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Subscribe to "Policy Matters," the monthly newsletter from CCLP and COFPI. Just click "Subscribe to Email" at the top right hand corner of this page, and get updates, action alerts, issue briefings and more!
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Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute - Self-Sufficiency
The Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute (COFPI), a permanent project of the CCLP, leads the state in quality research on poverty and income in Colorado through its work on family self-sufficiency. As a primary resource to media and other advocates, COFPI uses this aspect of its work to demonstrate the importance of a healthy public sector, working together with the private and nonprofit sectors in helping families move out of poverty.
The Self-Sufficiency Standard Project began in 1999, when the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute and its community partners recognized that Colorado needed a more realistic measure of income adequacy than the outdated federal poverty measure.To that end:
- COFPI published the state’s first Family Needs Budget in 2000 which documented the amount of money necessary for working families to make ends meet in each region of Colorado.
- In 2002, we worked with our national partner, the Wider Opportunities for Women to publish an expanded version, The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Colorado: A Family Needs Budget. The report documented the cost of living in all 63 Colorado counties for 70 different family types. This report was updated in 2004.
- Working with Dr. Diana Pearce of the University of Washington, COFPI will publish the state’s first demographic study of the families living below the self-sufficiency standard level in all Colorado counties (2006-07).
- COFPI organized key stakeholders and a collaboration of local Colorado funders to support a three-year project to develop and launch an online self-sufficiency benefits calculator. The calculator is in the final stages of development and will be available to anyone with access to the internet by early 2007.
- COFPI leads a permanent coalition of community organizations, educators and others from across the state working to promote the use of the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Colorado.
The Standard is now used in Colorado by labor unions negotiating contracts, workforce development centers counseling workers, community colleges and high schools advising students, nonprofit organizations and county departments of human services helping women plan transitions from welfare to work, state and local governments in both researching family well-being and in determining eligibility and scope of assistance in some cases, clinics determining patient co-pays and by many other organizations helping Coloradans strive for and achieve greater self-sufficiency.
Together we are redefining what it means to be economically secure in our state.
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FACT SHEET: HB 1387 and Energy Assistance for Low-income Families
April 30, 2008
HB 1387 generates funding for low-income energy assistance through the surplus in the operating account of the severance tax trust fund. The assistance supports both short-term cash assistance programs and long-term energy efficiency programs. The bill provides $7.5 million in cash assistance and $7.5 million in long-term energy efficiency per year to low-income Colorado households.
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REPORT: The 2008 Colorado Self-Sufficiency Standard - A Family Needs Budget
March 19, 2008
Do you know how much food prices in Colorado have increased in the last three years? What about health care costs? What's the highest everyday cost for an average family in Colorado—transportation? Health care? Child care? Housing?
Find out the answers to these questions and more from the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute\'s (COFPI)new report, The 2008 Colorado Self-Sufficiency Study: A Family Needs Budget.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The 2008 Colorado Self-Sufficiency Standard - A Family Needs Budget
March 19, 2008
More and more families are finding that they are unable to stretch their wages to meet these rising costs for basic yet vital necessities. It begs the question, what is an adequate income? And how does that standard vary among different families and communities in Colorado? This report addresses this fundamental question. What does it take to make ends meet?
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Colorado Self Sufficiency Standard Tables
January 07, 2008
The 2007 tables for the Colorado Self Sufficiency Standard.
Be sure to also check out the interactive tool at www.coloradoselfsufficiencystandardcalculator.org.
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Colorado Poverty and Income Statistics 2006
August 28, 2007
In its annual release of poverty and income statistics known as Poverty Day, the U.S. Census Bureau today released national and state by state data on overall, family, and child poverty, as well as median household income. Data comes from two survey instruments used by the Census, the Community Population Survey (CPS) and the American Community Survey (ACS). See the below tables for more detail, or go to www.census.gov for more information.
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Delta Daily Writer Article: Delta hosts forum to battle poverty issues
July 20, 2007
Poverty is no stranger to many towns and cities in Colorado, including Delta and Montrose.
Alarming statistics and persisting problems have prompted nine non-profit organizations, different in name but with a similar goal, to find ways to help those who struggle financially.
The Paycheck Away Project, a statewide initiative aimed at battling poverty, which almost always leads to homelessness, hunger and lack of proper health care, jump-started its first meeting in Delta Thursday evening.
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Food for thought: Can you eat on $3 a day?
June 04, 2007
The Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute (COFPI) and the Colorado Anti-Hunger Network (CAN) are challenging all Coloradans to join the Mayor Hickenlooper, state legislators, local officials, and public personalities in the 2007 Food Stamp Challenge. The challenge consists of eating on a food stamp budget for one week, beginning on National Hunger Awareness Day, Tuesday, June 5th.
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Op-Ed: The numbers do not lie, Colorado families are struggling financially
May 27, 2007
Kathy White penned this op-ed for the May 27th Denver Post. The column highlights the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute\'s latest report about how many Colorado families struggle to make ends meet.
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Alamosa Valley Courier Op-Ed: The Farm Bill is about more than farming
May 23, 2007
This Alamosa Valley Courier op-ed stresses the importance of the Food Stamp Program, which is part of the Farm Bill legislation being considered in Congress. More than 251,000 Coloradans rely on food stamps for basic nutrition. Food stamps also have a significant economic impact, as every $5 of food stamps spent will generate $9 in economic activity in your local grocery stores.
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What\'s Not In Your Wallet: The Colorado EITC (House Districts)
May 23, 2007
A breakdown of how much local communities lose out each year the state EITC is suspended. Breakdown by Colorado State House district.
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What\'s Not in Your Wallet: The Colorado EITC By Senate District
May 23, 2007
A breakdown of how much each Colorado Senate district loses in economic activity each year the state EITC is suspended.
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THE GREAT DRAIN GAME: The EITC, Refund Anticipation Loans and How Coloradans Get Hurt at Tax Time
May 23, 2007
For thousands of Coloradans tax time brings a much needed boost in the form of an Earned Income Tax Credit. However, because of refund anticipation loans (RALs)Colorado taxpayers and communities are losing millions of dollars every year in EITC benefits.
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The Earned Income Tax Credit: Helping Striving Families Become Thriving Families
May 21, 2007
An overview of the importance of the earned income tax credit for working families and the need for a state EITC. Fact sheet includes the economic impact of the state EITC for all 64 Colorado counties.
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Denver Post Editorial: Between a rock and welfare
May 17, 2007
Denver Post editorial touts new study from Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute
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Denver Business Journal Op-Ed: Businesses Can Help Struggling Families
May 11, 2007
This op-ed, authored by a Mile High United Way board member, highlights the new report from the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute and outlines how businesses can help families that struggle to make ends meet.
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Executive Summary: Overlooked and Undercounted: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Colorado
May 10, 2007
The groundbreaking report is Colorado\'s first demographic study of the number of families that live below the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Colorado. Comparing Census data to the Self Sufficiency Standard for Colorado, this report takes a detailed look at how many families work hard, but don\'t earn enough to meet their basic needs, where these families live, what they look like, their occupations, levels of education and work efforts.
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Spanish Executive Summary; Overlooked and Undercounted
May 10, 2007
The groundbreaking report is Colorado\'s first demographic study of the number of families that live below the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Colorado. Comparing Census data to the Self Sufficiency Standard for Colorado, this report takes a detailed look at how many families work hard, but don\'t earn enough to meet their basic needs, where these families live, what they look like, their occupations, levels of education and work efforts.
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Tax Credits for Working Families
April 04, 2005
A concise grid that outlines the federal and state tax credits that help working families. Includes information about the earned income tax credit and child care credits.
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Self-sufficiency Standard for Colorado 2004
March 15, 2004
Most researchers today will agree that the Federal Poverty Level is an outdated measure of family well-being. The Self-sufficiency measure for Colorado calculates the real costs of living and working in our state.
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