ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Despite steep federal funding cuts, legal services for the poor are protected in Maryland - for now. In the final hours of the 2013 session, the Maryland General Assembly is acting to soften the blow of federal budget reductions to the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau, which have topped $1 million over the past two years. The Maryland House and Senate are extending state-level funding sources for the bureau, including a civil court filing-fee surcharge that was set to expire this year.
According to Legal Aid executive director Wilhelm Joseph, the consequences would have been severe if the funding had disappeared.
"People are desperate for help," Joseph said. "When they come to us, they expect us to say, 'Yes, I can take your matter.'"
He said federal and state-level cuts have forced offices to close and workers to be furloughed in other legal aid bureaus across the country.
Reductions in free civil legal aid affects whether people can stay in their houses, get the public assistance they need, or escape domestic abuse, the Legal Aid chief said.
"They reduce our capacity to respond to those people. They create more social havoc."
Joseph remarked that it's anybody's guess whether there will be more federal cuts in the months ahead.
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Arkansas is taking critical steps to address its high maternal mortality rate, especially among women of color.
In the Natural State, Black women are three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than are white women.
Angela Duran, executive director with Excel by Eight, partners with families and communities to improve health and education outcomes for children up to age eight.
She said that as a result of focus groups and surveys, her organization has developed a new policy agenda that prioritizes maternal health.
"We are looking at is making sure that women have the right health insurance to cover them from prenatal to birth to postpartum," said Duran. "We have met some amazing doulas in the state of Arkansas, who have been very supportive to women, particularly some African American doulas, and been working with Black women around the state."
Duran said Arkansas now offers insurance to women up to 138% of the federal poverty level as a result of the Medicaid expansion.
She added that women at higher incomes can also access health insurance with low or no premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
Duran commended Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' signing the executive order to address maternal mortality and increase access to doulas and various forms of health insurance.
Arkansas has a maternal mortality rate of approximately 44 deaths per 100-thousand live births.
Duran said her group's policy objective centers on examining populations that face disenfranchisement from systems for various reasons, hindering their ability to navigate existing structures effectively.
"In addition to maternal health, knowing that it has a stronger impact on Black women, we look at ALICE families - which stands for Asset-Limited Income Constrained and Employed," said Duran. "So, it's people that are working, doing the right thing, and still don't have enough income to meet their basic expenses."
Duran added that a prenatal care model called Centering Pregnancy helps to improves outcomes for Black and white women.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is launching a mobile version to reach underserved communities. It creates support groups for expectant mothers at similar stages.
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Supporters of a federal pilot program to distribute diapers to low-income families in Massachusetts hope to build upon its success.
More than 1 million diapers, along with wipes and other needed supplies have helped some 1,600 families over the past several months.
Adriana Leo, director of planning and grants management for Community Action Inc. in Haverhill, said the program gives parents with limited budgets a chance to get ahead.
"If a family knows that they have the diaper supply to send their child to care, they also know that they can then go to work, to their school programs," Leo explained. "They're going to be covered and their child's going to be comfortable."
Leo noted enrolled families have received 100 diapers each month, giving them the financial flexibility to cover other basic needs. More than one-third of Massachusetts families said they cannot afford enough diapers for their children.
The Massachusetts Association for Community Action, a coalition of more than 20 community action agencies in the state, was awarded more than 1 million dollars in federal aid to distribute diapers via four hubs across the state and Western Connecticut.
Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, is sponsoring legislation to create a state fund to keep up the effort, and has held diaper drives at the statehouse to build support.
"The biggest awareness building activity you can do is to hold a diaper drive and have people who haven't experienced the high cost of diapers recently go to the store and see how much they are," Domb asserted.
Domb pointed out diaper distribution is just one strategy to help families make ends meet, in addition to direct cash payments. She noted WIC and SNAP funds cannot be used for diaper purchases. The bill has already advanced to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Mary Marte, housing program director for North Shore Community Action Programs, said it is encouraging news, as parents have reported the challenge of paying rent and going without diapers at the end of the month.
"The clients and the families that we work with, they cannot afford to pay $3,000 rent in the north shore," Marte emphasized. "I think that people really appreciate the help."
Marte added she thinks of a young mother and her one-year-old daughter who have benefited from the diaper distribution program, who told Marte the diapers have brought her a sense of security as she attends college and the confidence to keep going.
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Student-loan borrowers in Mississippi and nationwide could have their debt reduced or eliminated through a new one-time adjustment by the U.S. Department of Education.
This summer, the Department will gives you credit towards loan cancellation through this adjustment if your loan is federally managed.
Cora Hume is an attorney with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and said this adjustment is designed to count more of the payments made - so they can be added to the payments required for cancellation.
The adjustment counts your loan payments made after July 1, 1994 - and in some situations your deferments, economic hardship allowances, and forbearances.
"Historically, borrowers of all ages have struggled to access this Income Driven Repayment benefit," said Hume. "It's really important that they do because it can lower their monthly payments based on their income and family size. This April 30 deadline applies to some loans."
In Mississippi, 145,000 borrowers aged 25 to 34 owe an average of more than $31,000.
Hume said those with nonfederal loans need to consolidate them into a direct consolidation loan with the U.S. Department of Education by the end of April to potentially benefit from this adjustment.
Hume emphasized that student loan debt does not discriminate, and their data shows that 2.7 million older borrowers owed an average of $41,000 in federal student loans in 2023.
She said between 2004 and 2022 there was a nine-fold increase in the number of older borrowers with student loan debt.
"Thirty-two percent of these older borrowers are struggling to pay their bills," said Hume. "In terms of this adjustment, we know that 62-plus borrowers are more likely to need consolidation to maximize the benefit of this one-time pay count adjustments. "
Hume pointed out that more than one million senior citizens are not in the direct-loan program and hold an average of more than $29,000 in debt from their college days.
She encouraged borrowers to visit StudentAid.gov/loan-consolidation to find out if they are eligible for the significant adjustment.
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