State legislators can create policies that will help bring families out of poverty and enable them to make strong choices about their finances. At Women In Government's 13th Annual Eastern Regional Conference, a session was featured to provide an overview of family economic success issues, as well as ideas for using data and other evidence-based policies aimed at assisting working families. Arlene Lee, the Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), spoke to legislators about her work. She is responsible for directing the public policy work, which helps federal and state elected officials develop policies, funding, and practice to help assure better results for children and families. In this capacity, she oversees PolicyforResults.org, a leading national resource for result-based policy and funding strategies. As a result of her work on children and family issues, Ms. Lee was named one of Maryland's Top 100 Women and has received three Governor’s Citations. Her presentation included information on how kids make progress, and what legislators can do to improve the quality of education in their states. Children’s successes often lie in the support of his or hers family. Pay day loans are majorly important, because they provide loans at massive rates that prevent families from reaching financial success. There is a tremendous amount of research, one example in Florida has cut out all the variables, and determined exactly what works, and what does not. First and foremost policy makers must protect those that are the most vulnerable in their state. Be aware of statistics in your state- how many teen pregnancies occur in your state. Since 2007, the amount of people using food stamps has since doubled, reaching about 40 million people. Short term resources for families that have fallen into hard times and unemployment actually can act as economic stimuli in communities. For more information, please see Ms. Lee’s presentation here.
