Juvenile detention – the short-term involuntary holding of juveniles – is often the gateway to longer-term incarceration. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI), the appropriate purpose of detention is to ensure that youth appear for court hearings and do not re-offend while awaiting their adjudication hearing. However, in practice, […]
This issue brief: • addresses the role that detention plays in handling youth brought before the court and the potential harm done by the inappropriate use of this intervention, • illustrates the lack of ample and consistent information on the situations leading to the use of detention, and • offers recommendations about how to decrease […]
ARKids First and Medicaid provided health coverage for even more children as poverty levels in Arkansas continued to rise while the state recovered from the recession. This affordable coverage ensured that Arkansas’s percentage of uninsured children continued to trend downward, helping families stay healthy and economically secure. Most Americans believe — incorrectly — that the […]
A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows Arkansas has a lot of ground to cover to ensure that all kids – especially children of color – are positioned to thrive. Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children, shows how children are progressing on key issues across racial and ethnic groups […]
Our latest infographics on Arkansas’s upside-down tax system and income inequality.
The political environment in Arkansas is changing. As talk of tax cuts and cut-backs rise above the din, making a strong argument for investments in our state’s children and families is more important than ever. With that in mind, AACF developed a new strategic plan in 2013 that will guide us over the next four […]
The 89th General Assembly faces a clear choice this year: deny coverage to more than 250,000 Arkansans who qualify for Medicaid services or allow all Arkansans access to coverage they deserve. Right now, the only way working Arkansans qualify for Medicaid is if they are very low-income parents or disabled workers. The only exception is […]
The gap between the rich and poor in Arkansas is growing, and it is hurting all of us. Increasing inequality in Arkansas holds back economic growth, damages the democratic process, and keeps many low income and minority families stuck in poverty. But it can be fixed. Arkansas will be a stronger state if we correct […]
What is the Private Option? A new kind of affordable, private health coverage for up to 250,000 Arkansans who lack health insurance. A market-based, fiscally responsible model of covering low-income adults. A law passed by a bipartisan supermajority of Arkansas legislators in 2013. The best way to give Arkansans the economic security of health coverage […]
Arkansas’s Current Minimum Wage Is Inadequate A fair and adequate minimum wage is critical to a strong economic system that both supports the economic well-being of workers and their families and meets the labor needs of businesses. Unfortunately, although there have been periodic increases in the federal minimum wage over the past four decades, the […]