to reach 30 percent or higher, and unemployment claims are already spiking to unprecedented levels. As layoffs accelerate, what’s needed is a comprehensive response. Guided by the principle that everyone who wants to work should have access to a quality job, subsidized employment is a proven workforce strategy for people looking for work. 

Looking back, the 2009 Recovery Act responded to an extraordinarily severe loss of jobs caused by the Great Recession. States were given resources to implement subsidized employment strategies quickly and cost-effectively, putting large numbers of people into jobs who would not otherwise be working. These strategies were popular with workers and employers alike. In addition, several studies of transitional jobs programs — which combine subsidized employment with training and support services and are targeted to people who face more barriers to employment — showed that chronically unemployed individuals are eager to work when their barriers to employment are addressed.

While the subsidized jobs programs made a significant impact on increasing employment during the last recession, these efforts only met a fraction of the overall need at that time. As Congress contemplates its next set of relief measures, federally funded workforce responses should be proportionally larger than what was earmarked for the last recession. These responses must also be designed to ensure equitable outcomes in employment for communities disproportionately affected by both the pandemic and the resulting economic fallout.  That means federal interventions to boost employment must aim to narrow jobs deficits while also addressing systems reforms designed to expand workforce consumer protections. 

To implement effective subsidized jobs initiatives, states need to be equipped to employ subsidized workers directly in public service and infrastructure jobs in addition to private sector employment. Additionally, any plans to beef up existing workforce programming should set aside funding for transitional jobs programs targeted to the workers most in need to help ensure that subsidized employment is available to chronically unemployed individuals who have difficulty accessing work even in a good economy.  

Specifically, these workforce response activities should include benchmark and reporting data for racial and gender equity in employment outcomes as well as incorporate a dashboard of multiple indicators to measure job quality. Policymakers should also apply guardrails to ensure that the availability of subsidized employment is not used to deny eligible people support that help them afford basics like food and medicine, or to compel people to accept subsidized employment as a condition of receiving basic support.

Perhaps surviving this economic crisis shouldn’t have demanded worker protections as an emergency response. The reality moving forward is that we need workforce responses that drive equitable access to labor markets over the long-term. Let’s not look back on this extraordinary moment as the time we turned our back on low-wage workers yet again.

Melissa Young is a senior director in the research and policy division at the Heartland Alliance. Chris Warland is an associate director for national initiatives at the Heartland Alliance. Livia Lam is a senior fellow and director of workforce development policy at the Center for American Progress.

This piece was originally published on the Morning Consult website.

Testifying for Victim Services

READI Chicago Senior Director Eddie Bocanegra gave an overview of READI Chicago amid COVID-19 to Illinois legislators and decision-makers in a virtual town hall, “What Illinois Decision Makers and Providers Need to Know About Violence Prevention and Victim Services in the COVID-19 Crisis.” The town hall, organized by the Alliance for Safety and Justice and an array of violence prevention and victim services organizations, explored how COVID-19 has impacted essential services in Illinois and how to best protect the people and communities most at risk.

In addition to Eddie, the town hall featured Rep. Kelly Cassidy, Chair of the Public Safety Appropriations Committee; Sen. Heather Steans, Chair of the Appropriations Committee II; and Jason Stamps, Executive Director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.

During his testimony, Eddie applauded Attorney General Kwame Raoul for expanding who Illinois recognizes as a crime survivor and increasing access to supports for those least likely to receive services. This is the very population that READI Chicago was designed to work with, recognizing that crime victims and perpetrators are often the same people.

“The men we serve live in environments where they are much more likely to be shot or killed,” Eddie said. “We often don’t talk about what it must be like to live as a young black or brown man in those communities—where you are 70 percent more likely to be shot than the average Chicagoan. For the men READI Chicago engages, we think about this on an individual level—when you do this, it is easier to understand why we must engage them in more intensive programming.”

Eddie urged legislators and state leaders to continue prioritizing violence prevention as a strategy that serves the state’s and city’s overall efforts to mitigate the risks of COVID-19. This includes paying particular attention to the needs of people of color who are disproportionately contracting and dying of this virus here in Chicago.

“We are seeing the strength and resilience of our participants and staff, and we are hearing how our men feel connected during this crisis,” Eddie said. “Participants are reaching out to us for support—and this says a lot given how isolated and disconnected many of these men felt before their involvement with READI Chicago.”

More ways to get involved

  • Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to stay updated on the latest developments with our work.
  • Share stories of our courageous participants and employees, and help us spread accurate information about how to keep vulnerable populations safe from COVID-19.
  • Make a gift to help employees across the Alliance provide access to critical supportive services to those who are most vulnerable. 
  • Donate homemade masks to help fight COVID-19.

We are grateful for the support and care you have for the individuals we serve, and for our employees who are on the frontlines every day. 

Reducing Violence Amid COVID-19

Despite Chicago’s shelter-in-place order, violence in our city has not decreased amid COVID-19—in fact, last week saw the most violent day of 2020 so far. As we strive to keep our participants safe from infection, we also recognize that our services remain a critical component of that safety.

We are hearing directly from the men we serve that they want to stay engaged with READI Chicago during this pandemic, and we are committed to continuing to deliver robust services to the best of our ability.

We have moved case management, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and professional development (PD) to online and remote platforms whenever possible, and outreach teams have been providing food and other essential resources to participants while practicing social distancing.

We also recognize that there are misconceptions in the communities we serve about the risk of COVID-19, even as we know that the virus will disproportionately impact the men and communities we serve. We see dispelling myths and disseminating accurate information about COVID-19 as an imperative, and we have begun activating staff and participants as credible messengers in their communities to help spread accurate and culturally competent information about the virus and how to stay safe.

We remain steadfast in our commitment to our staff, participants, partners, and communities. We have always known that READI Chicago is a public health intervention, and now we are seeing that reality through new eyes.

Hear directly from our staff and participants below about how we are relentlessly persisting through COVID-19.

Read more: Outreach

Read more: Service Delivery

Read more: Participant Impact

More ways to get involved

  • Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to stay updated on the latest developments with our work.
  • Share stories of our courageous participants and employees, and help us spread accurate information about how to keep vulnerable populations safe from COVID-19.
  • Make a gift to help employees across the Alliance provide access to critical supportive services to those who are most vulnerable. 
  • Donate homemade masks to help fight COVID-19.

We are grateful for the support and care you have for the individuals we serve, and for our employees who are on the frontlines every day. 

Thank You READI Chicago for Your Bold Approach to COVID-19

Dear READI Chicago family,

As our nation and city face uncertainty amid COVID-19, we have been continually impressed and proud of the courage and tenacity that every one of you has shown day-in and day-out. We have seen you practice relentless engagement and real talk, real hope, and real love in every one of your interactions.

Our top priority is the safety of our staff and participants, and we know that the services READI Chicago provides each and every day are a vital part of that. We have seen that violence has not decreased despite the shelter-in-place order, and it is invaluable that our staff and participants are finding new and creative ways to remain focused as we all face uncertainty.

On behalf of READI Chicago and Heartland Alliance, thanks to the READI Chicago family for stepping up, whether that’s through collaboration across communities, tuning into virtual CBT every day, or working long hours to support the program. We are immensely proud to be a part of the READI Chicago family.

Take care and stay safe,

Eddie Bocanegra
Senior Director

Miguel Cambray
Director of Career Pathways

Javon Gregoire
Deputy Director

Marci Kresin
Director of Operations

Chasda Martin
Director of Programs

More ways to get involved

  • Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to stay updated on the latest developments with our work.
  • Share stories of our courageous participants and employees, and help us spread accurate information about how to keep vulnerable populations safe from COVID-19.
  • Make a gift to help employees across the Alliance provide access to critical supportive services to those who are most vulnerable. 
  • Donate homemade masks to help fight COVID-19.

We are grateful for the support and care you have for the individuals we serve, and for our employees who are on the frontlines every day. 

Now More than Ever, We Need to Create Trauma-Informed Workplaces

By Chris Warland, Associate Director of Field Building – Research & Policy Division

The experience of trauma is prevalent in our society, and common among workers. Over 50% of women and over 60% of men in the US self-report experiencing at least one traumatic event. Trauma can take many forms, from combat to car accidents. The experience of traumatic events can have lasting effects on a person’s ability to perform well at work. People who have experienced childhood trauma, for example, have far worse employment outcomes as adults than the general population. Moreover, many of the common, usual ways in which people respond to the experience of trauma, such as withdrawal, agitation, or difficulty concentrating, can appear to employers as behavioral or attitude problems that can get workers reprimanded or fired.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is traumatizing many of us—but especially so for the people who must continue to go to work every day. Not just medical professionals and first responders, but also retail workers, delivery drivers, social service workers, and many other workers whose jobs are too important for them to stay home. Many of these workers are poorly paid, lack paid sick leave, do not receive health insurance through their employers, and are being asked to come to work every day without the kind of training, protective gear, or safety protocols that help protect workers like doctors and nurses.

Even more so today, every employer needs to respond better to the traumatic experiences of their workers, and avoid traumatizing or re-traumatizing them in the workplace. The social services field has developed principles for trauma-informed care that may also be applied to the workplace. These include a focus on safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment and choice, and a recognition of cultural and gender issues. Currently Heartland Alliance, through our initiative Onboard Chicago, is working with employer partners to develop management practices that reflect these principles.

Unfortunately, these principles are often not the kinds of things employers typically consider when setting policies for workers. How transparent are employers about the decisions they make regarding their workers? Do they make those decisions collaboratively with workers? Do they directly address the impacts of racial inequities in their employment policies? Too often the opposite is true—many workers are asked to assume risks once borne by employers, as gig workers, independent contractors, and part-time workers with unpredictable schedules, no health insurance, and no time off. Many of these workers come from communities of color that are already caught in a cycle of poverty, trauma, and community violence. Many of these same workers have suddenly been found to be essential to the functioning of our society.

For workers who must continue to report to work during the COVID-19 crisis, there are some specific things employers can do to minimize the trauma experienced by their workforce and help maintain workplaces that are as safe, healthy, and non-traumatizing as possible. These include taking measures to protect the physical safety of workers, such as offering protective equipment and disinfecting supplies, facilitating and supporting social distancing, and allowing them to perform tasks remotely whenever possible. Employers also need to hear and respond to the voices of workers who fear for their safety and request additional measures to protect themselves. They can offer hazard pay, paid sick leave, and health insurance in recognition of the risks and sacrifices these workers are making to allow the rest of us to remain safely at home. And critically, workers who experience trauma on the job during the COVID-19 crisis should have access to long-term mental health care.

Finally, it is important to understand that creating workplaces that acknowledge and respond appropriately to the trauma of workers is not purely an act of altruism. Certainly the symptoms and consequences of traumatized workers negatively affect worker performance, productivity, attendance, and health care costs. By incorporating trauma-informed management practices and employment policies, employers stand to improve their bottom lines as well. Responding effectively to the trauma experienced by workers benefits us all.

Updates from the Field re: COVID-19

 

COVID-19 has now impacted virtually every aspect of our day to day lives in America. The global pandemic is showing increased rates of infection across the US, causing the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to make drastic changes to their services. With shut downs, shortages, and closures of many Illinois institutions, we now face a crisis that most Americans have never before experienced.

At Heartland Alliance, our work will not stop. For more than 130 years, we’ve served Chicago’s most vulnerable populations – including individuals experiencing homelessness, immigrants and refugees, and those social exclusion and economic poverty. Given the barriers our participants face, they are more likely to both face exposure to and experience complications from illness.

With over 1,700 employees across 6 different countries, Heartland Alliance is working diligently to coordinate an international response that will ensure the health and wellbeing of participants and staff alike – and respond the specific needs and concerns of a wide range of programs, populations, and geographies. The sheer scope and range of our work requires that we face this pandemic head on, prepare our staff to continue to provide critical services to our participants, and prevent the spread of infection as best as possible.

Those we serve need community support now more than ever. To learn more about why our work is more important than ever, see how our different companies are responding to the pandemic:

Heartland Alliance Health

Heartland Housing

Heartland Human Care Services

Heartland Alliance International

Heartland Alliance Initiatives

More ways to get involved

  • Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to stay updated on the latest developments with our work.
  • Share stories of our courageous participants and employees, and help us spread accurate information about how to keep vulnerable populations safe from COVID-19.
  • Make a gift to help employees across the Alliance provide access to critical supportive services to those who are most vulnerable. 
  • Donate homemade masks to help fight COVID-19.

We are grateful for the support and care you have for the individuals we serve, and for our employees who are on the frontlines every day.