Latest Publications

Publications

Latest Publications

Priced Out: Making College More Affordable for Low-Income Marylanders

DOWNLOAD THE SEPTEMBER 2014 REPORT

By 2025, Maryland leaders want to ensure that at least 55 percent of state residents have a college degree.1 The benefits are clear. Increasing the education level of the workforce will help individuals achieve self-sufficiency and build a competitive and marketable labor force. This goal is ambitious as only 41 percent of Maryland adults currently have a college degree.2 To educate more residents, Maryland must strengthen its policies and programs to remove barriers for students who are falling through the cracks.

Low-income and non-traditional students face the greatest barriers to completion, and affordability is high on the list of challenges. While most students need assistance to pay for college, they are often left with unmet need – in other words, a gap between what they can afford to pay, the aid they receive, and the total cost of college. Many face the tough choice of working more, seeking private loans, enrolling in fewer courses, not obtaining their degree or not even enrolling. While federal student aid plays a major role in college financing, state policy ultimately drives the cost of college. States also have a hand in driving program innovation and in directing state aid resources to the students who need them most.

These are all challenges that Maryland can address through the lens of affordability. This brief examines the challenges facing students and institutions across the state. From the higher education funding decisions that drive tuition, to the program models that help or hurt completion, to the way financial aid funding is prioritized, Maryland has many levers for increasing access and success. To meet our state education goals, our strategies must be broad enough to promote success for all students. The decisions we make as a state can build a pipeline of opportunity for the Marylanders who need it most.

For more information, or to request a hard copy, please contact Sarah Breitenbach at 443-692-9421.

Advocating for the Successful Reentry of Individuals with Criminal Records: Lessons Learned from Maryland

DOWNLOAD THE NOVEMBER 2013 REPORT

People with criminal records face countless obstacles when attempting to move beyond their criminal histories, the most significant of which is often employment. Policies and practices created to maintain public safety produce unintended consequences that generate significant barriers to the successful transition from incarceration to the open society. These barriers, commonly known as collateral consequences, severely limit a returning citizen’s ability to legally support themselves and their family.

The Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF) has made a significant effort over the past decade to reduce the collateral consequences of a criminal record, with a particular focus on policy change. We learned many lessons along the way about the most effective advocacy strategies. This paper shares those lessons with a wider community of advocates in hope that organizations in other states can engage in this work with a set of best practices in their toolbox.

For more information, or to request a hard copy, please contact Andrea Roethke at 410-234-8303.

Obstacles & Opportunities: The Workforce Development Landscape in Prince George's County, Maryland

Download the September 2013 SPECIAL Report

By some measures, Prince George’s County is thriving. The county has a high labor force participation rate, moderate unemployment, and a high median income. By other measures, the county faces significant workforce challenges. First, opportunity is mixed across different areas of the county. Communities such as Bowie and Glenn Dale are prospering with unemployment rates below six percent and median incomes over $100,000. Other areas – particularly those inside the beltway bordering the District of Columbia – are faring less well, with unemployment rates over ten percent and median household incomes that hover around $50,000. There is a great divide between rich and poor in the county. Despite a high median income, one in ten local residents are living in poverty.

For more information, or to request a hard copy, please contact Andrea Roethke at 410-234-8303.

Unemployment Insurance: Rescuing Maryland Workers & Buoying Local Business

Download the November 2009 SPECIAL Report

Throughout the recession, the Unemployment Insurance system (UI) has provided a critical economic safety net. UI has helped workers meet their basic needs, and has kept revenue flowing to employers when they’ve needed it most. In a new Special Report, JOTF finds that despite alarm over a declining trust fund and increasing UI taxes, the state UI system is working as intended, and with prudent policy choices in the 2010 legislative session, it will continue to serve both businesses and their workers. By acting quickly, Maryland can claim up to $126.8 million in federal support to re-build the UI trust fund.

For more information, or to request a hard copy, please contact Andrea Roethke at 410-234-8303.

Overpriced & Underserved: How the Market is Failing Low-Wage Baltimoreans

Download the 2007 Report

This report finds that low-wage consumers pay more than their wealthier neighbors for everything from automobiles to zucchini. Each year, they spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars more on everyday goods and services. Rather than saving for retirement, investing in education, or working towards a down payment on a home or car, low-wage families are forced to spend a significant portion of their income meeting basic needs for which wealthier families are shown to pay considerably less.

In the report, JOTF identifies promising practices to help reduce the “poverty premium” and presents a seven-piece action agenda to make the market work better for local families.

For more information, or to request a hard copy, please contact Andrea Roethke at 410-234-8303.

The 60-Hour Practice Driving Law: Unitended Consequences for Maryland's Economy

Download the 2007 Report

Maryland has some of the most extensive driver’s licensing requirements in the nation. In fact, Maryland is the only state that requires new drivers of all ages to complete the same driver’s education and practice requirements. Most significantly, all new drivers must complete 60 hours of supervised practice, in addition to 36 hours of driver’s education, before being eligible for a license. This law has created a new barrier to mobility and employment for low-income adults. JOTF explores these issues in its report, “The 60-Hour Driving Practice Law: Unintended Consequences for Maryland's Economy.”