On This Labor Day: The Failed Southern Economic Development Model
The majority of Southern States have poverty rates higher than the national average.
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Issue Brief: Medicaid Matters on Labor Day
Arkansas’s Medicaid program helps keep our state’s labor force healthy. Having insurance protects part-time workers, caregivers, and lower-income families from financial hardship and provides peace of mind to many across the state. With insurance coverage, people can address health...
Arkansas Ruling Makes Registering to Vote Less Accessible
The Arkansas Legislative Council just approved a new permanent rule that bans everyone, except for a few government agencies, from using electronic signatures on voter registration forms.
IRS Direct File Would Save Arkansans More Than $150 Million a Year
The State should partner with IRS Direct File to benefit Arkansans. Last year the Internal Revenue Service piloted its Direct File program, a free online system for filing federal tax returns. The IRS kept the pilot program purposefully small,...
Families Need to Move Quickly to Avoid Losing Out on Summer EBT Benefits
Arkansas is one of 35 states that agreed to participate in a new federal program this year designed to combat childhood hunger. Summer EBT (electronic benefits transfer) is designed to reach low-income families. Those children who receive SNAP or...
Undocumented Immigrants Contribute Nearly $200 Million in Arkansas Taxes a Year
In Arkansas, undocumented immigrants contributed $188 million in state and local taxes in 2022, a number that would rise to $223 million if these taxpayers were granted work authorization.
Lost in Transition: Maya’s Story Highlights the Impact of Medicaid Barriers on Postpartum Care in Arkansas
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families is collecting stories from people who are insured through ARHOME, one of Arkansas’s Medicaid programs. Data points and numbers are important because they help us understand the impact, but at the end of...
Sexual Health Education in Arkansas
A Blueprint for the Future DOWNLOAD THIS PUBLICATION If Arkansas is to reduce poverty and increase opportunity for its children and families, we must reduce the state’s teen birth rate. To do that, we have to change what we’re...
2024 June Special Session Recap
The Arkansas General Assembly quickly convened in a special session the week of June 17 to vote on the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission budget, another round of tax cuts, and their stances on proposed ballot measures. At Arkansas Advocates for Children...
AACF Testimony on June 2024 Special Session Tax Cuts
Hello, I am Keesa Smith-Brantley, Executive Director at Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. Each year, with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, we release the KIDS COUNT Databook which is a 50-state ranking of childhood wellbeing looking at four...