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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

May 6 – 10, 2019

The proposal could result in cuts in federal aid to millions of low-income Americans.

 

The possible change involves a different inflation measure to adjust the poverty threshold annually. Anti-poverty groups worry that many low-income people would be pushed off assistance programs.

 

The Trump administration has taken a step toward changing the way the poverty threshold is calculated, a move that could strip many low-income Americans of their federal benefits.

 

African-American, Native American and Alaska Native women are about three times more likely to die from causes related to pregnancy, compared to white women in the United States.

 

Black women in the U.S. are about three times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause as others.

 

For years in prison, Kristan Kerr looked forward to one thing every month: a visit from her daughter. “I just watched her grow all the way up,” she says.

 

The public defender wants to end bail without using a controversial risk-assessment tool. Many defendants would not even be arrested, instead receiving a summons; the rest would receive individualized detention hearings.

 

Under a reform bill, anyone arrested for a crime who is able to pay their bail would be permitted to post it and get out of jail. Those unable to pay, however, would have to see a judge within 48 hours of their arrest to limit pre-conviction jail time.

 

The data shows that the average bond amount fell from $5,000 to $1,000, while the percentage of inmates picking up new charges while on bond dropped.

 

WASHINGTON – The Department of Housing and Urban Development acknowledged that a Trump administration plan to purge undocumented immigrants from public housing could displace more than 55,000 children, all of whom are legal U.S. residents or citizens.

 

About 110,000 low-to median-income students will qualify for help each year, including adults who never got a degree and want to go to school. There will be no more financial-aid wait lists.

 

State law already prohibits school districts from withholding diplomas for nonpayment of fees. Legal Aid attorneys believe that should include school lunch debt.

 

The superintendent of the Warwick Public School District said the school committee would vote next week on a proposal to reverse the policy.