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• Aspiring Scholars Matching Grant Program: A Successful First Year | Policy Points Volume 33, September 2009
  The Aspiring Scholars Matching Grant program was authorized by the Arkansas Legislature under Act 597 of 2007. The primary purpose of the program is to provide an incentive, in the form of a savings match, for low- and moderate-income families to save for their children's college education using the GIFT College Investment Plan (the Arkansas 529 college savings plan). 
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• New Laws Benefit Lower-Income Arkansans | Policy Points Volume 34, August 2009
  Several significant bills to help lower-income families in Arkansas became law during the 2009 legislative session. These new laws include measures to expand opportunities for Arkansans to access affordable housing; expand eligibility for ARKids First Medicaid health insurance; establish guidelines for scholarships funded by a state lottery approved by voters in 2008; and set full disclosure requirements for high-cost, short-term loans tied to a user's income tax refund; and create a state task force to recommend ways to reduce poverty and expand economic opportunity. 
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• The 2008 Arkansas Assets & Opportunity Scorecard | Policy Report, January 2009
  As one of the nation’s poorest states, Arkansas’ need to improve incomes receives considerable attention However, the need to improve assets gets much less attention, despite the fact that assets are as critical to prosperity as incomes. This report, an updated version of a publication issued in 2005, measures how well Arkansans are building assets. The 2008 Scorecard also examines state policy from the perspective of providing asset-building opportunities, especially for low-income families.  
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• From Natural Gas to College Degrees: The Arkansas Promise Trust Fund | Policy Points Volume 32, January 2008
  Arkansas historically has ranked at or near the bottom nationally in college attainment. Arkansas currently ranks 49th out of the 50 states in attainment of both two-year and four-year college degrees. This brief proposes increasing Arkansas’ historically low severance tax on natural gas to a rate comparable to that of surrounding states and earmarking the new revenues for an Arkansas Promise Trust Fund. Interest earnings from the trust fund could be used to significantly and permanently increase access to college financial aid and meet other higher education needs.  Read more…

• Mortgage Foreclosures: A Review of Trends in Arkansas and Strategies Used by States and Communities to Respond | Policy Points Volume 31, December 2007
  The rising rate of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures is a growing concern for every state and the nation overall. Data show that millions of Americans have lost their homes or are in the process of potentially losing their homes to foreclosure. This brief examines mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates nationally and in Arkansas and the strategies other states and communities have adopted to respond to this problem to highlight potential options for state and local policymakers and other stakeholders in Arkansas. Read more…

• Arkansas’ Working Poor Families: An Assessment of Conditions and Policies to Support Economic Self-Sufficiency | Policy Report, November 2007
  A significant number of Arkansas families are working yet remain poor, and face specific challenges that prevent them from achieving greater economic security.  One key challenge is low levels of educational attainment among adult family members. This report examines the performance of key state institutions and programs that provide education and training opportunities for adults, and offers policy recommendations to improve the opportunities offered by the state. Read more...

• ARHealthNet: Helping Small Businesses Afford Employee Health Coverage | Policy Points Volume 30, June 2007
  The rising cost of sponsoring health insurance coverage for employees is one of the most significant challenges facing small business owners, both nationally and in Arkansas. This brief summarizes the main elements of ARHealthNet and explains how this innovative program can help bridge the gap between small business owners’ desire to offer health insurance and their financial ability to do so.
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• New Laws Promoting Asset-Building Opportunities | Policy Points Volume 29, April 2007
  The Arkansas General Assembly recently enacted two bills in Southern Good Faith Fund’s 2007 legislative package that will promote and expand the asset-building opportunities for lower-income Arkansans through increased appropriation for the state’s Individual Development Account (IDA) program and creation of the Aspiring Scholars Matching Grant Program. Read more…

• An Arkansas Higher Education Trust Fund: Making College Possible for Every Arkansan | Policy Report, December 2006
  Arkansas’ economic future has always been tied to its natural resources, including timber, natural gas, agriculture, waterways, and, historically, a low-wage workforce. Although current resources are still important, the changing economy is introducing newer, more critical resources. One such new resource is a better-educated workforce, which a permanent Arkansas Higher Education Trust Fund could help provide. Read more…

• Arkansas’ Individual Development Account (IDA) Program: Survey Shows Broad Impact | Policy Points Volume 28, October 2006
  A survey of Individual Development Account (IDA) program graduates in Arkansas provides a view of the impact of the IDA program in Arkansas and the many benefits it provides to program participants. Ways in which the program can be improved to provide more Arkansans with asset-building opportunities also are highlighted.
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• The Southeast Arkansas College Career Pathways Program | Policy Points Volume 27, June 2006
  The Career Pathways program is an innovative workforce development program aimed at increasing access to higher education by the adult workforce, especially low-income adults, developed collaboratively by Southeast Arkansas College, Southern Good Faith Fund, the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges, the state Adult Education program, the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, and the Arkansas Transitional Employment Assistance Board. Read more…

• Helping Arkansas’ Katrina Evacuees Rebuild Their Lives | Policy Report, February 2006
  Hurricane Katrina displaced hundreds of thousands of New Orleans residents, many of whom were low-income or poor, and many fled to neighboring states including Arkansas. This report proposes several strategies the state could adopt to help the families who choose to settle in Arkansas permanently. Read more…

• Expanding Access to College in Arkansas: A 529 College Savings Plan Match Policy | Policy Points Volume 26, January 2006
  There is a great need in Arkansas to improve higher education attainment, particularly among lower-income households. The social and economic benefits of doing so are immense. State policy should support this goal at every opportunity, and a 529 college savings plan match policy presents such an opportunity. Read more…

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