How can we change hiring practices and policies to remove barriers to employment?

Most people believe that having a job is a means for people to get out of poverty.  The Anti-Poverty Task Force has learned that people living in poverty experience multiple barriers to obtaining long-term employment. For example, people who experience food insecurity and lack stable housing may be mentally and physically exhausted, which can prevent them from completing a job training program.  If they are able to complete a job training program, they may lack reliable transportation to search for and interview for jobs.  If they are able to get a job, they may not have enough money at the end of the month to pay for child care.  Thus, they have to miss work to care for their children, which puts them at risk for losing their job.  If they lose their job, the cycle of poverty continues.

At the ISAAC Public Meeting on October 25, the Anti-Poverty Task Force will provide information on how local employers and job training organizations can change hiring practices and policies to remove these barriers to employment for people in poverty.

– Dr. Regena Nelson & Nicholas Baxter, Anti-Poverty Task Force co-chairs