CSJ Wins campaign to lift the cap on kids!

 We were excited to participate in a campaign in 2018 to win important gains for very low-income families receiving welfare cash benefits. CSJ helped to promote legislation to lift the welfare family cap that denies welfare benefits to children conceived while or soon after the family received assistance. Refusing a $100 grant per child as well as a $300 clothing allowance causes severe hardship for 8,700 desperately poor families in our state.

Partly because of CSJ’s efforts, Lift the Cap legislation was passed by the legislature in April 2019!

This victory helps improve the financial position of single-mother families living in the deepest level of poverty. It reverses a punitive law passed during welfare reform during the mid 1990s. The addition $100 a month makes the difference for struggling families to afford warm clothes, diapers, and basic necessities.

“Lifting the Cap on Kids will make a critical difference in the lives of 8,700 of the lowest income children in Massachusetts,” Deborah Harris of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute said. “With today’s vote, Massachusetts has affirmed the dignity and humanity of every child.”

Read the full article on the Southcoast Today.

Thank you to the volunteers who turned out for events, helped to raise awareness on the issue, and were part of making this a successful priority for the Coalition for Social Justice!