EQUITABLE POVERTY REDUCTION AND PREVENTION PLAN

EQUITABLE POVERTY REDUCTION AND PREVENTION PLAN. The 232-page document approved by the Dubuque City Council in March, 2021 detailed strategies the city would follow to combat poverty, a high priority of the council for several years.

In 2019 the federal government considered a single person to be in poverty if he or she had an annual income of $12,490 or less. The poverty threshold for a family of four was $25,750. In Dubuque these statistics described 15.9% of the city's population--higher than the state's rate of 11.2% (1) Dubuque's position could have been much worse. Officials with United Way said that federal standard did not take into account how life changed since then. According to their ALICE system for evaluating need, 44% of Dubuque residents in 2021 did not have enough to cover average expenses. (2) In the 1960s, families were expected to spend 30% of their income on food. In recent studies, this figure had been found to be around 17% with housing, health care, and child care dramatically higher. Income thresholds to qualify for poverty levels needed to be doubled to indicate the actual number of those impoverished. (3)

In 2019 the City Council approved the expenditure of $74,750 for the development of a plan of poverty prevention. The firm of Public Works, LLC, a consultant in Pennsylvania was hired to lead city staff in developing the plan beginning with a yearlong study period with city staff, representatives of nonprofit organization, experts in the field, and interviews with those living in poverty. Specific attention was paid to poverty prevention programs underway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Richmond, Virginia.

The Office of Community Empowerment was established in Philadelphia in 2013 when the city's level of poverty stood at 28.4%. Richmond, Virginia created the Office of Community Wealth Building in 2015. Among its initiatives were a living-wage certificate program which credited businesses which paid workers what was considered a living wage and a housing advocate program. In 2019 Richmond's poverty rate fell from 26,8% in 2016 to 21.9%.

Dubuque chose to follow these examples with an office that would lead the development of many initiatives detailed in the plan and act as an agency to coordinate poverty prevention efforts with nonprofits and city departments. To reduce costs, the city staff altered the existing neighborhood development position, then vacant, to include the new department. The data analyst and secretary positions required the city to spend an additional $102,355. The office was planned to eventually be located in the former fire department building at the intersection of Central and 18th Street.

In April, 2021 much of the detail in the workings of the Office of Shared Prosperity was being discussed. One major proposal moving ahead was the expanded integration of social workers into the DUBUQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT. Approval had been received to hire a community diversion and prevention coordinator who would work with police in applying social work strategies to prevent people from going to jail and assisting people after a jail sentence. The plan included such other potential reforms as community service in lieu of fines or fees considered especially hard on low-income residents. The plan also proposed the passage of an ordinance preventing landlords from rejecting tenants receiving government housing assistance. Another potential ordinance would prohibit local job applications from requiring applicants from listing whether they had ever been convicted of a felony. Other proposals called for subsidized vehicle repair insurance, requiring landlords to provide a specific reason for evicting a tenant, and developing a food access app.

The issue of generational poverty was addressed. The plan called for increased funding for local youth organizations, creating a citywide prosperity coordinating council, and co-sponsoring career-oriented programming for youth.

See: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

    EQUITABLE POVERTY PREVENTION PLAN
    CITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA July 16, 2019
    Online: https://www.cityofdubuque.org/DocumentCenter/View/41181/RFP_PovertyPreventionPlan_Final_71619-with-attdocx?bidId=1130

See: Dubuque Community Equitable Poverty Reduction And Prevention Plan

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
    Online: https://www.cityofdubuque.org/2974/Equitable-Poverty-Reduction-Prevention-P#:~:text=In%202018%2C%20the%20Dubuque%20City%20Council%20identified%20the,agencies%20and%20non-profits%20working%20with%20people%20in%20poverty.

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Sources:

1. Kruse, John, "Poverty Prevention," Telegraph Herald, April 11, 2021, p. 1A

2. Capuano, A. J. "Dubuque City Council Receives Plan to Fight Poverty. "KWWL Jan. 12, 2021 Online: https://kwwl.com/2021/01/12/dubuque-city-council-receives-plan-to-fight-poverty/

3. Kruse

4. Ibid.