Circles USA has been banging the Cliff Effect drum for over 20 years, once it became clear from our families with lived experience that the Cliff was one of the largest obstacles blocking upward economic mobility. As our local chapters and national staff and board members continue to raise awareness of this critical issue, it never ceases to amaze us that many people, especially employers and policymakers, remain unaware.
To that end, in 2023, Circles USA produced a brief primer video to raise awareness on what the Cliff Effect, sometimes called the Benefits Cliff, is. In 2024, our National Big View Team created a one-pager for advocates that outlines the issue with key definitions, examples, visuals, and talking points for targeted audiences that include employers, policymakers, and community members.
In 2024, Circles USA also joined the National Cliff Effect Coalition through a grant awarded the Martha O’Bryan Center in Nashville, TN, joining 12 other organizations in an effort to raise awareness, target key responses to mitigate the cliff, and gain momentum together to create an environment for systemic change.
Circles USA’s executive director, Kamatara Johnson, not only served as a panelist online for an Aspen/Ascend Institute webinar on the Cliff, she also presented with Alex Ruder from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta at the Together, We Thrive conference where many national anti-poverty organizations gathered and learned more about the Cliff from Circles and the ATL Feds.
In a final push to spread the 2024 campaign of mitigating the Cliff, Kamatara spoke as a panelist in a day-long Benefits Cliff Summit hosted by the Sutherland Institute and community partners like Weber State University and Circles Salt Lake.
The Sutherland Institute has done its share of raising awareness around the impact of the Cliff on people working hard towards economic mobility only to be trapped in the system. On their podcast, Defending Ideas, they twice interviewed Circle Leaders from Circles Salt Lake who shared the lived experience (1 / 2). Sutherland also released their research report: Strengthening the American Dream.
Pulling it all together, the Sutherland Institute hosted the summit which welcomed folks from around the state of Utah and across the United States including partners such as:
Dr. Leah Murray, Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor, Political Science and Philosophy DIrector, Walker Institute of Politics and Public Service at Weber State University
Nic Dunn, Vice President of Strategy and Communications, Sutherland Institute
Dr. Katharine Fuller-French, Director of Community Research, Weber State University
Kevin Burt, Deputy Director of Utah Department of Workforce Services
Eric Cochling, Erik Randoplh, and Kelsey Underwood form the Georgia Center for Opportunity
Keith Barnes from the Martha O’Bryan Center in Nashville, TN
Scott Fast, Director of Innovate+Educate in CO
Kamatara Johnson, Executive Director Circles USA
Michelle Crawford, Executive Director Circles Salt Lake
From the Sutherland Institute, “America is the land of opportunity. So how should we respond when new evidence shows that some families actually feel discouraged from working harder for the American Dream? Some families in Utah have limited their economic progression because they’re worried that earning more may trigger something called “benefits cliffs,” which would leave them worse off or stuck in the same place. Attendees at this important event joined us in exploring reforms that can strengthen the American Dream for our fellow Utahns.”
Circles USA was proud to contribute to the conversation, offering the national perspective on the Cliff, garnered from our 66 chapters across 26 states and our 25 year history in the anti-poverty arena. Kamatara shares, “It was powerful to connect with different constituencies and political persuasives all at this one event, to hear the common purpose of creating economic and workforce development policies that truly support working people. We all want to keep working people working. Until the system is fixed, that’s not possible for so many low-wage earners who are punished for advancing by losing a disproportionate amount of government support before they are ready. I was grateful to remind folks that systems change is people change, so the call to action is to build relationships, foster communication, and connect employers, employees, and policymakers to have the real conversations we need to make a system that makes sense.”
The one-day event was filmed. To learn more about the Cliff at the local, state, and federal level, see the video selection below. Much appreciation to the Sutherland Institute and their partner organizations for holding an inclusive space for the full spectrum of conversations and solution-sharing that only happens when communities are brought together around a common cause.
Circles USA looks forward to more Big View collaborations in the year to come, as we gain momentum on raising awareness and solving critical issues that most impact people experiencing poverty.
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