1. Parts of Paper
1.1. Abstract
1.2. Problem Description
1.3. An analysis section
1.4. Two policy recommendations
1.5. A conclusion
1.6. Citations
2. Poverty in Pittsburgh
2.1. According to the U.S. Census, 13 percent of Allegheny County residents live below the poverty level
2.1.1. Poverty in Our Region | The Pittsburgh Foundation
2.2. We also relied on other research indicating that single women raising children and youth ages 12 to 24 are among the groups in our region at greatest risk of poverty.
2.2.1. In Allegheny County, about 72 percent of families living below the poverty line are headed by single women raising children.
2.2.1.1. Single Women Raising Children | The Pittsburgh Foundation
2.2.1.2. https://pittsburghfoundation.org/sites/default/files/Single%20Women%20Report%202019%20-%20The%20Pittsburgh%20Foundation.pdf
2.3. Recommendations
2.3.1. Co-locating services and expanding operating hours, offering more access to affordable child care, and considering ways to improve transportation access especially outside of the city of Pittsburgh.
2.3.2. Supporting the development of practical skills and providing pathways out of poverty, including financial education; eliminating the benefits cliff in favor of grace periods that allow single mothers to keep housing, child care and health care assistance programs in place when workplace advancement increases pay; and increasing wages and access to cash assistance.
2.3.3. Organizing more programs that promote the social and emotional well-being of single mothers. This would include more respite services and expansion of emergency child care for unplanned work schedule changes or family crises.
2.3.4. Eliminating the presence of stigma in the delivery of services. This would include employing social service workers who can relate to the experiences of single mothers, training for staff in direct contact with single mothers, and including single mothers in the design of programs intended to serve them.
2.3.5. Providing opportunities to participate in advocacy and systems change efforts by offering child care and transportation and asking single mothers to serve on community and parental advisory boards to help devise policies that affect families.
2.4. https://pittsburghfoundation.org/sites/default/files/2016-09/Poverty%20and%20Income%20Insecurity%20In%20Pgh%20Metro%205-18-16_0.pdf
2.4.1. Pittsburgh region’s African American poverty rate has been roughly 30 percent
2.4.2. Since 2000, the number of poor female-headedhouseholds in the Pittsburgh region rose by nearly 15 percent.
2.4.3. . Nearly one in three African Americans is poor—the highest rate for any racial-ethnic group in the Pittsburgh region. In fact, African Americans make up almost 80 percent of the region’s poverty population.
3. Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC — Connecting Research to Advocacy - Poverty & Race Research Action Council
3.1. Mr. Phillip Tegeler, President and Executive Director of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council
3.1.1. technical assistance work with the “Mobility Works” technical assistance group
3.1.2. specializing in fair housing and educational equity policy and litigation.
3.1.3. Publications
3.1.3.1. “Coordinated Action on School and Housing Integration: The Role of State Government,” University of Richmond Law Review (2019) (co-author);
3.1.3.2. “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing and the Inclusive Communities Project Case: Bringing the Fair Housing Act into the 21st Century,” in Metzger et al, Facing Segregation: Housing Policy Solutions for a Stronger Society (Oxford University Press, 2018)
3.1.3.3. “Disrupting the reciprocal relationship between housing and school segregation,” in A Shared Future: Fostering Communities of Inclusion in an Era of Inequality (Joint Center for Housing Studies, 2018) (co-author
3.1.3.4. “Predicting School Diversity Impacts of State and Local Education Policy: The Role of Title VI,” in Frankenberg et al, School Integration Matters: Research-Based Strategies to Advance Equity (Teachers College Press, 2016
3.1.3.5. “The ‘Compelling Government Interest’ in School Diversity: Rebuilding the Case for an Affirmative Government Role,” in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform (2014)