Benefit Cliff Resources
Bridge to Benefits | Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota
Bridge to Benefits is a Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota project to improve the well-being of families and individuals by linking them to public work support programs and tax credits.
Landscape of benefit cliff tools | Olmsted County
National Center for Children in Poverty undertook a landscape review of benefit calculators to inform our work on the Family Resource Simulator. The first of its kind when it was launched in 2004, the simulator is a publicly available online tool that helps states develop effective policies to support low-income families. Advocates, policymakers and program administrators have used it to improve state and federal rules for benefits programs that have helped millions of families with low incomes.
The Family Resource Simulator | National Center for Children in Poverty
Since 2003, the National Center for Children in Poverty has managed and continued to expand the Family Resource Simulator, a policy simulation tool and benefit calculator that provides tailored data about benefit cliffs and gaps in economic supports faced by families and individuals with low and middle incomes. A corollary tool, the Basic Needs Budget Calculator, estimates how much earnings families need to make to cover basic expenses in each county the simulator covers.
The Family Resource Simulator: Two Decades of Impact | National Center for Children in Poverty
This report highlights key state policy successes achieved due to Family Resource Center analyses from 2004- 2017.
Twenty-eight million working families and individuals rely on public benefits, such as childcare subsidies, Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, SNAP, free school lunch, EITC , or free pre-K to make ends meet. However, public benefit programs sometimes penalize families as they earn more. Program administrators and policymakers have the power to improve and streamline program rules. Still, they need up-to-date, comprehensive data tools that show how benefits packages impact working families' budgets. The Family Resource Simulator, a publicly available online data tool, puts power in the hands of working families with low incomes, advocates and program administrators. The first of its kind when it was launched in 2003, the simulator allows users to assess the impact of the eligibility rules and support levels provided by comprehensive benefits packages on family budgets tailored to specific situations and geographic locations.