Name change reflects broader agenda for CCLP's Family Economic Security Program
The Colorado Center on Law and Policy, a leading voice for the state's low-income residents, today announces a new name for one of its core programs promoting justice and economic security for all Coloradans. The agency has re-named its Economic Self-Sufficiency Program the Family Economic Security Program.
"We've always defined 'economic self-sufficiency' as the ability for a family to make ends meet without help from the government or charity," said Program Manager Tracey Stewart. "Encouraging economic self-sufficiency is an important policy goal, and we'll continue to pursue it. But self-sufficiency is just one point along a continuum. The ultimate goal for most Coloradans is 'economic security,' which means having the resources to weather unexpected challenges such as illness and meet life's basic needs even into retirement."
The Family Economic Security Program seeks to reduce the number of Coloradans living in poverty by promoting economic security through the following strategies:
- Monitoring policies and programs that improve access to resources that give every Coloradan the opportunity to work toward economic stability and security.
- Educating state leaders and communities on the importance of helping Coloradans on the road to economic self-sufficiency through the use of critical tools and resources.
- Providing research to inform Colorado businesses, governments and communities on the progress Colorado is making in its poverty reduction efforts.
The Family Economic Security Program continues as the publisher of the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Colorado, a measurement of the income required to make ends meet in each of the state's 64 counties. An update to the Self-Sufficiency Standard will be released later this year. In addition, the Family Economic Security Program will produce supplements to the Self-Sufficiency Standard including an Elder Index and a Refugee Index, which account for unique factors confronting those groups.
The Colorado Center on Law and Policy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and advocacy organization seeking justice and economic security for all Coloradans. Its other core efforts include the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, a Health Care Program and strategic litigation aimed at protecting and enhancing the rights of the state's low-income residents.
Media contacts:
Perry Swanson, communications director
303-573-5669, ext. 306
Tracey Stewart, program manager
303-573-5669, ext. 314
Released Feb. 16, 2011