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    Anti-Poverty Initiative

    Collaborate to Advocate: Lawyers and Communities Working to End Poverty

    About

    View the one-pager.

    Nearly 50 million Americans now live below the federal poverty line. Recent societal, economic and political events have given rise to unprecedented public awareness of historic levels of income inequality, numbers of children living in poverty and disparate treatment and impacts of the law and justice systems on populations that face other barriers and obstacles to justice, such as disability, limited English proficiency, and other factors. Through this initiative, the Commission is identifying, promoting and implementing best practices for eliminating legal and justice system-related policies, practices and procedures that perpetuate or worsen the harmful effects of poverty on individuals, families and households, including barriers to individual and community well-being, personal and physical safety, food security, health care, education, employment at a living wage, safe, stable and affordable housing, meaningful political participation and access to justice.

    Past Events

    Learn more here.

    Resources

    If you have an article, program and/or resource you think we should add to our growing collection, please email us at [email protected].

    Rental Assistance Resources, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

    Report: Designing for Housing Stability: Best Practices for Court-Based and Court-Adjacent Eviction Prevention and/or Diversion Programs , American Bar Association and Harvard University

    Eviction Diversion Diagnostic Tool, National Center for State Courts

    The Criminalization of Poverty (February, 2019)

    Toolkit

    Toolkit for Communities Seeking to Develop and Operationalize Local Anti-Poverty Agendas: A Blueprint for Action

    Anti-Poverty Toolkit

    Tips on Legislative Advocacy

    Blueprints for Action:

    1. Substandard and unaffordable housing and homelessness

    2. Disproportionate involvement in criminal and civil justice systems

    3. Food inadequacy

    4. Inadequate healthcare and poor health outcomes

    5. Inadequate education outcomes

    6. Lack of opportunity for full employment at a living wage

    7. Living through an unending and continuous cycle of crises

    8. Lack of personal and physical safety

    9. Stigma and lack of personal dignity

    10. Isolation from community and political infrastructure

    Combatting Poverty and Decriminalizing Homelessness Through a Race Equity Lens

    Resources
     

    Anti-Poverty Quilt

    Building an (Online) Anti-Poverty Movement…One Stitch at a Time: An Anti-Poverty Quilt 

    When all members of society come together to address an issue in their community, the process is similar to assembling a quilt—with many voices, differing perspectives, unique expertise, but one common goal.

    View the quilt HERE and stay tuned and check back in as we update our Anti-Poverty Quilt.

    Policy

    The Commission on Homelessness and Poverty has sponsored and cosponsored several ABA policies related to poverty. Recent ABA Policy:

    See the full list of policies supported by the Commission and adopted by the ABA House of Delegates.

    For a more detailed list of ABA policies related to the initiative, see the list of ABA Policies Organized by the Manifestations of Poverty