Work Session - Draft Equitable Poverty Prevention PlanCopyrighted
J anuary 11, 2021
City of Dubuque
Special Meeting Work Session - Bottom # 1.
IT E M T I T L E:Draft E quitable Poverty Prevention Plan
S UM M ARY:City staff and consultant Dr. L inda Rhodes of P ublic Works, L L C, will
present the Draft E quitable Poverty Prevention Plan to City Council.
S UG G E S T E D
D I S P O S I T I O N:
AT TAC H ME N TS:
Description Type
Draft Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan-MV M Memo City Manager Memo
Staff Memo Staff Memo
Draft equitable Poverty Prevention Plan 1-7-2021 Supporting Documentation
Power Point Presentation Supporting Documentation
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Draft Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan - January 11th Work Session
DATE: January 7, 2021
Planning Services Manager Wally Wernimont is transmitting information for the work
session on the Draft Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan.
_____________________________________
Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Wally Wernimont, Planning Services Manager
1
TO: Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Wally Wernimont, Planning Services Manager
SUBJECT: Draft Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan – January 11th Work Session
DATE: January 6, 2020
INTRODUCTION
This memo transmits information for the January 11, 2021 City Council work session on
the Draft Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan. The work session is intended for City
Council discussion and feedback regarding the proposed plan.
BACKGROUND
The Dubuque City Council has retained Public Works, LLC as the consulting firm to help
create an Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan (EPPP) for the community. This plan is a
Top Priority on the Council's 2018 - 2020 Policy Agenda. The creation of the plan is to
address the issue of poverty, develop strategies to implement a community action plan,
engage community leaders, collect residents’ input, conduct research and data analysis,
explore best practices and current treads, as well as develop programs to tackle
poverty.
DISCUSSION
Consultant Dr. Linda Rhodes of Public Works and I will give a presentation on the Draft
Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan.
The agenda for the presentation are as follows:
Watch the video “Taking on Poverty”
Review the Scope of Work of the Project
How we went about our work
Understanding Poverty in Dubuque
Determinants of Poverty
• Overview
• What We Heard You Say
• Promising Practices to Consider
Infrastructure
What’s Next
2
REQUESTED ACTION
This work session will enable the City Council to review, discuss, and provide further
direction on the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan.
Enclosures
cc: Jason Duba, Planning Technician
F:\Users\Planning Sec\City Council\00 Work Sessions\Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan Update\Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan
Worksession Memo.doc
DUBUQUE COMMUNITY POVERTY PREVENTION PLAN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research, insights and promising practices presented throughout this report are the result of hundreds of
hours and hundreds of voices from residents and stakeholders within our Dubuque community. We’d especially
like to thank all of the focus group attendees most of whom are experiencing poverty for their insights on the
impact that poverty has on daily life. We’re also grateful for the fifty community leaders, service providers and
advocates that we interviewed to gain their perspectives and knowledge as to the state of poverty in the city of
Dubuque. An added thanks goes to those who took time to fill out our public and service provider surveys and
those who attended one of the eight Caucus for Community discussion sessions held reviewing the plan’s
proposed Promising Practices. A special thanks goes to Laura Carstens, who prior to her retirement of thirty years
with the City, launched and guided the development of the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan as the Planning
Services Manager. We’d also like to thank Wally Wernimont, Planning Services Manager for shepherding the plan
to completion along with valuable assistance from Jason Duba, Planning Technician with the City.
STEERING COMMITTEE
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Alexis Steger, City Housing and Community Development Director
Kelly Larson, City Human Rights Director
Jill Connors, City Economic Development Director
Chris Lester, City Community Development Specialist
Mark Dalsing, City Police Chief
Anderson Sainci, City Resource Management Coordinator
Rahim Akrani, City of Dubuque, ICMA Local Government Management Fellow
Rick Dickinson, President & CEO, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation
Kristen Dietzel, VP of Workforce Solutions, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation
Paul Duster, Director of Community Initiatives, Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
About the consulting firm Public Works LLC
Public Works LLC provides policy development, management consulting, and strategic advice to public sector and non-
profit entities across the country. It is a national leader in government efficiency and effectiveness, and has worked
extensively to help combat poverty, improve education and other human services, and advance the greater good.
Dr. Linda Rhodes served as lead on the project. She holds a doctorate from Columbia University with fifty years of
experience in human services. As a Secretary of Aging (PA) she oversaw an annual budget of $400 m in programs
serving low-income persons. She launched one of the country’s first family caregiver programs, developed a senior
living community in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, developed a similar “Dream Center” in Erie, PA, created a
“Wear a Scrub Get A Career” program for middle & high school minority youth inspiring over 1,000 in health careers,
and has received numerous state & national awards for her public service and non-profit work.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary
I. INTRODUCTION 3
II. METHODOLOGY 5
1. Scope of Work 5
2. Research Methods on State of Poverty 6
3. Community Engagement Process 7
III. UNDERSTANDING POVERTY 10
1. Basic Concepts on Poverty 10
2. Measuring Poverty 13
3. Determinants of Poverty 19
4. What Do We Mean by Equitable: Equity Lens 21
IV. AN OVERVIEW OF POVERTY IN DUBUQUE 24
1. Poverty by the Numbers 25
2. Addressing COVID-19 28
3. Poverty Rates and Race 30
V. EQUITABLE POVERTY PREVENTION PLAN 33
1. INFRASTRUCTURE 33
A. Overview 33
B. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement 34
C. Promising Practice: Collective Impact and Office of Shared Prosperity 34
D. Skill Sets, Staffing and In-Kind Resources (Infographic on OSP) 39
E. Office of Shared Prosperity Highlights 40
2. ACCESS TO RESOURCES AND SERVICES 47
A. Overview 47
B. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement 51
C. Promising Practices to Consider 54
3. DETERMINANTS OF POVERTY 67
3.1. ECONOMIC INSECURITY, JOBS, LIVING WAGE 67
A. Overview 67
B. Barriers to Wealth Building 75
C. Local Action to Build On 83
D. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement 86
E. Promising Practices to Consider 89
3.2. TRANSPORTATION 98
A. Overview on State of Transportation 98
B. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement 104
C. Promising Practices to Consider 108
3.3 EDUCATION & SKILLS TRAINING 111
A. Overview 111
B. Focus on Elementary School Children 113
C. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement 116
D. Promising Practices to Consider 124
3.4 PHYSICAL & BRAIN HEALTH | FOOD INSECURITY 127
A. Overview 127
B. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement 133
C. Health Promising Practices to Consider 136
D. Food Insecurity & Promising Practices to Consider 139
3.5 RACIAL EQUITY 147
A. Overview 147
B. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement 151
C. Promising Practices to Consider 152
3.6 AFFORDABLE SAFE HOUSING | SHELTERS | SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS 164
A. Overview 164
B. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement 171
C. Promising Practices to Consider 174
3.7 EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING, CHILD CARE & YOUTH 186
A. Overview 186
B. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement 196
C. Promising Practices to Consider 198
VI. APPENDIX 201
Overview
Taking on poverty and bringing about shared prosperity in the City of Dubuque is a community
“all hands-on deck” endeavor. It requires every sector – business, financial, education, philanthropic,
faith-based, non-profit, government and advocates – to address the widespread impact of poverty
among us and reverse its course. As a city and community we have the good fortune of a great
number of organizations, leaders and citizens who have been working tirelessly to tackle poverty so
that the City’s vision of Dubuque being “a sustainable, resilient, inclusive and equitable community
where ALL are welcome” and all can prosper is realized.
Yet, despite all of our good works, our collective impact hasn’t reduced the level of poverty in our
community. It has been and continues to rise. In the spirit of gaining a deeper understanding of
poverty in our community, how people are experiencing it and our ways of addressing it, the City
engaged a year-long process to develop an Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan. The result is a plan
that describes the state of poverty in the City of Dubuque, analyzes its causes and impact, identifies
the actions we’ve taken as a community to address it, and presents promising practices to enhance
and refine what we have been doing. It calls for employing innovative strategies to collectively
reverse the impact of poverty among our neighbors.
1. Process of Collaboration
The City hired a public policy consulting firm, Public Works LLC, to oversee the development of the
Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan. The firm conducted five onsite community engagement visits in
Dubuque prior to COVID-19, meeting with community, school, business, non-profit, and
government leaders. Advocates, along with people experiencing poverty and a Steering Committee,
also assisted in guiding the project. Public Works conducted a public survey; another survey among
service providers, gaining further insights on the state of poverty and garnering 270 responses; over
50 key informant interviews; and eight focus groups of people experiencing poverty and those
working directly with them, reaching an estimated 45 people.
Dubuque Community
Equitable Poverty Prevention
Plan
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City also held eight “Caucus for Community” events with a wide range of community
stakeholders to gain their perspectives on poverty and a list of Promising Practices that the
consulting team and Steering Committee had identified for the City to consider.
Public Works also produced a video describing poverty’s impact
through the lives of Dubuque residents experiencing it. The video
became the centerpiece of these caucuses. Overall, more than 400
Dubuquers informed this report. Once the consultants analyzed
census data on poverty, applied an equity lens, and reviewed the
literature on poverty prevention programs, they aligned what they
learned with the results of the community engagement work held in
Dubuque. They then conducted a national search identifying fifty-
seven “Promising Practices” relevant to the unique needs and
resources of the Dubuque community that would strengthen and enhance the development of an
Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan. Finally, the team synthesized all that was learned throughout the
project and produced the City of Dubuque’s Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan for consideration by
community stakeholders cited throughout the report, City Council and the Mayor.
2. Understanding Poverty
A. Defining Poverty
In its simplest terms, poverty is an economic state in which an individual’s or family’s income can’t
cover the basic needs of everyday life. They struggle to pay for rent, food, utilities, child-care and
transportation. The fear of losing their housing and daily stress of struggling between paying for rent
or medications or a child’s school supplies leads to a trauma-filled life. Poverty can be situational,
due to a life event such as a death of a breadwinner, job loss, divorce, health condition, recession or
pandemic that throws one into poverty. Some confront generational poverty when at least two
generations have been born into poverty and there is no wealth to share or hand down.
Many face living in concentrated poverty whereby a high proportion of the population living in an
area such as a neighborhood or census tract is poor. Two tracts cited in this report (Census Tract 1
and Tract 5) are considered concentrated poverty areas in Dubuque. Children and adults living in
highly disadvantaged neighborhoods face poorer health, food insecurity, and attend challenged
schools. Most often, Blacks and People of Color are disproportionately represented within such
areas.
B. Measuring Poverty
How poverty is defined and measured has a powerful impact on how a community marshals its
resources (or not) to address and prevent it. And it will greatly influence how individuals and
families
experiencing poverty will fare over the course of their lives. The measure draws the line as to who is
eligible for services, who must wait and who will be turned away.
A key task of the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan was to analyze and assess what is the best, most
equitable way of measuring poverty so that the City can accurately and fairly determine the scope of
need among those who are experiencing poverty and respond accordingly. The team reviewed four
different ways of measuring poverty and recommends that the City use between 1.5 to 2.0 times the
Official Poverty Measure (OPM) to determine how many people are experiencing poverty in the city.
The table below depicts the four measures, their financial threshold and the percent of Dubuquers
impacted for each measure (2018).
Experts do not recommend using 100 percent of the OPM, also referred to as the Federal Poverty
Level (FPL). It was created sixty years ago and significantly underestimates the true costs of meeting
basic needs of everyday life in today’s economy. The ALICE measure was created by the United Way
based upon a “Household Survival Budget” that includes costs such as cell phones, internet service
and more realistic costs on rent and daily living costs. The measure also includes those who are
considered among the working poor.
The bottom line? No matter how you calculate
poverty levels for the City of Dubuque, the numbers
are sobering. A quarter of families of four with
incomes at 1.5 times the Official Poverty Measure
(OPM) are living on a monthly budget of $3,138,
while one-third survive at twice the OPM on $4,183 per month. Those living on the ALICE Survival
Budget of $4,887 per month, which includes the working poor, account for 44 percent of the
Dubuque population.
C. Rising Poverty in the City of Dubuque
Surveys among the public and service provider agencies reveal that the majority believe poverty is a
“large” or “very large” problem facing the community of Dubuque. Nearly three out of four
respondents in the public survey saw poverty as a “problem,” while younger people (18-34 years)
saw it as a “very large problem,” more than any other age group (30 percent vs. 20 percent).
1 Data.census.gov, Official Poverty Measure & Poverty. Based on population of 54,856.
Poverty Measure Family of Four Annual Income
Thresholds
Percent of City of
Dubuque Population
Official Poverty Measure (OPM)
100%
$25,100 | $2,092 month 16%
OPM at 150% $37,650 | $3,138 month 24%
OPM at 200%1 $50,200 | $4,183 month 32%
ALICE: 100% OPM + Working
Poor
$58,644 | $4,887 month 44%
Service providers report that poverty has been steadily increasing over the past three years and a
solid majority (66%) “strongly agree” that “the pandemic is going to have a very serious impact on
those experiencing poverty over the next 12 months.” Nearly half reported that they have seen new
clients since the pandemic (September 2020).
These perceptions are validated by rising poverty rates over the last
decade in the city. In 2018, of the city’s 58,340 residents, 8,799 had
reported income levels below the Official Poverty Measure. On
average, Dubuque’s 16 percent poverty rate at 100 percent of OPM
is significantly higher than the average 12 percent poverty rate across
the State of Iowa. Dubuque is ranked 6th below the poverty line
among eleven major cities in Iowa.2
The rate of poverty has been rising from 10 percent in 2010 to 15
percent in 2014 and rose to 16 percent in 2019. This represents a 60
percent rise in poverty rates within a decade.
D. Racial Disparity and Poverty
Results of surveys, key informant interviews and focus groups clearly show that most people in
Dubuque believe that there is a connection between poverty and race. In the General Public Poverty
Survey, six out of ten people believe so, and when asked, “To what degree does racial and/or
gender bias lead to poverty?” forty-three percent felt it highly contributes to poverty, while one in
five see it as having a minimal impact. In the Agency Provider Community Survey, 63 percent rated
“Systemic Racism and Bias” as a factor that highly contributes towards people falling into and
remaining in poverty. The overall racial composition of those experiencing poverty throughout the
city shows that three out of four are White, while nearly one in five are Black.
Categories of Asian and Pacific Islanders, Two or More Races and Latinx account for 3 percent each.
Since ninety percent of the population in the city is White, it’s not surprising to see such a high
number of Whites
comprising the total
number of persons in
poverty. But what is
distressing is the
profound
disproportionate level of
poverty endured by
Blacks and other minority
populations, especially
considering that the
Black community
represents five percent of
the total population
(2018, ACS).
2 US Census, American Community Survey, Table S0101, 2018
The Black community in Dubuque is four times as likely to be poor as their White neighbors, almost
twice as likely as Blacks statewide, and two and a half times as likely to live in poverty as Blacks
nationwide. An entire chapter in the report is dedicated to Racial Equity to address the wide-range
of disparities faced by Blacks and People of Color.
3. Focus on Eight Determinants of Poverty and the Core Four
The literature is replete with studies on the multiple
and complex causes of poverty, as are the strategies
to combat it. We identified a set of eight major
determinants frequently cited as factors causing
poverty in the literature and what we learned from
those experiencing poverty in Dubuque and the
service providers assisting them. None of these
determinants, however, operate in a vacuum. As a
result of surveys, key informant interviews, focus
groups and caucuses, we repeatedly heard how these
determinants are interconnected, especially among
four core issues. It plays out like this:
“Without a job that pays a living wage, I can’t afford safe housing for my family. If I can’t make rent,
we have to move, and it means my kids have to change schools which is never good. If I don’t have
child care, I’ll lose my job or can’t get one in the first place. Most of the jobs I can get don’t pay
enough for me to afford good child care. I can’t afford a car, so that means using public transit or
friends. Both are unreliable to get me to work. It’s a vicious cycle.”
The Four Core Poverty Determinants
Lack of Jobs Paying
a Living Wage
Lack of Affordable
Safe Housing
Lack of Affordable
Quality Child Care
Lack of Accessible
Transportation
4. Promising Practices
Building Upon Our Strengths
The community of Dubuque has an unprecedented number of organizations addressing poverty,
directly or indirectly, for its size. The team was asked to develop a matrix of agencies so that the City
could gain a greater understanding of work being done. Over 200 organizations were identified,
and among them, 120 were focusing directly on benefiting those experiencing poverty. Beyond
their work, the numerous initiatives by City departments, businesses, employers, educational
institutions, faith-based and philanthropic organizations, human service organizations, health care
entities, and advocates – many of whom who are cited throughout the report – bodes well for the
many possibilities this report proposes. The “Promising Practices” can enhance the good work that is
already being done.
A. City of Dubuque’s Office of Shared Prosperity
A number of cities across the country confronted with rising poverty rates have taken the proactive
step of using their City’s change agent and facilitator role to create an “Office of Shared Prosperity”
that follows a Collective Impact Model. What does this mean? Quite simply, collective impact brings
people together in a structured way to achieve social change.3 It starts with a common agenda born
from collectively defining a problem and creating a shared vision to solve it. Stakeholders agree to
track progress in the same way to gain deeper, multidisciplinary analysis that can foster continuous
improvement among all groups working on the problem. And finally, collective impact in any form
requires a “strong backbone” in the form of a team dedicated to orchestrating the work of the group
on behalf of the community it serves.
We envision that the City of Dubuque’s Office of Shared Prosperity would become the backbone
organization to facilitate the implementation of the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan. It will achieve
this by fostering collaborative partnerships throughout the community, addressing poverty, tracking
and conducting deep analysis of the collective impact of strategies directed at reducing poverty. The
office will strategically steer the community towards racially equitable and holistic problem-solving
that assures those experiencing poverty achieve economic viability to share in the community’s
prosperity.
B. User-Friendly Access to Benefits
Both consumers and providers report that it is very difficult navigating all of the various agencies
providing services in the community. Despite all of the services available, 83 percent of providers
stated that “people are falling through the cracks” in Dubuque. Many called for a centralized Benefits
Screening program and universal application for human services. Much of the groundwork already
exists with information available through directories (Resources Unite, Hawkeye Area Community
Action Program’s “Dubuque County Resource & Referral Guide”) and the United Way 2-1-1 helpline.
What would make this different is that trained Benefit Advisors would guide people through the
process of gaining access to services based on their needs and income. They’d coach them through
the eligibility and paperwork maze to assure they gain access. Agencies would also be asked to
collaborate by creating a core universal application for basic services.
A model presented as a Promising Practice in the report is BenePhilly that brought together
community service agencies to create a seamless, user-friendly infrastructure that accomplished
both of these practices. The report also proposes creating a “Digital Equity Plan,” that would assure
those experiencing poverty have access to highspeed internet service, the devices that enable them
to use it and the skills to navigate a digital world.
3 The Collective Impact Forum, “What is Collective Impact?,” Accessed October 23, 2020
In Closing
Consider this report as a type of “Owner’s Manual” on how to take on poverty, providing the entire
community with concrete action steps and strategies that prevent, address and rectify its impact, so
that all Dubuquers may prosper. It’s an owner’s manual we all own based on the belief that none of
us truly prospers when there are those among us who remain impoverished.
Best Practice Highlights by Determinants
The report features an “Inventory of Promising Practices” that address each of the determinants
reviewed by this project with corresponding Promising Practices and resources to address them.
DETERMINANT PROMISING PRACTICE
Economic
Security
City awards Living Wage Certificates to businesses, Create a Financial
Empowerment Collaborative that generates social enterprise for new jobs;
pursue home ownership among low-income & minorities via Neighborhood
Assistance Corporation of America; re-start Bank On to assure banking and
financial equity, City Council pass Clean Slate Ordinance (Ban the Box); Support
mentoring of persons previously incarcerated, create a “Fees & Fines” Task Force
to identify what fees and fines pose undue hardship on the poor & minorities.
Transportation Create business collaborative to subsidize rides to work (Uber/Lyft); facilitate
partnerships to subsidize Car Shield repair insurance for those with older cars;
conduct comprehensive reassessment of public transit routes & schedules that
address the widespread concerns of not being user-friendly; increase incentives
for use of the Transit Chek program; assess the impact of the 2-mile busing
radius state regulation on school attendance in concentrated poverty
neighborhoods.
Racial Equity Develop a Racial Equity Index that identifies the disparities cited in the EPPP
report; determine quantifiable action steps with stakeholders to address each
disparity and determine a three-year outcome measure that signals success;
Create a School Resource Officer Work Group reimagining their role and
addressing Black Lives Matter concerns; Create a “Social Services Response Unit”
within the police department; create a Diversion Work Group with advocates,
police, justice system, schools to review arrests rates among Blacks and People of
Color; further the work of current Restorative Justice initiatives; Office of Shared
Prosperity would facilitate and promote the work of dialogues on race using the
Taking on Poverty video and Caucus for Community platform.
Early Learning
& Child Care
Promote Employer Child Care Assistance; Advocate for 4-Year Old full-time pre-
school; Create Task Force on Child Care Deserts & Child Care Worker Shortage;
Support the Every Child Reads initiative to unify community action around early
care & education; Promote adoption of city-wide framework for Early Learning;
Sponsor a Youth Summit to address young people’s prosperity.
Affordable &
Safe Housing
If strategies to encourage acceptance of Housing Vouchers aren’t engaged in six
months, pass a Source of Income Ordinance; develop Resident Housing
Inspectors; Adopt Inclusionary Zoning; Consider passing a Just Cause Eviction
Ordinance; Create an Eviction Study Group; Support increased legal aid for
renters facing eviction; Enhance Housing Trust Fund; Pursue Rapid Re-Housing
practices; Expand Aggressive Testing for Fair Housing pilot; Implement Fair
Housing Impediments Plan.
Health: Brain
and Physical
Promote partnerships that increase the cadre of Community Health Workers
especially among Blacks and People of Color; build data capacity to assess
health outcomes by race, income level in concentrated poverty neighborhoods
working with health care providers, schools, social services; continue support of
the Mental Health Stakeholder group and Brain Health Coalition; continue
support of culturally competent work with Marshallese and Latinx population.
Food Security Develop a Food Access App (example Plentiful) that is interactive, so that people
can be notified of real-time availability of food and enhanced coordination
among pantries; assess transportation routes & gaps that could expand people’s
access to healthy affordable foods; create jobs along the food distribution chain
(e.g. composting, community gardens, agri-hoods); encourage health care
providers to write “food prescriptions.”
Education &
Skills Training
Offer trauma-centered care training related to poverty for all City staff serving
low-income populations; continue to sponsor and invest in career-oriented
programming for youth and programs working with minority youth and their
families; hold a Youth Summit that focuses on needs of teens and mentoring of
freshmen in colleges who are among the first generation to attend college;
continue to support, facilitate partnerships of the workforce training programs
reaching out to low income and minorities.
3
I. INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT OVERVIEW
In response to the rising rate and challenges of poverty
and the City’s commitment to offering its citizenry a
prosperous and sustainable community for all, the
Mayor and City Council deemed the development of
an Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan as a top priority
among the City of Dubuque’s 2018-2020 goals.
As a result, in August 2019, Public Works, a public
policy consulting firm was commissioned to create
such a plan that would:
“Address the issue of poverty, develop strategies to implement a community action plan,
engage community leaders, collect residents’ input, conduct research and data analysis,
explore best practices and current trends, as well as, developing programs to tackle
poverty.” (Source: Request for Proposals, August 2019).
Three core objectives were further identified:
Ö To engage various members of the community to develop and commit to the
creation of the plan including business leaders, philanthropists, government and
school leaders, non-profit and faith leaders, and community members who are
living or have lived with the stresses of poverty.
Ö To examine existing programs for success by analyzing data, identifying trends
and best practices through an equity lens with creation of annual performance
measurements to track progress toward desired outcomes in five years.
Ö To develop an action plan and implementation strategy that would be validated
by a Project Steering Committee and the community and include a budget and
phasing for review and adoption by the City Council.
4
Strategic Plans are guided by a relevant and well thought-through Vision Statement. This
plan is steered by the official vision statement of the City that was recently updated
following a robust discussion among City Council members that centered on one word they
wanted to call attention to by capitalizing it – they chose the word ALL.
______________________________________________________________________________________
“Dubuque is a sustainable, resilient, inclusive and equitable community
where ALL are welcome.” City of Dubuque, Vision Statement 2020
__________________________________________________________________
Thus, a core tenet throughout this plan is centered upon the belief that all people living
within Dubuque deserve the opportunity to contribute towards and share in the
community’s prosperity gained from its sustainability, resiliency and inclusiveness.
Achieving this goal requires addressing challenges and obstacles that prevent some
members of the community from not realizing its benefits. And right now, that sum is
sizable.
To make this an “equitable” poverty prevention plan, this report identifies and addresses
why the community’s prosperity is out of reach for such a sizable number of residents living
in Dubuque and explore how the City’s role as a collaborative change agent for the greater
good can assure that all of its residents are prevented from living a life of poverty.
5
II. METHODOLOGY
The Scope of Work for the project placed a very strong emphasis on engaging the
community throughout the process of developing the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan
(EPPP) with special attention given to gathering insights among those experiencing poverty.
Here is how the Public Works team along with the City Planning Department and a Steering
Committee of department heads and community leaders went about performing the Scope
of Work for the project.
Scope of Work
The State of Poverty: Describe and assess the state of poverty in Dubuque.
Recent and Current Activity to Address Poverty: Take measure of what the City,
community stakeholders, service providers and partners are doing to address and
prevent poverty.
Community Engagement: Meet with the community, especially those experiencing
poverty, to gain their insights on the challenges of living in poverty and the obstacles
preventing them from finding a path forward, along with their feedback on the
Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan.
Promising Practices: Determine how the City and community can strengthen and
enhance what they are currently doing and adopt new promising practices that have
worked in other cities
Caucus for Community: Develop a virtual community engagement process to gain
stakeholder and citizen feedback on Promising Practices to equitably prevent and
address poverty.
The State of Poverty
A major source of data on poverty and its effect on daily life cited throughout this report
come from, the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (2017-2019). Every year,
the U.S. Census Bureau contacts over 3.5 million households across the country to
participate in the American Community Survey. The survey is used to gage demographic
changes from the U.S. Census taken every ten years. It collects and produces information on
social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics about our nation's population.
(A short video explaining the American Community Survey provides a more in-depth
explanation)4. Other national data sources with city-specific data used for this report
include: U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), and
4 Data 101: The American Community Survey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iTjSU1vlRY&feature=youtu.be
6
the U.S. Census Bureau. Data was also gathered from the City’s Planning Department,
reports commissioned or conducted by third parties in the community, annual reports, and
national studies. Throughout the report, you’ll find references of statistics presented as
footnotes at the end of the page.
Recent and Current Activity to Address Poverty
We reviewed seven major studies conducted in the community within the past eight years
and identified trends and findings relevant to the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan to
better inform the researchers on the state of poverty in Dubuque and provide leads as to
what questions would be relevant in surveys and focus groups to explore their impact and
unmet needs.
In addition, Public Works created a “Matrix of Community Resource Agencies” identifying
230 organizations and programs offering some form of service to prevent or address
poverty. These were categorized among 35 service areas and 25 population segments.
Among them 120 agencies were identified as providing a direct service(s) to people
experiencing poverty. The matrix identifies the agency accompanied by a brief description
of services they provide and contact data.
A Poverty Service Provider Survey was designed by Public Works with input from the
Steering Committee and sent by a personal email from the Mayor. The goal of the survey is
to better assess who is providing what services to which populations and the funding
sources used to provide those services. The survey was sent to 120 agencies that had a
significant focus in providing direct services to those experiencing poverty. The survey was
deployed during the month of July 2020 and received a 33% response rate. The eighteen-
question survey gained insights on:
Ö Collaboration among agencies
Ö Duplication of services and effort
Ö Level of maximizing resources
Ö Types of services provided
Ö Needs of those experiencing poverty
Ö Level and type of funding sources
Ö Types of services provided
Ö Rating factors contributing to poverty
We also asked respondents to answer five questions as to the impact of COVID-19 on their
current clientele and new clients related to the pandemic, along with an Open-Ended
Comment Box describing the needs of both client sectors. The survey is available in
Appendix B.
7
Community Engagement
The first phase of the EPPP project gathered insights from community leaders via Key
Informant Interviews and persons experiencing poverty via Focus Groups. The Public Works
Team had been on the ground in the City of Dubuque for five onsite visits during the Fall of
2019 and February 2020. During that time 8 focus groups were held with persons
experiencing poverty involving 45 persons. Key Informant interviews were held either in-
person or through in-depth phone sessions with 55 people.
The EPPP project also required e-surveys to be developed, deployed and analyzed by
Public Works. As a result, three surveys were developed: a publicly posted survey on the
City of Dubuque website (236 responses) a Key Informant Survey template for interviews,
and a Community Service Agency survey deployed via an email from the Mayor in July 2020
reaching 120 agencies. All surveys were designed with input from the EPPP Steering
Committee.
Infographics of key points learned from focus groups and Key Informant Interviews were
presented throughout the project as well as highlights from past studies and reports on
poverty in Dubuque. Infographics are presented in Appendix D of two focus groups. All of
this data-gathering informed the researchers and Steering Committee as to the nature of
poverty in the City focusing on how people fall into poverty and what determinants cause
them to remain in poverty.
Promising Practices
The consulting team was tasked with searching for promising practices that could
strengthen and enhance existing programs along with identifying new innovative strategies
to address and prevent poverty. This process involved conducting a literature search on
practices impacting eight determinants of poverty analyzed by Public Works, reaching out
to national and state associations, think tanks and governmental policy groups, and vetting
practice ideas with Steering Committee members and City Department Heads. An inventory
list of all Promising Practice Ideas can be viewed in Appendix A.
Caucus for Community
Prior to COVID-19, Public Works was poised to hold a large half-day conference in May,
followed by small community events (July and August 2020) that included a booth at an
8
annual summer festival to gather community feedback on Promising Practices that would be
presented in the “Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan.” Insights would be gathered from those
experiencing poverty, social service providers, advocates and civic leaders. The results would
then culminate into a menu of Promising Practices for the Mayor and City Council to consider.
Instead, given the highly contagious nature of COVID-19
and the unpredictability of when social distancing
restrictions would be lifted, the City Manager, the EPPP
Steering Committee in concert with Public Works, opted to
conduct virtual sessions with members of the community to
gain their feedback and insights on thirty “Promising
Practices” that the City would consider.
In response, Public Works LLC designed a “Caucus for
Community” initiative that would offer small caucuses for
stakeholders and those experiencing poverty to provide their feedback on best practice
ideas along with their insights on the state of poverty in Dubuque. Platforms of Zoom and
Go-to-Meetings were used to hold caucuses, all of which, were facilitated by Dr. Linda
Rhodes, who managed the EPPP project for Public Works and had conducted focus groups
during three on-site visits in Dubuque prior to the pandemic.
Caucuses were held with the Human Rights Commission, the Housing Commission, the
Community Development Advisory Commission, the Child Care Coalition, Department
Heads of the City, the Resilient Community Advisory Commission, the Switching Places
Foundation, and Fountain of Youth (the library provided iPads to attendees for this session).
An estimated eighty persons attended these caucuses.
In place of holding a conference, Public Works produced a video to describe the state of
poverty in Dubuque. The sixteen-minute video, “Taking on Poverty,” highlights a wide range
of facts that convey poverty’s impact on residents in the City. Much of it is told through the
stories of five individuals, all of whom, are experiencing poverty.
Through their voice and openness in describing the struggles of everyday life, viewers gain
a deeper understanding of what it is to be poor in Dubuque. The video was shown to all of
the caucuses and was accompanied with a powerpoint presenting Promising Practices that
the City plans to consider. In turn, caucus participants shared their views on the practices
which were reviewed by the Steering Committee with several suggestions becoming part of
the plan.
The video, Taking on Poverty, will be made available to the public allowing civic leaders,
faith-based groups, businesses, service providers, school administrators and teachers, along
9
with advocates throughout the community to hold their own caucuses to gain a deeper
awareness of and response to poverty among their own constituents, clients, staff and
employees.
10
III. UNDERSTANDING POVERTY
1. Basic Concepts on Poverty
The term “poverty” invokes a feeling, an image, and for some, a call to action. Despite the
common use of the term there are many definitions associated with poverty today. Poverty is
said to exist when people lack the means to satisfy their basic needs. Definitions range from
solely a monetary focus to the inclusion of multidimensional factors, but at the core of each
definition is the daily struggle to make ends meet. Several types of poverty may be
distinguished depending on such factors as time or duration (long-or-short term or cyclical)
and distribution (widespread, concentrated, individual). A review of the basic definitions
and core concepts will ground our understanding of poverty.
Absolute poverty is the number of people having a daily income below a set level. The
United Nations defines absolute poverty as “a condition characterized by severe deprivation
of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health,
shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to
services” (UN World Summit for economic development,1995). According to the World
Bank the “set level” to define absolute poverty is $1.90 per day as measured in 2011
International prices (equivalent to $2.12 in 2018). In the United States, absolute poverty is
also referred to as extreme poverty or deep poverty.
According to University of Michigan National Poverty Center, the study found that the
number of poor households in the U.S. living on only $2 a day per person increased
significantly from 1996 to 2011. These households accounted for ten percent of poor
households in 1996, 15 percent by 2000, and nearly 20 percent by 201.5 Using the absolute
poverty line mainly focuses on economic security, not the wide-ranging impact that financial
insecurity brings.
Relative poverty is determined by the share of people with income below a certain
percentage of median income. The United States Census Bureau defines a “certain
percentage” as a threshold that varies by family size and composition. If a family's total
income is less than the threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered in
poverty.6 There are two key concepts that are associated with this definition of poverty:
poverty rate and poverty gap (defined below). The poverty rate does tell us something
about the number who have an income below the set poverty line but does not inform us as
5 Shaefer, H. Luke et al. 2012. “Extreme Poverty in the United States, 1996 to 2011.” National Poverty Center Policy Brief #28.
6 https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html
11
to how far from the line they are. The OECD provides a fuller understanding between
poverty rate and poverty gap:
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) Definitions
Poverty rate: The poverty rate is the ratio of the number of people (in a
given age group) whose income falls below the poverty line; taken as
half the median household income of the total population. It is also
available by broad age group: child poverty (0–17 years old), working-
age poverty, and elderly poverty (66-year-olds or more).
Poverty Gap: The poverty gap is the ratio by which the mean income of
the poor falls below the poverty line. The poverty line is defined as half
the median household income of the total population. The poverty gap
helps refine the poverty rate by providing an indication of the poverty
level in a country. This indicator is measured for the total population, as
well as for people aged 18–65 years and people over 65.7
Situational poverty occurs when a person or family falls below the poverty line as a result
of a specific life event such as job loss, divorce, illness, death in the family, or natural
disaster. These are uncontrollable and often unpredictable events that may create a domino
effect from loss of income that leads to poverty. There are generally two types of situational
poverty: cyclical (depending on the ebb and flow of the national and global economy) and
case (triggered by a crisis experienced by an individual or family). Despite ongoing myths
about poverty, situational poverty is the most common form of poverty experienced in the
United States. The COVID-19 pandemic may have created situational poverty for many
Americans that is simultaneously cyclical and case poverty.
Persistent poverty describes households with an income below the poverty level in the
current year and at least two out of the three preceding years. Persistent poverty is also
known as chronic poverty. “Chronic poverty is an inherently political problem.”8 The
chronicity or persistence of poverty is linked to the equity of the social service system, the
lack of voice among disadvantaged populations, and the lack of responsiveness and/or will
of the political system to effectively address their needs.
7 Source: Available at https://data.oecd.org/inequality/poverty-gap.htm, accessed 2 August 2020
8 Hickey, Sam, and Sarah Bracking. "Exploring the Politics of Chronic Poverty: from Representation to a Politics of Justice?" (2005)
12
Generational poverty exceeds the three-year timeframe of chronic poverty, wherein at
least two generations within a family has been born into poverty. Given that assets are often
intergenerational, passed on by inheritance, and the family’s wealth takes a long time to
accumulate, this intergenerational cycle of poverty suggests that long-term social class and
race are tied to the generation of wealth.9
Concentrated Poverty describes areas where a high proportion of residents are living at or
below the Official Poverty Measure, also known as the Federal Poverty Level. Areas are
determined by census tracts and neighborhoods upon which the poverty rate is considered
“concentrated” when the poverty rate is 40 percent or more —meaning at least four in ten
people fall below the poverty line.10
Research studies show that children and adults living in such highly disadvantaged
neighborhoods face poorer health, struggle with food insecurity, attend challenged schools,
Blacks and People of Color are disproportionately
impacted and strong evidence shows “that children
who experience the disadvantages of growing up in
and surrounded by poverty will continue to bear
the burden of those disadvantages into
adulthood.11
Two tracts cited in this report (Census Tract 1 and
Tract 5) are considered concentrated poverty areas
in the City of Dubuque.
2. The Effects of Poverty
There are consequences of living and growing up in poverty. Poverty affects education, self-
worth and health. For instance, those living in poverty do not achieve the same level of
education as others. Ultimately, lower educational attainment constrains future income by
lack of career advancement opportunities later in life.
Poverty has long been stigmatized throughout our country.12 In the United States we share a
belief in the American Dream: that anyone can achieve success through his or her
determination and hard work. This ideology legitimizes the belief that those living in poverty
have simply not worked hard enough. Instead for them, the American Dream becomes a
nightmare that can induce feelings of shame.13
9 Shapiro, T. M. The Hidden Cost of Being African American. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
10 Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Basic Facts on Concentrated Poverty, 2015.
https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/11-3-15hous2.pdf
11 Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren, “The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility: Childhood Exposure Effects and
County-Level Estimates,” NBER, May 2015.
12 Greve, B. (2020). Poverty. London: Routledge.
13 Walker, Robert. The Shame of Poverty (Oxford, 2014).
13
Those living in poverty often suffer from worse health than wealthier counterparts. This
includes facing hunger, overall poorer nutrition, lack of adequate housing, and higher
exposures to environmental toxins. Illness and conditions related to an impoverished
lifestyle exacerbated by lack of quality healthcare. Those experiencing poverty have high
rates of many diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and disability. As a
result, there is a lower life expectancy for those living in poverty.14
Moreover, the everyday stress associated with living in poverty can leave traumatic scars,
especially for children. There is growing evidence of the costs of poverty to children’s
neuroendocrine function, early brain development, and cognitive ability.15 Research has
also shown links between poverty and low birthweight, structural changes in brain
development, adverse childhood experiences, increased material hardship, child
maltreatment, worse physical health, mental health problems, decreased educational
attainment, and increased risky behaviors, delinquency, and criminal behavior in
adolescence and adulthood.16
Whatever definition is used, authorities and laypersons alike agree that the effects of
poverty are harmful to both individuals and society. The aim of this report is to provide
actionable steps towards preventing and eradicating poverty through a multidimensional
lens of equity, compassion and wide-spread community engagement.
Measuring Poverty
How poverty is defined and measured has a powerful impact on how a community marshals
its resources (or not) to address and prevent it. And it will greatly influence how individuals
and families experiencing poverty will fare over the course of their lives. The measure draws
the line as to who is eligible for services, who must wait and who will be turned away.
A key task of the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan was to analyze and assess what is the
best, most equitable way of measuring poverty so that the City can accurately and fairly
determine the scope of need among those who are experiencing poverty and respond
accordingly.
To fulfill this task, the City Planning Department and the consulting research team
reviewed the predominant thresholds for determining poverty being applied throughout
the country and explored alternative measures being used and proposed to better assess
14 Bor, Jacob, Gregory H. Cohen, and Sandro Galea. "Population health in an era of rising income inequality: USA, 1980–2015." The
Lancet 389.10077 (2017): 1475-1490.
15 Blair, Clancy, and C Cybele Raver. “Poverty, Stress, and Brain Development: New Directions for Prevention and Intervention.” Academic
pediatrics vol. 16,3 Suppl (2016): S30-6. doi:10.1016/j.acap.2016.01.010
16 https://www.irp.wisc.edu/resource/cutting-child-poverty-in-half-directions-for-policymakers/
14
poverty and its impact. The following overview provides background on these measures
and concludes with a recommendation for a more equitable way to determine the level of
poverty within the City.
Overview
The official poverty measure has been used to estimate the national poverty rate since the
1960s.17 The current model is based on research indicating that families spend about one-
third of their incomes on food – the official poverty level was set by multiplying food costs
by three. Since then, the same figures have been updated annually for inflation but have
otherwise remained unchanged. This current model for determining poverty is widely
acknowledged to be outdated.
As the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University explains, food now
comprises only one-seventh of an average family’s expenses, while the costs of housing,
child care, health care, and transportation have grown disproportionately.18 The 2018
federal poverty threshold for a family of four is an annual income of $25,100.19
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, most analysts agree that today’s
poverty thresholds are too low. And although there is no consensus about what
constitutes a minimum but decent standard of living in the U.S., research consistently
shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice the federal poverty level
to meet their most basic needs.
In fact, even the general public believes that the poverty rate should be twice the annual
amount at 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or $50,200 for a family of four as
indicated by polling conducted by the American Enterprise Institute.20
Failure to update the federal poverty level for changes in the cost of living means that
people who are considered poor today by the official standard are worse off relative to
everyone else than people considered poor when the poverty measure was established.
The current federal poverty measure equals about 29 percent of median household
17 Center for Poverty & Inequality Research, “What is the current poverty rate in the United States?” 2020.
18 http://www.nccp.org/pages/pdf/page_131.pdf
19 HHS 2018 Federal Poverty Guidelines
20 Madrick, Jeff, Invisible Americans: The Tragic Cost of Child Poverty, New York: Alfred Knopf, 2020.
15
income, whereas in the 1960s, the poverty level was nearly 50 percent of median
income.21
Measuring poverty isn’t an easy matter. As explained by Shawn Fremstad, senior policy
fellow at the Center for Economic Policy and Research, poverty is a social and political
concept, not merely a technical one. At its core, it is about not having enough income to
afford what’s needed to live at a minimally decent level. But there is no purely scientific
way to determine what goods and services are “necessary” or what it means to live at a
“minimally decent level.” Both depend in part on shared social understandings and evolve
over time as mainstream living standards evolve.22
The Two Federal Measures of Poverty
The Federal Poverty Level (FPL) also known as the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) is based
on cash resources derived from a 50-year old formula upon which food costs were
calculated at 30% of a family’s income. This is multiplied by three to create the total basic
income a family would need to stay just above poverty. This became known as the poverty
line. This methodology is widely viewed as outdated and seriously underestimates the
basic income required to remain above poverty. A family of four at 100% of OPM in 2018
must live on a basic monthly income of $2,300.
Table Table1: Federal Poverty Level 201823
The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) was created in 2011 by the US Census Bureau
using cash resources and noncash benefits and then subtracting necessary expenses (such
as taxes, housing, utilities, child care and medical expenses). It is considered modestly
better than the OPM, yet, still remains inadequate. In 2018, 12.8 percent of the population
was considered poor based on using the SPM measures while the more conservative OPM
identified 11.8 percent as poor at 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.24
Persons I Family Household Poverty Guideline
1 $12,140
2 $16,460
3 $20,780
4 $25,100
21 “10 Important Questions about Child Poverty & Family Economic Hardship.” National Center for Children in Poverty.
http://www.nccp.org/pages/pdf/page_131.pdf
22 Fremstad, Shawn, September 16, 2019. “The official U.S. poverty rate is based on a hopelessly out-of-date metric.” Washington Post.
23 U.S. Department of HHS, 2018 Federal Poverty Levels, https://aspe.hhs.gov/2018-poverty-guidelines
24 U.S. Census Bureau, https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2019/demo/p60-268.html
Note: Add $4,420 for each additional person
Source: 2018 HHS Poverty Guidelines: https://aspe.hhs.gov/2018-poverty-guidelines
16
Measuring a Livable Basic Income
As an alternative to the outdated Federal Poverty Levels, other models have been
developed and adopted. These models identify the costs of maintaining a livable, modest
way of life beyond surviving from paycheck to paycheck. We’re sharing two such
prototypes: the Basic Economic Security Tables, also known as the BEST Index and the
United Way’s ALICE Project.
The Basic Economic Security Tables, or BEST Index was developed by the Institute for
Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) and the National Council on Aging. The BEST Index
measures the income a working adult requires to meet his or her basic needs. The BEST
Index calculates a family’s needs based on a wider range of expenses than the federal
government. It includes housing, food and household goods, transportation, child care,
utilities, taxes, and emergency and retirement savings.
BEST Index Budget Family of Four Monthly Cost Estimates 2017
Dubuque County
Housing $586
Utilities $0
Food $702
Transportation $894
Child Care $1,321
Personal & Household Items $475
Healthcare $687
Emergency Savings $191
Retirement Savings $85
Taxes $1,129
Tax Credits -$175
Monthly Total (per worker) $2,984
Annual Total $70,740
Hourly Wage (per worker) $16.75
Additional Asset Building Savings
Children’s Higher Education $203
Homeownership $128
Source: http://www.basiceconomicsecurity.org/best/budget.aspx
17
The IWPR considers this a conservative estimate of a family’s needs because it does not
include any “extras” such as vacations, entertainment, electronics, gifts or meals out.25
Using the BEST Index, a family of four in Dubuque County would need $70,740 per year to
meet basic needs which is drastically more than the $25,100 annual income for four used
to calculate the Federal Poverty Level (2018). The chart on the next page provides a
breakdown of these costs. Note: We were only able to extract this data for the County and
not the City, specifically.
The ALICE Project (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) is a tool
developed by the United Way to assist communities throughout the country to better
assess the needs of the poor and “working poor.” The project provides a framework,
language, and tools to measure and understand the struggles of a population that earns
below a Household Survival Budget known as the ALICE Threshold. These amounts are
determined at the state and county level.26 Reports generated by the ALICE Project delve
into the demographics of ALICE and poverty-level households by race/ethnicity, age, and
household type to reveal variations in hardship that are often masked by state averages.
Reports also highlight emerging trends
that will affect ALICE households in the
future.27
In simplest terms, ALICE households
have an income above the Federal
Poverty Level but below the basic cost of
living. A household consists of all the
people who occupy a housing unit. As
shown in the table above, the
Household Survival Budget calculates
the actual costs of basic necessities
(housing, child care, food,
transportation, health care, and a
smartphone), adjusted for different
counties and household types.
The ALICE Threshold is the average income that a household needs to afford the basic
necessities defined by a Household Survival Budget. For example, between 2010-2016
25 BEST Results, Institute for Women’s Policy Institute. http://www.basiceconomicsecurity.org/best/budget.aspx
26 United Way, ALICE: A Study of Financial Hardship I Iowa, 2020.
27 ALICE Project, Iowa County Pages 2016 Point-in-Time Data, 2018. (www.unnitedforalice.org/iowa)
18
We also encourage City Planning and other policy makers to use metrics such as offered
by United Way’s ALICE model that will enable the City and community to assess the true
extent and nature of poverty in Dubuque. This, in turn, allows the City, stakeholders and
partners to track the progress of outcome measures in reducing poverty, and its impact on
the quality of life among those experiencing it. It also enables policymakers to assess the
degree to which strategies being deployed to tackle poverty are succeeding or not.
28 ALICE in Dubuque County, 2016 (Point-in-Time Data).
29 Madrick, Ibid.
City of Dubuque | Percent of Population in Poverty
increasing move towards online learning, work, shopping, and societal connectedness.
(virtual & in-school) that students now face during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ever-
non-essential or luxury items. All are vital in meeting the demands of hybrid learning
internet access fees and laptop computers. No longer are these technologies considered
necessities not covered by either federal poverty measure such as cell phone plans,
City. This would more realistically accommodate expensive child-care costs and other
respectively for a family of four, 2018) as the baseline to determine poverty levels in the
We recommend using between 150 to 200 percent x OPM ($37,650 to $50,200
percent as their poverty threshold.29
impoverished life. Many programs, for example, use between 150 percent of OPM to 200
assess the levels of poverty in their community and serve those experiencing an
(OPM), many experts and social service agencies take the FPL and multiply it to realistically
Until the federal government makes fundamental changes to the Official Poverty Measure
Conclusion & Recommendation on Measuring Poverty
Threshold among the working poor, accounting for one-third of the county’s population.28
households, 11 percent are below the Federal Poverty Level and 22 percent at the ALICE
of the population struggling with poverty. For the County of Dubuque, among 37,710
percent) and another 307,959 (25 percent) are ALICE households resulting in 37 percent
among Iowa’s 1,250,638 households, 149,264 earn below the Federal Poverty Level (12
19
3. Determinants of Poverty
The literature is replete with studies on the multiple and complex causes of poverty, as are
the strategies to combat it. Based on such a literature search, we identified a set of eight
major determinants frequently cited as factors that contribute towards people falling into
poverty and/or remaining in it. We then explored these determinants with Key Informants
during interviews, received feedback on the impact of these determinants from people
experiencing poverty in focus groups, and gathered insights from the public and
community service agencies by way of surveys as to how these determinants contribute to
the state of poverty in Dubuque. None of these determinants, however, operate in a
vacuum. They are highly interconnected:
THE INTERCONNECTIVITY OF POVERTY DETERMINANTS
If a mom heads up a household with two young children and can’t afford child
care, she can’t work. If she relies on family and friends for child care, it’s often
unreliable and places her at risk of losing her job whenever the care falls
through. If she has to rely on public transit, or family and friends to get to work that
includes dropping off children to day care along the way; she’s again at risk of calling off
work when any of her rides is late or is simply a no show. If her job doesn’t pay a living
wage, she’ll be forced to find less than desirable housing often cobbled with high utility
bills she can ill-afford because the upkeep of the housing unit is subpar. By working and
raising children as a single head of household, her options to further her education and
gain job skills that could change her family’s standard of living remain out of reach. And
underlying all of this, the stress of struggling from day to day will chip away at her health
and dash away her hope. The physical wear and tear and emotional toll won’t just affect
mom, it exacts a toll on her children with lifetime consequences.
We’ve organized this report by focusing on each determinant individually by:
1) Describing its overall impact on individuals and families.
2) Identifying major data points that quantify the factor’s impact.
3) Sharing qualitative insights from Key Informant Interviews, focus groups, caucuses
and surveys as to the effect of the determinant and ideas to address it.
4) Highlighting “Promising Practices” to prevent and alleviate the negative
consequences of the determinant.
20
However, prior to breaking down poverty by determinants, we’ll identify two major
strategy areas for the City to address that holistically integrates these determinants. The
first spotlights infrastructure as to how the City and community can “take on poverty” and
the second is access to services and opportunities.
To effectively combat the growth and extent of poverty, especially among people of
color, this will require a collaborative, collective impact, all hands-on-deck commitment.
We broke down poverty by determinants to better assess the root causes which would
enlighten finding strategies to redress them.
By no means should this approach be interpreted to construct a siloed approach to
tackling poverty. In addition to assessing the impact of these determinants and income
based on poverty thresholds, we posit that a Poverty Hardship Index (PHI) could be
created that identifies how specific factors among the eight determinants of poverty
place individuals, children and families in harm’s way as a result of being poor.
The index would flag those that are at greatest risk. This could be helpful to social service
and healthcare agencies throughout Dubuque. Public Works is developing a PHI that can
be used as a planning tool for communities and social service providers or it can be used
as a starting point for discussion in creating and refining such an instrument.
21
Hardships that would raise a red flag on the PHI checklist are factors such as:
Poverty Hardship Index (PHI)
Living in concentrated poverty
Adults in household working minimum wage jobs
Adult in household with one or more chronic conditions
(e.g. heart disease, diabetes, obesity)
Adult in Household suffering from anxiety, depression,
addiction or other brain health issue
Child with chronic brain or health conditions
Living in limited English-speaking household
Living in a high crime area
Living in a child-care desert
Living in a food-desert
Living in sub-standard housing
Attending a low-performing school
Living in 2nd generation of poverty
Living without a cell phone, internet access and/or computer.
100% reliant on public transportation or family and friends
Income at or below 150% poverty
4. What Do We Mean by Equitable?
THE EQUITY LENS
The overarching mission of the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan is to empower all citizens
within the city of Dubuque the opportunity to prosper. It’s based on the premise that
communities thrive when every citizen prospers. There are, however, obstacles that
systemically and structurally block individuals from equal access to the means from which to
advance from poverty. Thus, an added charge of the project is to uncover these obstacles
and analyze how the City can remedy those impediments so that everyone – whatever their
gender, race, age, or socio-economic status – can thrive.
22
To gain a clear focus on these obstacles, the following Equity Lens will be applied to, Eight
Determinants of Poverty by exploring these questions:
Ö Are there any laws, policies or regulations (state and local) that cause or
exacerbate poverty among the eight determinants?
Ö Are there ways that the City can enhance how it collects and analyzes data to
gain a robust and authentic understanding of poverty? (For example, is there a
better measure of poverty than the Federal Poverty Level and are there Equity
Indices the City could adopt, measure and monitor?)
Ö How wide are the disparities in wealth and health among races, ages and
gender? How is this measured, monitored and corrected?
Ö How do race and poverty intersect? What role does racism play in causing and
fueling poverty? What barriers especially impact people of color?
Ö Are there geographic or other physical barriers (e.g. lack of transportation or
living in a zip code with concentrated poverty) that impede access to resources
that lead out of poverty?
Ö Are there underlying cultural norms, stereotypes and misperceptions about
people experiencing poverty that prevent a prospering community from taking
hold for all Dubuquers?
The City and community have embarked on a good deal of work to raise awareness as to
issues of inequity with the intent to take action to correct them. Much of this is described in a
recent report presented by the Human Rights Department to City Council (January 2020)
which has been spearheading much of the City’s efforts in this field. The City, itself,
subscribes to a set of Equity Principles that is applied by all departments.
A “Community Equity Profile” through the Inclusive Dubuque initiative in 2015 and
sponsored by the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque identified significant racial
inequities and has since encouraged other groups to disaggregate data by race to better
understand and address inequity and lack of opportunities to advance.
This inspired such efforts as the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, the Dubuque College
Access Network to increase high-school graduation rates, Opportunity Dubuque and
Dubuque College Access Network to grow college acceptance and graduation rates among
students of color. The City has provided funding and resources to a myriad of organizations
that are dedicated to diversity and inclusiveness.
23
Two non-profits, The Fountain of Youth and the Dream Center have been designated as
high priority organizations in receiving City support. It is further engaged in a public-private
partnership with the Multicultural Family Center (MFC) with a mission to, “empower all
families and community members of Dubuque to reach their potential and build unity
through diversity, equity, and inclusion.” In addition, the City supports the programs offered
by St. Mark Youth Enrichment providing innovative programs and services that cultivate the
educational and social-emotional growth of youth and families and the HEART (Housing
Education and Rehabilitation Training) Program offering a hands-on learning experience for
young people to achieve their goals of attaining a high school diploma while transforming
Dubuque’s most blighted neighborhood back into a livable, walkable community for
working families.
The community as a whole has engaged in a wide range of events to build awareness and
support around equity issues, and most recently City Council held two sessions with
community leaders on Black Lives Matter, so as to better understand and respond to
racism’s role in lack of equity among Blacks in the community.
Thus, there is a solid foundation from which to grow and ensure that the structural and racial
inequities that keep people of color and people experiencing poverty be righted.
24
IV. AN OVERVIEW OF POVERTY IN DUBUQUE
Poverty is a substantial concern among Dubuquers. In a public survey featured at the
City Expo and on the City website in October 2019, nearly three out of four respondents
saw poverty as a “problem” and one-quarter saw it as a “very large problem.” The age
distribution was evenly represented, however, younger people (18-34 years) saw poverty
as a “very large problem” more than any other age group (30 percent vs. 20 percent).
In another survey conducted for this report, 120
agency representatives were contacted that
provide services to those experiencing poverty.
Thirty-three percent responded and they also
reported a high degree of concern. Nearly sixty
percent claim that “Poverty is a large challenge
in Dubuque” while the remainder saw it as a
“moderate” challenge. Only one person among
the thirty-nine respondents, saw poverty as a
“minimal” challenge.
Nearly 60 %
of Service Providers see poverty
as a Very Large or Large
Challenge in Dubuque.
(Pre-COVID-19)
too low.”
“People have to hold down two jobs just to make ends meet because the wages are
support system behind.”
“Families coming to Dubuque are already poor and have left their family/friends
even if they earn more.”
or food support) if their income increases slightly. As a result, they remain in poverty
The “Cliff Effect” keeps people in poverty. They lose benefits (e.g. child care, housing
For those who said, poverty has increased they gave some of the following reasons:
past three years while 39 percent feel that it has remained the same.
Nearly half (48%) indicated that poverty has increased in the City of Dubuque over the
25
Respondents were asked, “To what degree do thirteen factors play into causing and/or
maintaining poverty among the people you serve?” The table below shows the
frequency by which respondents chose each particular factor.
Table 4: Top Ranking “High Degree Factors” Causing/Sustaining Poverty
It is interesting to note that in a focus group with service providers organized by the
United Way, they too, considered “Generational,” poverty as one of the leading factors
that contribute towards poverty.
When asked if they agreed or disagreed with the following statement, “The pandemic is
going to have a very serious impact on those experiencing poverty over the next 12
months, 66 percent chose “Strongly Agree.” Nearly half reported that they have seen
new clients since the pandemic.
Key Informants and focus group participants reflected the same levels of concern and
welcomed the City’s efforts to address poverty through the Equitable Poverty Prevention
Plan. Those who were experiencing poverty expressed the greatest level of concern and
urgency for strategies to address many of the systemic issues that will be discussed
throughout in this report.
1. POVERTY BY THE NUMBERS
According to 2018 census data, the City of Dubuque shows that 16 percent of the
population is below the federal poverty level (FPL), accounting for one out of every six
residents. This means that a family of four is expected to survive on an annual budget of
26
$25,100. If they make more than this figure they are no longer considered living in
poverty and will not qualify for a wide range of government subsidized services.
In 2018, of the City’s 58,340 residents 8,799 had reported income levels below the
poverty line. On average, Dubuque’s 16% poverty rate is significantly higher than the
average 12% poverty rate across the state of Iowa. Dubuque is ranked 6th below the
poverty line among eleven major cities in Iowa.30
The rate of poverty has been rising since 2010 whereupon it was 10 percent increasing
to 15 percent in 2014 and to 16 percent in 2019.31
This represents a 60 percent rise of poverty rates
within a decade and the rate continues to rise.
As previously recommended, if we apply the more
realistic measure of poverty at either 150% or 200%
of the Official Poverty Measure, then today, 25
percent of the city’s residents are struggling with
poverty at this level for a family of four ($37,650
annual).32
If the City were to consider the poverty rate to be at
twice the FPL, meaning a family of four survives on
an annual budget of $50,200 then it would account
for nearly one-third of the population of Dubuque.
If the City were to use the United Way ALICE threshold that includes working families
who are struggling to live within the basic “Household Survival Budget,” plus people who
are below the Federal Poverty Level, then 44 percent of the 24,050 Households (2016)
in the City of Dubuque are struggling to just get by every day.33
The Table on the following page presents a recap of the various methodologies used to
determine poverty levels within a community as discussed in this report.
30 US Census, American Community Survey, Table S0101, 2018
31 US Census, American Community Surveys 2010, 2014, 2019.
32 US Census, American Community Survey 2018
33 United Way, “ALICE Dubuque, Iowa; 2016 Point-in-Time Data” Fact Sheet. (Note: ACS 2018 Data shows 23,926 households in the City of
Dubuque.
Poverty Growth Rate
City of Dubuque
27
Table 5: Percent of City Population in Poverty by Four Thresholds 201836
The bottom line? No matter how you calculate poverty rates for the City of Dubuque, the
numbers are sobering. A quarter of families of four with incomes at 1.5 times the Federal
Poverty Level (FPL) is living on a monthly budget of $3,137 while one-third at twice the FPL
survive on $4,166 per month. Those living on the ALICE Survival Budget of $4,887 per
month which includes the working poor account for 44 percent of the Dubuque
population.
A Note on Rural Poverty and the Role of the State
Though the focus of this report is on the impact of poverty within the City of Dubuque and
how to address it, this doesn’t mean that our lens stops within city limits. How state
governance and neighboring counties are impacted by and attending to poverty affects us
all. Poverty whether among rural counties or urban areas in Iowa plays out in very similar
ways with each reporting that they need more living wage jobs, quality child care, affordable
housing, affordable health care and a quality education. State laws and regulations can
either deter or advance growth in each of these sectors.
Over the last decade, the State of Iowa’s economy ranks as the sixth lowest growing in the
country.37 Most counties in Iowa, (60%) report that at least 10 percent of their population is
experiencing poverty. And as this report shows, those numbers are significantly
underestimated when using the Federal Level of Poverty measure to account for poverty.
Our neighboring counties (Clayton, Delaware, Jones) show similar poverty rates as does the
rural county of Dubuque (11.7%) while Jackson’s is even greater at 12.4 percent.38
34 Data.census.gov, Official Poverty Measure & Poverty. Based on population of 54,856.
35 Ibid
36 Ibid
37 Swenson, “Addressing Iowa’s Rural Issues Could Draw Lawmakers from Both Parties,” The Gazette, 2018.
38USDA Economic Research Service: https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?ID=17826
Poverty Measure Family of Four Annual
Income Thresholds
Percent of City of
Dubuque Population
Federal Poverty Measure
(FPL) 100%
$25,100 16%
FPL at 150% $37,650 24%
FPL at 200%34 $50,200 32%
ALICE: 100% FPL + Working
Poor35
$58,644 44%
28
Though we share similar effects of poverty within our communities, our rural residents have
the added dimension of grappling with being poor in isolation. If they are without a car, they
are cut off from a support system to assist them and the lack of services that can reach them.
Cities have the added responsibility to address how racial disparities have kept Blacks and
People of Color in poverty.
Overall, there are more ties that bind us in taking on poverty than separate us. Throughout
the report you’ll learn of all the partners within the city that have and will come to the table
to stem the rising tide of poverty. But it will also require working with our County, its
governance and the State providing the leadership and incentives to help the economy
grow within cities and counties throughout all of Iowa.
2. ADDRESSING COVID-19
These figures do not factor in the impact of COVID-19, which many fear will throw a sizable
new number of people into poverty, most of whom are the working poor as described by
the ALICE project. Those already living in poverty who have held minimum wage jobs in
the service sector are now finding themselves without work or having to contend with a
severe cut in hours.
It is not in the scope of work for this report to make projections on future poverty rates due
to the pandemic. The poverty statistics and findings amassed here provide a baseline on
the volume of people experiencing poverty in the City and the degree to which lives are
impacted by it pre-COVID-19.
That being said, we asked agency heads and service providers if they are: “Seeing new
clients that you haven’t served before?” A solid half said yes, and a resounding 90 percent
agreed that “the pandemic is going to have a very serious impact on those experiencing
poverty over the next 12 months,” of which 65 percent rated it as “Strongly Agreed.”
29
Open Comment Entries: Describing New Covid-19 Clientele
“We’re seeing a significant increase of marginalized people and those from the middle class.”
“Most are facing unemployment.” (44% believe it is the prime reason)
“People are coming in for help paying back rent and utility bills.”
“People are maxing out on cell phone plans and grocery bills as kids stay at home from
school.”
“Demand for brain health and social emotional support services are dramatically rising,
fueled by increases in depression and anxiety. Suicide rates are up nationwide.”
“Quarantining with abusive spouses has caused more women to seek services and shelter
with a rise in domestic violence cases.”
In terms of COVID-19’s impact on their regular clientele, forty-one percent of the agencies
reported that they are seeing them more, while thirty-one percent said it was the same and
one-quarter report it’s less than before due to no longer offering in-person visits.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Open Comment Entries: Needs of Regular Clientele Due to COVID-19
“We are offering more services via telehealth, but some clients may find this difficult. Overall,
people are getting use to video and phone calls, but it means less face to face interaction.”
“We serve people with substance addiction – their fear and anxiety has risen and need more
counseling.”
“Some agencies have closed their offices and others report seeing half of what they did prior
to COVID-19. Volunteer mentors have been lost as they are in at-risk age groups or had to
find work.”
“We’re a legal office: most of our clients are focused on food and shelter. Common issues of
dealing with rent, utility bills and other legal issues were placed on a moratorium. Once that
is lifted, we expect a surge of cases. More calls about non-custodial parents not able to work
& thus, can’t pay child support.”
30
“More people now need services and supplies delivered to their homes and we’ve been
trying to accommodate.”
Thus, it will be imperative for all sectors in the community to assess in a very integrated and
collaborative way the impact that the pandemic will continue to have on poverty rates
during the course of the next two years, at least.
3. POVERTY RATES AND RACE
Results of surveys, key informant interviews and focus groups clearly show that most
people in Dubuque believe that there is a connection between poverty and race. In the
General Public Poverty Survey, six out of ten people believe so and when asked, “To what
degree does racial and/or gender bias lead to poverty?” 43 percent felt it highly
contributes to poverty while one in five see it as having a minimal impact. In the Agency
Provider Community Survey, 63 percent rated “Systemic Racism and Bias” as a factor that
highly contributes towards people falling into and remaining in poverty.
The overall racial composition of the breadth of poverty throughout the City is depicted in
the following table showing that three out of four persons experiencing poverty in
Dubuque are white while nearly one in five are black. Categories of Asian and Pacific
Islanders, Two or More Races and Latinx account for 3 percent each.
Table 6: City of Dubuque Racial Distribution of Poverty | 201839
Race Number Percent
Total in Poverty 8,865 16%
White Alone 6,416 75%
Black or African American Alone 1,467 17%
Asian & Pacific Islander 274 3%
Some Other Race 210 2%
Two or More Races 224 3%
Latinx 274 3%
Since ninety percent of the population is white in the City,40 it’s not surprising to see such a
high number of whites comprising the total number of persons in poverty. But what is
39 https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0600000US1906191085&hidePreview=false
40 Source: US Census 2018 ACS 5-Year Survey (Table B03002)
Source: American Community Survey, 2018 Table ID: S1701
31
distressing is the profound disproportionate level of poverty endured by Blacks and other
minority populations, especially considering that the Black community represents five
percent of the total population (2108, ACS).
Table 7: City of Dubuque Percent of Poverty Within Racial Groups
100 Percent Federal Poverty Level 2018
Race Number in
Poverty
Percent Iowa United States
White Alone 6,416 13% 9.9% 10.9%
Black or African
American Alone
1,467
56%
30.7%
22.5%
Pacific Islander 146 38% Not Available 16.7%
Asian 128 17% 14.5% 10.8%
Some Other Race 210 67% 25.3% 20.1%
Two or More
Races
224 26% 25.4% 15.9%
Latinx 274 22% 20.1% 18.8%
Total in Poverty 8,856 16% 11.2% 13.1%
Table Seven tells a troubling story that the Black community in Dubuque is four times as
likely to be poor as their White neighbors, almost twice as likely as Blacks statewide, and
two and a half times as likely to live in poverty as Blacks nationwide.
Poverty places severe hardships for all races, thus all the strategies of “Promising Practices”
presented throughout this report, will benefit all lives. That being said, the data confirms, as
does what we learned through focus groups, caucuses, interviews and surveys, one basic
truth: there are barriers that people of color confront that prevent them from equitably being
able to realize what these strategies can afford them.
Thus, as we review each determinant throughout this report with data, findings and
“Promising Practices” to address them, we will cast an equity lens on race in a special
section of this report that will identify specific areas and opportunities to remove those
barriers among the Black community.
Source: American Community Survey, 2018 Table ID: S1701 Source: Iowa Census Data 2018
Source: U.S. Census Data 2018
32
We will also be mindful throughout the review of the determinants, that Dubuque is also
home to a substantial Marshallese community and growing Latinx population with unique
needs, as well. Demographic and other factual data on poverty will be presented
throughout the report as it relates to each determinant.
33
V. THE EQUITABLE POVERTY PREVENTION PLAN
1. INFRASTRUCTURE TO ADVANCE SHARED PROSPERITY
A. Overview
Over the past six to seven years as poverty rates have steadily risen, community
leaders and stakeholders along with support from the City have conducted a
significant number of studies to assess and analyze the needs of its residents
experiencing poverty with the intent to act accordingly.
Reports and data generated by such initiatives as Inclusive Dubuque, Sustainable
Dubuque, and Imagine Dubuque all identified poverty as a major impediment
towards people being able to realize their full potential. Lack of jobs with livable
wages, lack of affordable, quality child care, a shortage of safe affordable housing,
and demand for easy access public transportation for work and adult skills training
are constant themes among these reports.
The Community Equity Profile, as part of the Inclusive Dubuque initiative by the
Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, identified a baseline of disparities
among diverse groups in Dubuque and especially within the Black community. In
response to the challenges that minorities and people experiencing poverty face in
gaining skills to acquire living wage jobs, the Northeast Iowa Community College and
Greater Dubuque Development Corporation developed Opportunity Dubuque: a
program that engages and supports students to go onto college.
Yet, in a recent report written by student interns from the MIT School of Management,
sponsored by the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, they found that even
though there is widespread commitment among business and community leaders to
assist people out of poverty among diverse populations, “there is an apparent
disconnect between action and results.”
Essentially, no singular lead entity is accountable for keeping track of or facilitating
ongoing collaborative efforts to reduce poverty. Nor is there a central entity
identifying what outcome measures should be tracked to determine what works, what
doesn’t and what new needs or barriers exist that lead people into poverty or remain
in it. Without this type of data and tracking, opportunities are being missed to change
course.
34
B. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement
Similar to the findings of the previous reports cited, Key Informants, caucus participants,
focus group members and survey respondents suggest – that despite a wide range of
initiatives to address poverty and equity issues, and a committed leadership among civic,
non-profit, philanthropic, schools, faith and businesses community; there remains an urgent
need for a more collaborative, integrative and accountable approach to maximize resources
and reverse the rising tide of poverty .
This sentiment was consistently expressed through our community engagement fieldwork
and well captured in the following two open-ended comments from respondents who took
the Community Agency Poverty Survey:
“We need to develop some sort of
coordinating hub among agency leaders to
foster maximizing resources.”
“We’ve got to focus on the barriers our clients
face in every day life and go about removing
them in a focused, strategic way.”
This is why we’re suggesting that the City look
towards a collective impact model that can
harness the good works and good intentions
of Dubuquers towards achieving a
prosperous, equitable community for all.
C. Promising Practices: Collective Impact and Office of Shared Prosperity
We’re recommending that the City become the community’s chief civic change agent and
facilitator supporting and fostering public-private partnerships through collaborative
initiatives to take on poverty through an “Office of Shared Prosperity” that follows a
Collective Impact Model.
What does this mean? Quite simply, collective impact brings people together in a structured
way to achieve social change.41 It starts with a common agenda born from collectively
defining a problem and creating a shared vision to solve it. Stakeholders agree to track
progress in the same way to gain deeper, multidisciplinary analysis that can foster
continuous improvement among all groups working on the problem.
41 The Collective Impact Forum, “What is Collective Impact?,” Accessed October 23, 2020
35
It fosters mutually reinforcing strategies, programs and activities so that these collective
efforts maximize the end result the group seeks to achieve. Throughout the entire process
of problem-solving, continuous and open dialogue is central to building trust and
relationships which is considered vital when solving complex societal problems and those
addressing issues of inequity.
And finally, collective impact in any form requires a “strong backbone” in the form of a team
dedicated to orchestrating the work of the group on behalf of the community it serves.
“The Backbone Organization in a Collective Impact effort both helps maintain overall
strategic coherence and coordinates and manages the day-to-day operations and
implementation of work, including stakeholder engagement, communications, data
collection and analysis, and other responsibilities.”42
And that’s where the proposed “City’s Office of Shared Prosperity” comes in -- it will serve
the Dubuque community’s quest to collectively impact the state of poverty that’s holding
back thousands of individuals, families and children from a prosperous and purposeful life.
Serving in a backbone capacity does not mean that the City administers or runs all of the
initiatives and promising practices that are presented throughout this report.
Taking on poverty and bringing about shared prosperity in the City of Dubuque is a
community endeavor with all hands-on-deck. It requires every sector – business, financial,
education, philanthropic, faith-based, non-profit, government – to contribute towards the
implementation of the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan.
Depending upon the issues and strategies being addressed, various organizations will rise
to the fore to perform the backbone and convening role as it seeks to collaboratively solve
the issue at hand. In all cases, those experiencing poverty and those directly working with
them will be actively involved in lending their lived insights throughout the process of
defining problems and creating the solutions to remedy them.
A Tale of Two Cities
A number of cities and states have created such offices. Two, in particular, that can serve as
models for Dubuque to consider are the City of Richmond, Virginia and the City of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Mayors and their respective City Council members along
with community stakeholders saw the need for the City to try another approach to stemming
42 Ibid
36
the rising tide of poverty. Siloed, specialized departments each addressing a specific
component of poverty wasn’t getting the level of change their residents experiencing
poverty needed. Poverty rates were climbing despite all of the resources, funding and
services that numerous agencies and the City had targeted to reduce it.
Similar to the City of Dubuque, the cities found that it wasn’t for lack of trying that they
weren’t moving the needle on poverty, it was how they were trying. Too many agencies
were competing for two few resources, they operated along parallel tracks not only among
each other but within their own organizations, as well. They each decided that they’d try a
collective impact approach with the City taking a very active role as convener, supporter and
change agent. Essentially, acting as the backbone of a robust city-wide collective impact
strategy. Both have reported significant success utilizing this approach. Richmond named
their entity as the Office of Community Wealth Building and their most recent annual report
shows the kind of collaborative initiatives that have taken place since the office began five
years ago.
The City of Philadelphia’s model created the Office of Community Empowerment and
Opportunity (CEO) which also functions as the city-wide Community Action Agency funded
by the federal Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) program to provide low-income
persons opportunities to move forward. The rationale for creating CEO, is shared on their
website:
“Despite spending nearly $700 million annually across multiple departments and public agencies to
address the effects of poverty, Philadelphia is in crisis. It became increasingly apparent that the scale
of poverty in Philadelphia would require collective action of an equal scale. The myriad of City
agencies and nonprofits working in silos have isolated impact on poverty — but truly effective solutions
require coordinated, large-scale social change. That is why, in January 2013, the City launched the
Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO).”
The Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO) further serves as the
backbone agency for the City’s Shared Prosperity Plan launched by an Executive Order by
the Mayor “to organize and implement a coordinated approach to reduce poverty. CEO will
convene stakeholders from the government, philanthropy, academia, business and resident
communities to achieve a common understanding of poverty and everyone’s role in the
solution. We cannot succeed as a city and region if hundreds of thousands of our fellow
citizens are so disconnected from the resources needed to live in a decent home, have
37
enough food to eat, support themselves and contribute to society through a job, or make a
better life for themselves or their children.”43
Citizen Advisory Boards
Though the offices of Richmond and Philadelphia are somewhat different in structure, their
mission and initiatives are very similar and so are the collective impact processes each
follows. One core component that each share is a highly engaged Citizen Advisory Board of
which the majority have recently or are currently experiencing poverty.
The Shared Prosperity Cities Movement
Across the country, cities are united by a common state of affairs – a lack of inclusive
economic growth evidenced by glaring racial disparities, along with disadvantaged and
lower-income families becoming hidden, displaced and poorer. In “economically distressed
cities, revitalization efforts have resulted in intermittent and often isolated or unscaled
successes but have failed to systemically shrink the racial wealth gap or increase
opportunities for low-income families.”44
According to the Brookings Institute, there are three common principles that lay the
foundation for developing and implementing strategies that ensure shared prosperity in
cities:
1) Continuously creating new, high-quality opportunities for workers and businesses in
an expanding nation;
2) Increasing economic mobility for individuals and families while narrowing significant
disparities by race, ethnicity, and gender; and
3) Building and supporting communities where all residents can experience a high
quality of life and actively participate in charting their local future.
These efforts to build shared prosperity advance the principles that our nation only
succeeds when our cities succeed, and our cities only succeed when all of their communities
succeed.”45
43 City of Philadelphia, “Why Shared Prosperity?”
44 Brookings Institute, “Building Shared Prosperity in American Cities,” Website accessed October 23, 2020.
45 Brookings, Ibid
38
46 Ibid
components of the proposed Office of Shared Prosperity.
The chart on the following page provides an illustration and breakdown of the core
be likely candidates.
positions tasked with overseeing equity issues and community engagement positions would
model. Staff that perform data analysis, economic or community development, hold
being accountable for the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan using a Collective Impact
to the Office of Shared Prosperity to better focus on poverty prevention, implementing and
There are a likely number of positions throughout city government that could be assigned
alleviate poverty and its wide-ranging impact on those experiencing it.
focused, creative, collaborative, collective impact approach matched with the resources to
facilitator among all city departments, community partners and advocates that bring a laser
within City government – it’s about creating an organizational unit poised to be a proactive
The Office of Shared Prosperity is not about creating another bureaucratic department
. Skill Sets, Staffing and In-kind ResourcesD
poverty achieve economic viability to share in the community’s prosperity.
towards racially equitable and holistic problem-solving that assures those experiencing
strategies directed at reducing poverty. The office will strategically steer the community
addressing poverty, tracking and conducting deep analysis of the collective impact of
Plan.” It will achieve this by fostering collaborative partnerships throughout the community
backbone organization to facilitate the implementation of the “Equitable Poverty Prevention
We envision that the City of Dubuque’s Office of Shared Prosperity would become the
Embedding these new ways of thinking and acting into sustained, daily practice.464)
and data;
Ensuring those strategies break down siloes and draw on new partnerships, voices, 3)
Translating that vision into strategies supported by resources;2)
Aligning around a clear, long-term, cross-sector vision for shared prosperity;1)
of:
Based on a Collective Impact model, and principles of the Shared Prosperity Partnership
WHAT AN OFFICE OF SHARED PROSPERITY COULD LOOK LIKE FOR DUBUQUE
39
40
E. OFFICE OF SHARED PROSPERITY (OSP) HIGHLIGHTS
Beyond what’s described in the Core Components illustration on the previous page, we’d
like to highlight some key points:
The Anchor Collaborative
One of the most promising collaboratives that other cities have found in reducing poverty
through community wealth building has been reaching out to the anchor institutions in their
communities. They are often referred to “eds and meds” and for the City of Dubuque that
means including higher learning institutions of the University of Dubuque, Loras College,
Clarke University, Northeast Iowa Community College, Emmaus Bible College, Wartburg
Seminary to the table and the Dubuque Community School District. Large medical centers
of Medical Associates Clinics, Grand River Medical Group, Crescent Community Health
Center, Unity Point Health Care -Finley Hospital, and MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center
are likely entities to join the collaborative from the “meds” sector.
In addition to the traditional “eds and meds” anchor collaboratives adopted by other cities,
the City of the Dubuque also has large employers that hold long-standing bonds within the
community through large scale employment, significantly contributing towards the tax base,
and philanthropic causes to enhance the community’s well-being. Thus, employers such as
John Deere and the Dubuque Racing Association’s participation representing the casinos
should be members of the collaborative along with other large employers and purchasers
of goods and services. This would include the City of Dubuque and Dubuque County.
Why anchor institutions? Anchor institutions of higher learning and large medical centers
employ large numbers of people within cities; thus, their hiring practices and on-the-job
training programs can greatly influence the local job market and contribute towards an
equitable economy. They purchase large amounts of goods and services, some of which are
procured from businesses in the community and many others from large contractors
nationally or internationally. The national Healthcare Anchor Network cites that health
systems and universities together, have expenditures of more than $1 trillion annually, have
at least $750 billion in investment assets and employ more than 9 million people.”47
Essentially, Anchor Collaboratives have the ability to “leverage their resources to engage in
inclusive and local hiring practices, diverse and locally owned and grown purchasing, and
place-based investing to build wealth in historically disinvested and marginalized
communities.”48
47 Porter, Justine and Bich Ha Pham, “What Anchor Institutions Can Do by Working Together,” The Democracy Collaborative, October 22,
2018.
48 Ibid
41
Cities, like Rochester, New York that faced record numbers of people living in extreme
poverty with the collapse of their dominant employer, Kodak, looked to finding new
ways of achieving equitable economic development. The Mayor and City Council set
out to discover a social entrepreneur program in Cleveland, Ohio that created jobs in
disinvested neighborhoods by developing social enterprises linked to the supply needs
of large anchor institutions.
Rochester created an Anchor Collaborative and
went on to develop a nonprofit -- OWN Rochester -
- incubated by the City that creates worker
cooperatives generating jobs and building wealth
in high poverty areas. As a result, they launched
two start-up businesses, an LED lighting retrofitting
company and a custodial business.
Cities like Newark, New Jersey followed a similar
path and showcase an example of how a large
medical institution began procuring all of their
patient socks from a small, local business, allowing
them to hire more workers in disadvantaged neighborhoods, purchase more machines
and renovate its manufacturing facility, all of which revitalized the community.
Those who are part of the Anchor Collaborative movement view examples shown above
as tackling inequality by ensuring the economic development of a place is shared more
equally among its residents. It’s also known as tapping “sticky capital” whereupon anchor
institutions are more likely to be committed “to place by their mission, customer
relationships, investments, property and land holdings.”49
These community institutions are often the largest employers and purchasers in many
lower-income communities where they are situated. They are also potential investors in
these communities where their patients and students live via supporting affordable
housing, promoting home ownership, and creating employee-owned businesses.
Over 40 cities are reporting that they’ve developed Anchor Collaboratives, some of
which have been launched and run by city governments and others by anchor partners,
such as community foundations or other community-based non-profits.
49 Justine Porter, Danny Fisher-Bruns, and Bich Ha Pham, “Anchor Collaboratives: Building Bridges with Place-Based Partnerships and
Anchor Institutions,” The Democracy Collaborative, 2019.
“A lot of people have been left out
of the economy. We want to create
new economies within
neighborhoods that don’t have
access to the traditional economy.
An Anchor Collaborative is a way to
create small economies as well as
connecting to the larger economy.”
Kate Washington, CEO
OWN Rochester
42
The Anchor Collaborative Network (ACN) facilitates a shared movement of anchor
institution collaborations that are “working to accelerate equitable, inclusive strategies
that respond to local needs and challenges that invest in disinvested local
communities.” It can serve as an extremely helpful resource for the City’s Office of
Shared Prosperity. They offer a dashboard for setting up such networks, a tool kit, a
good number of papers and can offer consulting services, as well.
The organization has identified six factors that assure success of an Anchor
Collaborative:50
1) A trusted local champion with convening and funding capabilities. We suggest
that the City with the Mayor and City Council become the local champions and
backbone agency as have a significant number of other municipalities.
2) A high concentration of anchor institution economic activity. The “eds and meds”
institutions previously cited, large employers like John Deere and the two casinos
represent thousands of jobs for City of Dubuque residents. Also generating
economic activity at the anchor level and should be included with the Anchor
Collaborative is the Dubuque Community School District, the City of Dubuque and
Dubuque County. All of these institutions have a wide-sweeping collective impact on
jobs, the procurement of goods and services and generation of assets that benefit
the economic well-being of the City and its citizenry.
3) Buy-in, engagement, and collaboration with key local leaders, partners and
existing community members and associations. The collaborative is about working
with people in the community not for them. Thus, the Citizen Advisory Board will be a
vital voice with the collaborative. Dubuque has a very robust number of agency
partners, community-based agencies, advocacy groups along with the Community
Foundation of Greater Dubuque, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation and
an active business community including the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce,
Dubuque Main Street, True North Development Corporation and Dubuque Initiatives
among others that will bode well for the Anchor Collaborative.
4) Meaningful data that identifies and validates need and speaks to many
audiences can inform the collaborative’s work in concert with on-the-ground
program implementation. Data also informs the kinds of benchmarks needed to
measure the impact of outcomes and the strategies to continue, finetune or change
course.
50 Ibid
43
51 Brookings Institute, “Shared Prosperity Partnership,” 2020.
functions that students attending the University of Dubuque, Loras College, Clarke
poverty in the city without the City incurring the cost of hiring staff to perform the
planning, economics, media, social justice could meaningfully contribute to reducing
Students in majors of IT, communications, social work, public policy, urban & regional
and how to address it.
great benefit to gaining a deeper understanding of the far reaching impact of poverty
and clinics, employment data, and other social determinant indicators would be of
neighborhoods bringing together aggregate health data shared from medical centers
like Tableau and others that analyze big data or provide deep analysis of
Students who are studying data analysis and know how to use such software programs
poverty to determine how funds could be garnered to meet their needs.
writing grants while meeting with community groups serving people experiencing
assist the OSP’s Grants and Data Collaboratives would assist with researching and
serves as a win-win for students, professors and the community. Internships that can
Graduate and college students working on projects for the Office of Shared Prosperity
Internship Labs
resources.”51 At the very least, resources offered on the website will be very useful.
data, research, and access to national experts, networks, tools, and financial
to learn from one another and forge unlikely alliances. We support these leaders with
in the shared prosperity field. They select cities to “convene local and regional leaders
Brookings Institution, Living Cities, and the Urban Institute that support new initiatives
is to approach the Shared Prosperity Partnership of the Kresge Foundation, the
One opportunity to possibly receive in-kind support for the Office of Shared Prosperity
an inclusive economy in their midst.
community by investing in the human capital of these neighborhoods and creating
for the City and the Anchor Collaborative to focus their efforts in this underserved
concentrations of poverty are centered in Tracts 1 and 5, this presents an opportunity
strong sense of place and purpose for the initiative. Given that the highest
6) A clearly defined geographic focus area or value proposition helps to develop a
what success looks like which can deter stakeholders from setting lofty goals.
generates support and feeds motivation. Without stories it can become unclear as to
5) Inspirational stories from peer communities is a strong success factor because it
44
University, Northeast Iowa Community College, Emmaus Bible College and Wartburg
Seminary could very well perform.
The student interns of MIT Sloan School of Management serves as an example as to
how students can aide the City and Dubuque community organizations through an
Internship Lab working out of the Office of Shared Prosperity. The MIT group has
produced two in-depth reports for the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque –
one on child care opportunities for the business sector, “Child Care Access in Greater
Dubuque, Iowa” and another on, “Building a Lattice to Success: Workforce Inclusion &
Community Co-Creation in Dubuque, Iowa.”
Students from the University of Iowa’s School of Urban and Regional Planning,
conducted a study and produced a report on the City of Dubuque Schools,
Neighborhoods and Student Outcomes while the Loras College student-run television
station produced a segment on Fair Housing in Dubuque with journalism and
communications students.
Data Collaborative
Currently, there is a great amount of data being collected throughout Dubuque by
health care and human service organizations, the County Health Department, the
Dubuque Community School District, City departments and the community action
agency Hawkeye Area Community Action Program. The Community Foundation of
Greater Dubuque has collected and presented data during their annual “Data Walk,”
and the Inclusive Dubuque Equity Community Profile upon which an update will be
performed once the 2020 Census data has been released.
In February 2015, the network launched the Community Equity Profile process with the
goal of learning more about how diverse groups experience life in Dubuque. (“Diverse
groups” were defined by race, age/generation, culture, disability, gender, nationality,
religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, veteran status and more.) By
collecting data and learning from community members through in-person community
dialogues and online surveys, the community equity profile process explored seven
focus areas through the lens of equity and inclusion: economic wellbeing, health,
transportation, safe neighborhoods, housing, education, and arts and culture. The
summary of these findings can be viewed at www.inclusivedbq.org.
45
The City, through its STAR Community Rating System, has measured community level
outcomes which can act as a foundation for developing further outcomes across
agencies community-wide that are dedicated to implementing strategies identified in
the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan.
Why a Data Collaborative?
Data is a powerful tool to provide insights on what’s working, what’s not and
discovering connections and trends that can lead to new opportunities to change
course or enhance what’s already being done. Currently, most data throughout
Dubuque is being collected along parallel tracks that guide individual organizations.
The Dubuque Community School District may know a great deal about children and
parents, and so do Home Connectors and teachers, the health care centers that treat
students and families, the Dream Center and other non-profits that interact with youth
and families, the Housing staff of the City who collect data on applicants and offer
support services, the shelters who are serving people in dire straits…the list goes on.
But very little of this data is synchronized or analyzed holistically to better inform policy
making among all groups serving those experiencing poverty and at all levels.
By forming a city-wide Data Collaborative whereby organizations can share data and
insights, the data can be even more powerful in informing strategic planning in a
holistic, collective impact manner. It will also provide the capacity to dive deeper by
neighborhood as illustrated by the Neighborhoods of Focus Initiative (PDF) in
Lansing, Michigan. City planners with community partners conduct asset-based
community development modeling to select neighborhoods so they can reserve
targeted investments to these communities.
The Data Collaborative could regularly meet and be facilitated by the Office of Shared
Prosperity (OSP) with an assigned liaison from City departments, stakeholder and
partner organizations that collect data relevant to underserved populations. The
Collaborative would identify gaps in data collection, methods to integrate data among
partner organizations, identify trends and disparities, identify indices and metrics
necessary to measure outcomes and evaluate success and gaps. The community
action agency federally mandated to develop strategic planning on poverty prevention,
services and assessment of community needs of underserved populations is well
positioned to be a prime driver of the Data Collaborative. As of October 2020,
Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP) now includes the City of Dubuque
resulting from the Operation New View merger.
46
Adopt Equity Measures and Indices
The OSP can also share among its partners the wide range of indices available to
measure poverty and track outcomes in an integrated, root cause analysis method. The
Brookings Institute has identified a wide range of such indices that are presented in their
report, “How we define ‘need’ for place-based policy reveals where poverty and race
intersect.”52 It provides an excellent starting place to determine what type of indices and
data collection will better inform all those working to prevent and address poverty in
Dubuque.
These types of indices can uncover
disparities and democratize data
among City departments and
encourage adoption of such
measures among all stakeholders
collecting human service and
health data throughout Dubuque.
The National Equity Atlas model and other equity indices shed light on various structural
biases that impact both the collection of and interpretation of data. Policylink, National
Equity Atlas offers robust metrics that Des Moines recently used to develop their One
Economy strategic plan. Other promising practices are: Seattle’s Office of Planning &
Community Development Racial & Social Equity Index mapping and Portland Regional
Equity Access developed a “Research Justice Framework” that assures that community
residents are given the opportunity to steer research that meets their best interests
along with Right To Know practices.
Another excellent resource for the Data Collaborative of the Office of Shared Prosperity
is “Opportunity Insights,” a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization based at Harvard
University that conducts scientific research using “big data” on how to improve upward
mobility and work collaboratively with local stakeholders to translate these research
findings into policy change. Their focus is on addressing poverty and they’ve developed
interactive maps and applied data for communities and local policymakers to use to
better inform their decision-making to advance shared prosperity among their citizenry.
52 Joanne Kim & Tracy Hadden Loh, “How we define ‘need’ for place-based policy reveals where poverty and race intersect.”
Brookings Institute, 2020.
47
Grants Collaborative
Funding for programs that empower persons experiencing poverty towards their own
shared prosperity will take both human resources and financial support. A good
number of the Promising Practices cited throughout the report can be implemented by
re-assigning staff, re-directing resources and tapping in-kind support from stakeholder
and partner groups and some will require the continued and increased support by the
City. There are other funds available from state and national sources that could aid
community groups and the City in receiving additional funds, however, only a few
groups have the resources to spend the time tracking down potential grants and then
writing the grant.
Thus, a Grants Collaborative among community service agencies and anchor
institutions could possibly contribute resources (in-kind and capital) to fund the human
resources needed to search and apply for grants. It would also be helpful to subscribe
to a service that tracks funding opportunities that would bring money into the
community and assist non-profit organizations in providing services to those
experiencing poverty. Student interns could assist in writing grants, shepherding them
through the application process and facilitating the grant writing process with
community groups.
2. ACCESS TO RESOURCES & SERVICES
A. Overview
One of the first tasks requested of the consulting team was to create a matrix of
services provided by organizations throughout the City that provide direct services to
individuals with lower incomes many of whom are experiencing poverty. The goal was
to gain a more thorough understanding of the myriad of human services being offered
by government funded agencies, non-profits, faith-based, private sector and
philanthropic organizations.
To develop the matrix, our team assembled data on organizations and service providers
from: a directory produced in print only by the non-profit Resources Unite; data
generated from the United Way 2-1-1 project whose database of services span not only
the City and County of Dubuque but neighboring counties, as well; the Hawkeye Area
Community Action Program’s “Dubuque County Resource & Referral Guide” and the
“United Way Dubuque County Family Resource Guide;” and United Way Funded
48
Programs list and an independent web search by the consulting team along with word-
of-mouth referrals. From this list, the consulting team with guidance from the Steering
Committee determined which services were of relevance for low-income residents of the
City of Dubuque and included those entities in the matrix.
Our team then identified 26 categories of services among 210 agencies upon which we
identified primary, secondary, and tertiary service areas for each organization since most
offered multiple services across categories. For each agency listed, we provide a
description of the organization, website address, contact name, phone number, email
address, and physical address, whenever available as cited from other directories
previously mentioned or found by visiting the organization’s website.
The matrix represents a comprehensive catalogue of programs, services and resources
available to Dubuque residents who are under-resourced and low-income. The sheer
volume of programs for a city of its size, is a testament to the great degree of
commitment and caring across organizations within the community. The following table
indicates the number of programs by each of the 26 service areas: it tracks both the
number of agencies for whom the category is their primary area of service, and the total
number of agencies that have the category indicated as a primary, secondary, or tertiary
service area.
For a copy of the Excel Matrix document, contact the City Planning Department for a
shareable copy.
49
Table 8: Providers by Service Category, Primary Service and Total53
Providers
As shown by the previous table, there are several service areas that have comparatively
high number of providers – such as Mental Health (64) and Children/Youth (54),
however, this doesn’t necessarily mean that there are service duplications or
redundancies given the high level of need in Dubuque communities.
Rather, the local social services ecosystem calls for greater coherence and alignment in
the City’s pursuit of a Collective Impact approach – where agencies across the human
resources spectrum collaborate with, complement and mutually reinforce one another.
Programs and resources that contribute to long-term financial self-sufficiency and
holistic well-being would do well to guide the allocation of resources to address the
multiple needs of those experiencing poverty. In tandem, it will also require addressing
53 Internal document generated by Public Works
50
basic needs in real time amidst changing circumstances such has been shown by
responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters.
Dubuque benefits from a number of food banks and groups providing clothing and
household items and emergency shelter. Wealth-building services related to
Education, Job Training & Employment, Financial Literacy & Life Skills should be
explored alongside addressing basic needs. Effective case management or client-
centered “coaching” is proven to significantly improve outcomes for people living in
poverty, the relatively smaller number of agencies that provide Case
Management/Client Services may be a potential area of expansion among service
providers in the City.
What the “Matrix of Community Agencies” doesn’t tell us, is how much these services
match up with actual need based on a thorough community needs assessment that
would inform organizations individually and the City as a whole as to what gaps in
services exist. Various community-based
organizations do conduct community-wide
needs assessments, as do governmental
agencies and schools, however, there isn’t
an entity that synchronizes these
assessments to identify trends across
agencies, disciplines and population
segments. Nor is there a deep analysis
that applies indices of equity or other
metrics that could be drilled down all the way to neighborhoods.
This type of analysis would prove insightful as to whether or not the collective impact of
the services that do exist are, in fact, reducing poverty. And it could lead to discoveries
of gaps that need to be addressed.
The underlying variable influencing all of these assessments is whether or not the
services being delivered are accessible for the very people they are designed to help.
To better answer questions surrounding access and collaboration, we conducted focus
groups with people experiencing poverty, Key Informant Interviews with service
providers and a survey of agencies and organizations offering services to those
experiencing poverty. In the next section, you’ll learn what they had to say.
51
B. What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement
Focus Groups
Among the seven focus groups we conducted with people experiencing poverty, we
heard one constant theme: navigating the myriad of social services among a multitude
of agencies -- each with their own application process, eligibility rules and place
located in different parts of town -- is confusing and extremely time-consuming. Add to
that the barriers of needing child care to make appointments to secure services, lack of
easily accessible transportation to get there, or finding the time to apply while holding
down a job while you’re the head of household makes it extremely difficult, if not
impossible, to secure services and resources to pursue a path out of poverty.
In their words:
“You have to go to numerous
agencies to get specific kinds of
benefits. Each requires their own
paperwork and if you forget to
bring just one thing, then they’ll
make you leave, and you have to
start all over.”
“I work and if I leave to make an
appointment that’s a strike against
me, and if I go when I’m not
working, I need to find child care.”
“It would be great if you could just
go to one place and apply for
services and benefits.”
“I don’t have a car to make
appointments, so if leave work
using the bus, I’ll never make it
back on time.”
“Sure would be great to have a
real person help you find services
and even help with the
paperwork.”
Service Provider Insights
Service Providers reinforce the same themes as do those they are committed to
serving. An electronic survey was sent directly from the Mayor through an email
message to 120 service agencies delivering services to low-income persons during the
month of June 2020. The survey gained insights from providers on: poverty rates,
factors that lead to poverty, core services offered, numbers of people served, funding
sources they rely on, number of staff employed, how clients learn about their
organization, perspectives on collaboration among agencies and how resources could
be better maximized and coordinated. (Appendix B).
One-third of the agencies responded to the survey, which is considered an above
average response rate, given the fact that these thirty-nine agency heads were dealing
52
with the COVID-19 pandemic while being asked to fill out a survey.54 The vast majority
of agencies identify as non-profits (79%) of which 68% are 501 C3 entities while (11%)
are faith-based institutions and (18%) government agencies. Brain health, counseling
and case management with information referral services are the most frequently cited
services being offered among the survey sample. The table on the following page
shows their response when asked, “What type of services are most frequently used by
clients/consumers provided by your agency?”
Table 9: Most Frequently Reported Core Services
One-third of the agencies employ five or fewer people, a little more than a quarter (27%)
employ between six and thirty people, thus, the majority (60%) employ less than thirty
people, one-third are at the other end of the spectrum and employ more than one-
hundred people. The later, represent health care institutions and the community action
agency.
Respondents were asked how much they agreed with seven statements that relate to
access, collaboration, service gaps and client navigation. Here is how they responded:
§ Over half (54%) believe that too many agencies are competing for too few
resources, while 28% disagree.
§ Three-quarters of agencies (75%) believe that people needing services are falling
through the cracks.
§ The majority, 62% believe that agencies require too many forms and eligibility
rules for clients to navigate.
54 Lindemann, Nigel, What’s the average survey response rate? [2019 benchmark], August 8, 2019. (surveyanyplace.com).
Core Service Percent
Brain Health 38%
Counseling 35%
Case Management/Information & Referral 35%
Educational Services 31%
Financial Assistance 28%
Housing 24%
Youth Development Programs 21%
Veteran Programs 21%
53
§ They were nearly evenly divided as to agencies collaborating with each other to
serve the poor: 39 percent felt they do collaborate and 33 percent disagreed
while 20 percent remained “unsure.”
§ Nearly 41percent agree that services are easy to access while 28% are unsure and
more than one-third (35%) feel services are not easy to access.
§ Most agencies (82%) work closely with at least three agencies to serve those
experiencing poverty and 85% participate in outreach events to reach them.
§ One-third report that clients learn about their organization through “word of
mouth” and one-third through case manager referrals.
This is what they had to say about issues of user-friendly access to services and the need
for collaboration and coordination of services to better address the needs of those
experiencing poverty.
Open-Ended Survey Comments on Collaboration
§ Create a universal intake system for easy access for clients with shared eligibility
and data collecting and sharing. Includes a universal consent form to client
permission to share information.
§ Create incentives that foster collaboration among agencies e.g. design RFPs that
require working together and shows how services are not being duplicated.
§ Create a forum (in-person & virtual) that allows case managers and agency staff to
be constantly updated on who is doing what in the community, share best
practices and hold webinars, discussion boards reduce in-person meetings with
repeat similar agendas. It could act as a one-stop shop for exchange of info &
collaboration which will help with orienting new staff on services in the community
(high turn-over).
§ Create a leadership group that would continuously assess, refine & develop ways
to collaborate among service providers and offer user-friendly access for clients.
§ We need to focus on the barriers our clients face in everyday life – how it prevents
them from moving forward and what we can do about those systemic/structural
barriers in a strategic, focused way.
54
§ Identify best practices among agencies (locally, state and nationwide) and share
them with each other.
§ Develop some sort of coordinating hub among agency leaders to foster
maximizing resources.
§ Consider sharing space so that clients can go to a one-stop “food court” of service
providers.
§ Replicate the United Way partner meetings but with all human service providers.
§ Find ways to streamline client care plans with shared protocols and share
outcome data so we can identify trends, needs, assess what works and what
doesn’t in real time.
§ Building innovative, proactive collaboration that aligns the mission of
stakeholders, also must support existing organization to find their place and role
in the new vision of community created by the collaborative process.
§ We need more collaboration among like-organizations that are based on the
population being served (for example youth, adults, families, incarcerated, single
parent)!
C. Promising Practices to Consider
A core task of developing the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan is to identify promising
practices that other cities and/or organizations have enacted to prevent and address
poverty in their communities. Our research team scoured the country looking for proven
strategies and programs that would be relevant to the City of Dubuque’s resources and
state of poverty within the community. These Promising Practices were reviewed by the
Steering Committee to determine if they appear viable to the City and to assure that we
were not recommending a program or strategy already in existence.
The following strategies and programs being presented for consideration were also
shared for feedback with those attending the Caucus for Community sessions. All of
what is being proposed for review received positive feedback from those attending the
caucuses. In fact, several additional ideas came from caucus sessions and are among the
list being presented.
55
Enhance Access to Poverty Prevention Programs and Services
Based on what we learned from community engagement with Focus Groups among
those experiencing poverty, Key Informant Interviews, the Caucuses for Community and
surveys, along with extensive research on innovative strategies to address and prevent
poverty, we’re presenting several Promising Practices that will enhance the process of
accessing services and resources that assure a path out of poverty.
With so many entities in the field providing services to assist those experiencing poverty,
stakeholders across Dubuque expressed that it is vital to cohere the social service
system and ensure that groups are collaborating and delivering services in the most
effective way. Combined with the community’s expressed need to streamline processes
to access government benefits and services, Dubuque is poised to implement strategies
that integrate and design social services ecosystem around a citizens’ experience. This
type of system follows a set of principles that:
§ Allow users to access benefits and services efficiently, reducing logistical burdens
to the extent possible.
§ Enable nonprofit organizations to collaborate effectively to empower clients
towards self-sufficiency.
§ Outline clear standards for nonprofit collaboration and guidelines for funding of
local organizations and initiatives. Funding bodies (e.g. the City) would award
points on RFPs that show collaborative agreements and pathways with other
agencies.
§ Cluster relevant sites in a centralized location as a physical “hub” to access.
§ Provide many points of access to entering the system and gaining information in a
decentralized way, such as making resources available at neighborhood locations
like grocery and convenience stores, schools, and pharmacies that people can
access in their daily lives.
§ Support individuals and families through Comprehensive Case Management
(CCM) and 2Gen approach (Two-generation (2Gen) approaches build family well-
being by intentionally and simultaneously working with children and the adults in
their lives together).55
55 Ascend Aspen Institute, “What is 2Gen?” (Online visit November 2020)
56
§ Deploy peer connectors as navigators to provide additional support.
§ Work to deliver relevant information to users proactively, facilitating movement
toward a “one-stop shop.”
These principles are evident throughout this report where promising best practices are
being presented.
The following set of Promising Practices address the issue of “Access to Benefits and
Services.” Each is briefly described with links to learn more on how to implement the
practice under the title “Who’s Doing This?” Many of these initiatives can be facilitated by
the Office of Shared Prosperity and the City could consider investing seed money that
could be matched by agencies and partner organizations to fund the development of
these strategies that, in turn, will generate a positive impact that serves to assist them in
fulfilling their mission and delivery of services.
1. Benefits Screening, Universal Applications, One-Stop (Virtual & Land)
As highly recommended by both consumers and providers, Dubuque would do well to
develop a centralized Benefits Screening program that provides live assistance in
identifying services and resources an individual or families can qualify for given their
circumstances and then guide them through the eligibility process to secure those
services.
Much of the groundwork already exists with information
available through directories such as the HACAP’s
“Dubuque County Resource & Referral Guide” and the 2-1-
1 helpline. What would make this different is that trained
Benefit Advisors would guide people through the process
of gaining access to services based on their needs and
income. They’d coach them through the eligibility and
paperwork maze to assure they gain access. The City of
Dubuque has a new-found opportunity with the recent
merger in October 2020 of local community action agency
(Operation New View) with Hawkeye Community Action Program (HACAP). Community
Action Agencies (CAA) are local private and public non-profit organizations that carry
out the Community Action Program (CAP) founded by the 1964 Economic Opportunity
Act to address poverty in local communities.
57
Their core funding comes from the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). They are
tasked with developing a regional plan on addressing poverty for the communities in
their region every three years.
HACAP is a non-profit community action agency (CAA) formed in 1965 to address local
poverty. The agency currently serves 25,000 low-income households, living in nine
eastern Iowa counties. Their mission is to assist individuals in developing skills for
success, and to build strong, resilient communities. As the causes of poverty are
complex, HACAP provide solutions at two levels. First, at the family-level they provide a
portfolio of supports that address the different conditions of poverty experienced by
Iowans: homelessness, food insecurity, access to quality child care, inadequate safe
housing, and household financial instability.
Secondly, at the community-level, the agency strategically collaborates to build systems
that expand access to critical services and improve the available opportunities for low-
income people. They also advocate for programs and services along with policies and
regulations at the state level that improve the lives of those experiencing poverty.
HACAP formally began operation as a full-service CAA in the City of Dubuque on
October 1, 2020 and had been serving homeless veterans and their families in the city
and county since 2014. Currently, they are on target to serve at least 80 percent of the
people in Dubuque across all racial groups listed on Table 6 of this document. As a CAA
they have a tripartite board structure where one third of its membership are the people
experiencing poverty (or organizations that can speak on their behalf), one third local
government officials and the final third representative of the general public.
The agency brings expertise in data systems that can assist with the “Data Collaborative”
presented in this report and given the breadth of their work in providing or arranging for
services for low income persons can help guide strategies that assure access to services
and benefits. Their focus on the Promising Practice of a two-generation (2Gen) approach
serving families proposed in this report and their advocacy of coordinated intake and
access processes that shift service delivery from a program-centric to customer-centric
model will be invaluable to the goals of the City’s Office of Shared Prosperity.
Thus, the agency is poised to serve as a partner with the proposed City of Dubuque
Office of Shared Prosperity to assist in the collaborative development of a benefit
screening program with a one-stop philosophy and practice among stakeholders,
partner agencies and service providers.
58
Promising Practice: Who’s Doing This?
A number of cities and organizations have developed benefit screening services and
platforms of local, state and national resources and services. The city and program that
we believe offers a good match for the City of Dubuque is Philadelphia. Their program is
unique in the country because the community action agency is located in the City’s
Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO) which is equivalent to the
Office of Shared Prosperity being recommended for the City of Dubuque.
The following description of their benefits screening program (BenePhilly) captures what
a “BeneDubuque” program could aspire to:
You can get free help with public benefits through the BenePhilly program. The program
assists you in:
§ Completing public benefit applications.
§ Organizing key documents for applications.
§ Tracking your applications’ statuses.
§ BenePhilly counselors guide you through the process. They can:
§ Tell you about different benefit programs.
§ See if you are eligible for programs.
§ Help you fill out your applications.
Some of the benefits we help with include:
§ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
§ Property Tax/Rent Rebate (PT/RR)
§ Medicaid (MA)
§ Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
§ Homestead Exemption
§ Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
§ Social Security Disability (SSDI).
BenePhilly is a partnership between the Office of Community Empowerment and
Opportunity and Benefits Data Trust.56
56 BenePhilly https://www.phila.gov/services/payments-assistance-taxes/get-free-help-applying-for-public-benefits/
59
Beyond the traditional public benefits cited above, the program also offers outreach
centers in neighborhoods throughout the city and virtually through an interactive
website. The outreach centers use a single application and assessment tool to link
consumers to health, social, and employment services. They also created a common
database to collect and store clients’ paperwork for them. In this light, it would be
helpful if a Universal Application Task Force was organized to bring the major agencies
in the city together to share their basic requirements across agencies and to develop a
Universal Core Application.
The City, through the Office of Shared Prosperity would be in a prime position to
facilitate the planning meetings to design such an application with the community action
agency (HACAP) taking the lead in development and eventual operation.
Another example of creating and offering a social services benefits screening platform is
presented by the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity: New York City. By gathering
basic eligibility information from a consumer, the platform can quickly assess whether or
not they qualify for services among thirty social services such as food, financial
assistance, housing or work benefit programs. The Access NYC website features a
simple 10-step process providing easy access to not only learning what’s available but
whether or not you qualify from the start.
It would be helpful in developing this type of web-based resource and a universal
application for social services in the City of Dubuque, for the Office of Shared Prosperity
or other partner (for example, the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program) to
convene a “Social Services Access Task Force” of providers to develop strategies to
better coordinate and collaborate – e.g. how to share data, create shared outcome
measures and metrics that assess poverty’s impact. Two resources that can assist in that
endeavor:
Citizen Journey
A “citizen journey” incrementally maps out a person’s entire experience when seeking
out a government service from their perspective. The journey has a “discrete beginning
and end, and because it is typically multitouch and multichannel, it is also cross-
functional in nature. A citizen journey is anchored in how people think and feel about
their experience, not in how government agencies perform.”57
57 McKinsey & Company, “Implementing a citizen-centric approach to delivering government services,” July 1, 2015 | Article
60
More often than not, the process of constructing such a map uncovers more steps, more
interactions, more agencies, more rules than what service providers realize. Once these
steps are identified and analyzed, then planners can manage demand better by
“preventing journeys that are unnecessary in the first place, cutting out duplicative steps
along necessary citizen journeys, and improving the availability, usability, and
accessibility of information.”58
Technology for Consumer Access
An excellent review and toolkit on how to use technology to develop benefit platforms
and improve access to community health and human services through the public sector,
visit this publication, Improving Customer Service in Health and Human Services
Through Technology” by the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities. This paper looks at
the “next phase in efforts to improve government’s interactions with those it serves
through technology. Improved client-facing processes — systems that applicants and
recipients use directly for actions like applying, submitting documents, or getting
information about their case — allow clients to better obtain information and receive
benefits more quickly. They also can help agencies get the information they need to
conduct eligibility determinations and improve performance and outcomes.” 59
Reimagining the Library
Libraries throughout the country have been reimagining their role in the community by
expanding their reach and partnerships with community service organizations. They
offer space so that health care and social service organizations can embed a navigator or
caseworker at the library to offer onsite assistance for those seeking advice on benefits
and services. They, along with social service agencies, have discovered that people
welcome going to the library for assistance rather than a “welfare office.”
The Carnegie-Stout Library would be a natural fit for assisting patrons in using the
proposed “BeneDubuque” platform and could offer free scanning of documents that
residents need when going to appointments to apply for services or job interviews. The
scanned documents could be placed on a flash-drive and given to the patron. Other
options could enable consumers to send scanned documents directly to providers with
signed release forms by them granting permission. We learned through focus groups
about the amount of paperwork they were required to bring to appointments and, in
response, they greatly liked the flash drive solution.
58 Ibid
59 Sonal Ambegaokar, Rachael Podesfinski, Jennifer Wagner,“ Improving Customer Service in Health and Human Services Through
Technology,” Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, August 23, 2018.
61
Some libraries have actually hired social workers as recently described in an article
posted by the American Library Association, “our reach
includes a team of social workers who provide a range of
services, including in-house consultations with library
customers, educational opportunities for the incarcerated,
health literacy programming, and staff training.”60 Some
libraries bring ipads to homeless shelters to assist shelter
residents with using the internet for resume writing, finding
work, applying for benefits or learning how to teach their
children reading. The librarians give them library cards and
books for children to read at the shelter.
Libraries have also embraced new technologies in learning and reading and offer
students homework help in researching topics for school reports and science projects
along with other STEM (Science, Technology, Education, Math) topics.
They have also become a much-needed lender of digital devices like ipads and mobile
wifi “hotspots” to close the digital divide. Card holders sign them out as they do for
books. The Carnegie-Stout Library in Dubuque, for example, provided ipads for this
project’s Caucus for Community session held at the Fountain of Youth. The library is the
host for numerous community events and serves as a resource for parents and mentors
teaching children online.
As the Office of Shared Prosperity brings partners and stakeholders together to enhance
access to services and create opportunities for a path forward from poverty, the library
will be a willing and able partner.
2. Subsidize Internet Access in Low Income Neighborhoods & Develop a Digital
Equity Plan
Our daily lives are deeply infused with being online whether its holding zoom
conference calls, performing telework, making appointments, tracking down jobs, or
asking “Alexa” to direct you towards your next destination. Students among all ages are
learning online with engaging platforms at a very young age. Older adults are being
treated through telehealth visits, and while people hunker down during the pandemic,
deliveries from grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants and Amazon bring nearly
everything you need to your doorstep.
60 Schofield, Amy, “Social Workers and Librarians: A Case for Why We are BFFs,” American Library Association. (website visit
November 11, 2020).
62
But not for everyone. Far too many people are without internet access and the devices
that gain them entry to the opportunities that an online presence provides. As a result,
those who are “without” don’t acquire the skills or knowledge on how to effectively take
advantage of the online and digital world.
Today, the consequences of being excluded are being widely felt and exposed by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Public and private schools are struggling with closures depending upon the viruses’ rate
of contagion. Most offer a combination of hybrid learning by having students attend
school part-time in the classroom and the rest virtually while thousands of parents have
opted to have their children taught completely online. One in five Dubuquers that make
less than $20,000 a year don’t have an internet subscription – so those families can’t opt
for online learning full-time or part-time.61
They, along with millions of students nationwide (14%) without internet subscriptions,
are being placed at a severe and structural disadvantage in keeping up with their peers
who do have access.62 Educators fear that the degree of learning loss among those
whose parents lack the skills and knowledge to assist their children in learning online
may set them back irrevocably.
The shift to telework has worked well for those who have jobs that could quickly adjust
by going remote but not so for those working in oftentimes lower wage jobs in the
service industry, health care, home care, retail and delivery drivers who are forced to
leave their homes, increasing their risk of contracting the virus. Experts predict that a “full
economic recovery will require everyone having access to markets and services from
their home” and they’ll need broadband and affordable internet access to do so.63
In terms of internet subscriptions among city of Dubuque residents, there is a connection
between low income and lack of access to the internet. According to the U.S. Census,
American Community Survey (2018), those without an internet subscription among low
income persons (household income less than $20,000 a year) is nearly twice as high
(40% ) compared to those making $20,000 – $75,000 per year (21%) and nearly seven
times as high compared to those making over $75,000 (6%).64
61 U.S. Census, American Community Survey, “Types of Computers and Internet Subscriptions, “Table ID: S2801 (2018)
62 Lara Fishbane and Adie Tomer, “As classes move online during COVID-19, what are disconnected students to do?” (Washington:
Brookings Institution, 2020).
63 Lara Fishbane and Adie Tomer, “Bridging the digital divide through digital equity offices,” (Washington: Brookings Institution,
2020).
64 U.S. Census, American Community Survey, “Types of Computers and Internet Subscriptions, “Table ID: S2801 (2018)
63
One of the more enlightened policy decisions made when developing the ALICE living
wage budget (described early in this report as to how
poverty is measured), was to include the cost of cell
phones and internet services in the budget. The biased
stereotype against people experiencing poverty -- that
a smart phone is a luxury that they shouldn’t be wasting
money on -- was finally challenged. Being able to
access the internet through cell phones, notebooks
(e.g. iPads) laptops and other devices is a necessity of
daily life.
In a survey, they found that low income cell phone users relied on their phones with
access to free wifi to search and find jobs (58%) compared to (32%) of those with higher
incomes; 32% had to use the phone to actually submit their job applications compared
to only 7 percent of those with higher incomes. And 40% rely on the smart phone to look
up government and non-profit services.65
This digital disparity has given rise to the call for cities to create and embrace “Digital
Equity,” also known as “Digital Inclusion” policies and practice that affords its citizenry
the infrastructure required for high-speed internet and developing partnerships to make
internet subscriptions affordable for everyone.66 It’s not just about having digital access,
it’s also having the knowledge and skills to effectively use and benefit from digital
technology’s potential and promise.
Internet Access Initiatives in the City of Dubuque
The City of Dubuque and the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation has created a
“Broadband Expansion Initiative” to build new partnerships in public and private sectors
to expand the broadband network and increase providers in the city. The strategy
includes implementing Master Agreements where an overall legal, structural, and
financial relationship has been established between the City and providers. These
agreements and the cooperation of the partners have led to doubling conduit,
quadrupling fiber, and increasing the number of providers from two to ten in Dubuque.
By achieving a more robust infrastructure prior to the pandemic, businesses were able to
make the leap to maintain employment via remote work, schools could offer widespread
virtual learning and companies could maintain their operations. The Broadband
65 United for ALICE, Consequences and Technology, United Way of New Jersey 2019.
66 Quaintance, Zack, “The Quest for Digital Equity,” GT Magazine (Government Technology), March 2018.
64
Expansion Initiative recently received a Gold Excellence in Economic Development
Award from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).67
The group is currently working on the democratization of internet access by providing
free access to wifi hotspots in various areas throughout the city. It is also focusing on
providing very affordable internet subscription rates to low income neighborhood tracts
through public/private partnerships with internet service providers and leveraging
Community Development Block Grant Funds. Currently, the City has set aside $80,000 of
their $650,000 federal stimulus grant to expand internet services across the city.68
The Dubuque Community School District
Access to technology and internet connectivity “are critical to students and families, yet,
many in our community are without adequate access needed in today's world. While this
equity issue cannot be addressed by the district alone, the district has taken significant
steps to reduce this barrier for students and families:
§ Prior to COVID-19, over 3,300 student computers were already in the hands of
each student at Dubuque Senior High School, Hempstead High School and the
Alta Vista Campus through our ongoing Anytime, Anywhere Learning Initiative in
its third year. This means that every student at these schools has district-issued
laptop.
§ Every middle school student now also receives a device as part of the district
Anytime, Anywhere Learning Initiative.
§ During COVID-19, all elementary students in the district's fully online program
received either a laptop or iPad device, depending on their grade level. Hybrid
students in grades K-1 received an iPad device to support at-home learning.
§ An additional 1,690 laptops will be deployed to the remaining elementary
students without a district-issued device before the end of the calendar year.
§ For those who do not have internet access and cannot afford it, the district
attempts to provide one hotspot per household assigned to the oldest student for
all the siblings to use.
67 Greater Dubuque Development Corp Online News Post, “Broadband Expansion Initiative Receives Gold Excellence in Economic
Development Award,” Friday, October 23, 2020.
68 https://kwwl.com/2020/04/23dubuque-public-internet/
65
§ Over 700 mobile cellular hotspots were secured beginning in March, sourced
from three different carriers to help provide coverage in the greater Dubuque
area, with over 500 currently checked out.”69
The Carnegie-Stout Library
The library also loans out iPads to students and adults and offers a “whisper room” for
individuals to utilize devices to get on the internet and hold a Zoom interview or
meeting, among other such platforms. Each of these entities along with the City and
Greater Dubuque Development Corporation and internet service providers are all
working to bridge the digital divide. It is why they are vital players along with teachers
who are on the frontlines of instructing and relating to children online in providing
policymakers with an authentic understanding of the barriers they face.
Promising Practice Idea: Develop a Digital Equity Plan
Beyond the City’s continued investment in enhancing and expanding broadband
through its public/private partnerships with local internet service providers and business
partners, we suggest:
That the City expand the work of the Broadband Expansion Initiative to develop a
“Digital Equity Plan” for the city that would set performance targets, establish strategies,
collect data, and plan coordinated activities across multiple agencies, including those
responsible for information technologies, digital service providers, economic
development policymakers and business, schools and teachers, social services, health
care, and others.
The goal of the plan would be to assure that all citizens have access to highspeed
internet service within their local communities, the devices that enable them to use the
internet and the knowledge and skills to navigate it. The plan would also identify barriers
to achieving “Digital Equity” for the residents of Dubuque and, in response, the
strategies to remove them.
69 Memorandum, Dubuque Community School District, “Information for the City of Dubuque Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan,”
December 9, 2020.
66
Several approaches could be used to develop the plan, such as holding a virtual Digital
Equity Summit bringing together stakeholders and subject matter experts to flesh out
the definition of digital equity, analyze and discuss what the current data indicates and
what additional data is needed.
The work group would assess the internet landscape in terms of infrastructure,
availability, access and affordability and determine the needs, and capacity of
Dubuquers to utilize online programs and platforms effectively. It would further identify
barriers that prevent access and utilization among under-resourced populations and
determine what benchmarks must be reached to redress them. An example of a city that
created a “Digital Equity Plan” is San Francisco’s that identifies three components of their
strategic plan:
§ Expand affordable, high-quality Internet access through strategic partnerships.
This includes bringing free, high-speed Internet service to affordable housing
residents throughout San Francisco.
§ Launch digital literacy innovation programs to test novel new ways to provide
technology training and support in high-need communities.
§ Establish central leadership and accountability for measurable change. This
should take the form of a Digital Equity Scorecard and an open coalition with
resources to support community-based organizations and residents with
technology needs.
Their full report with an excellent listing of outcome measures and benchmarks to
achieve digital equity can be seen by clicking on this report title: City and County of San
Francisco Digital Equity Strategic Plan 2019-2024.
poverty.
and non-profits that represent people experiencing
matter experts along with local advocacy groups
Action Program, IT staff from the City and subject
Carnegie-Stout Library, Hawkeye Area Community
Dubuque Community School District, the
include the Human Rights Commission, the
Expansion Initiative members and additionally
Initiatives.” that includes the current Broadband
learning, see “Examples of the Best Digital Access
described with links addressing the issues of digital
For an overview of four excellent programs
67
3. DETERMINANTS OF POVERTY
1. ECONOMIC INSECURITY, JOBS, LIVING WAGE
A. Overview
In Dubuque and across the United States, economic insecurity is increasing while
employment and wages are not keeping pace with the cost of living. The challenges are
now even greater as the country struggles with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Economic insecurity and poverty are multidimensional: they require us to acknowledge
the interdependent nature of challenges including access to housing, food, healthcare,
good schools, safe communities, and a living wage, among other factors.
Thus, while this section is deeply related to the other determinants of poverty explored
throughout this report and is analyzed in alignment with the other determinants – we’re
applying an economic lens to bring into focus how barriers to skills and education, jobs
and living wages impact those experiencing poverty. We’ll then take stock of the activity
and strategies already being applied by community leaders, non-profits, businesses and
the City to address economic insecurity and conclude with several promising practices
to enhance the work already taking place in the community.
First, we’ll take a look at the data that describes the extent and manifestation of
economic insecurity among under-resourced people.
Poverty and ALICE in Dubuque
Many individuals and families in Dubuque live in poverty or are among the working poor
as defined by ALICE -- a term developed by the United Way to signify Asset Limited,
Income-Constrained, Employed. These rates are disproportionately high for Black,
Hispanic, and Marshallese Dubuquers.
By official Federal Poverty Level (FPL) metrics, 16% of Dubuque’s population lives in
poverty. But as stated in the opening section of this report on “Measuring Poverty,” we
recommend that a truer picture of the number of people in the City experiencing
poverty is at 150% FPL, which comes to one out of four persons (25%).
The following table provides a breakdown by race based on 2018 US Census Data which
is calculated at the standard (100% FPL) level.
68
Table 10: City of Dubuque Poverty Levels by Race70
The female poverty rate (18.31%) is notably higher than the rate for males (13.54%).
Further, a staggering 56.1% of Black residents live in poverty, compared to 13.2% for
white Dubuquers. Poverty rates also vary by age: as demonstrated in the table below for
2017 (the most recent year this data was available) showing that individuals under 18
years of age experience higher rates of poverty for 50%, 100%, and 150% of the FPL.
Table 11: Poverty Rate by Age: Dubuque 201771
Data for ALICE households are
calculated only at the County level
and the most recent data for
Dubuque County is from 2016. At
this time, more than one-fifth (22%)
of households in the County were
considered ALICE households.
From the United for ALICE County
data, we can see that Black,
Hispanic, and multiple race
households are disproportionately
ALICE or living in poverty.
70 U.S. Census, American Community Survey, 2018 ACS, Table ID: S1701
71U.S. Census, American Community Survey, 2017 ACS, Table ID: S1703
Total
Number
In Poverty Poverty
Rate
Black 2,616 1,467 56.1%
Pacific
Islander
380 146 38.4%
Multiple
Races
867 224 25.8%
Hispanic 1,241 274 22.1%
Asian 771 128 16.6%
White 49,823 6,578 13.2%
0.00%5.00%10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%
Under 18 years
18-64 years
65 years and over
Less than 50% of poverty level
Less than 100% of poverty level
Less than 125% of poverty level
69
Table 12: Dubuque County ALICE Cohort Households by Race/Ethnicity72
One of the most heralded tools that the ALICE Project has given policymakers and civic
leaders is the creation of a real-life “Household Survival Budget” available for every
county in the nation.
We discuss this in greater depth in the Measuring Poverty section of this report but
thought it was helpful to show the budget in this section, as well, to reinforce the actual
impact of experiencing poverty on such a tight budget.
72 United for ALICE 2016 Iowa State Overview, County of Dubuque
70
As discussed extensively in the “Measuring Poverty” section of this report, the official
poverty measure falls short in capturing the true number of families experiencing
financial hardship. Please see the aforementioned section on “Measuring Poverty” for an
in-depth discussion on measurements of assessing poverty in Dubuque and what a
“living wage” must cover in today’s economy.
Unemployment
Even prior to COVID-19, rates of unemployment for some Dubuque residents were
distinctively high, despite the low rate for the total population. Regrettably, the
pandemic will continue to cause unemployment rates to rise, which will likely place
growing numbers into the ranks of those experiencing poverty. According to the 2018
American Community Survey, non-white groups are unemployed at significantly higher
rates than whites, with Blacks experiencing an unemployment rate four times higher than
whites.
Table 13: Unemployment by Race or Ethnicity 201873
Race or Ethnicity Unemployment Rate
Black or African
American
19.8%
Native
Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander
14.1%
Hispanic or Latinx 8.1%
White alone 4.5%
Asian alone 2.9%
Further manifestations as to how unemployment affects various populations are shown
below:
§ Interestingly, while poverty rates are higher for women in Dubuque,
unemployment rates are higher for men: 5.3% of men are unemployed,
compared to 3.2% of women. However, 38.14% of unemployed females live in
poverty, compared to 31.14% of unemployed men, and 9.89% of employed
women live in poverty compared to 7.74% of men.
§ 16.5% of those living below the poverty level are unemployed, compared to 2.7%
for those at or above the poverty level.
73 US Census: 2018 ACS, Table ID: S2301
71
§ 9.6% of individuals with a disability are unemployed.
§ Unemployment is highest for individuals with less than a high school degree at
11.2%, followed by high school graduates (4.2%), those with some college or an
associate’s degree (3.8%), and a bachelor’s degree (2.3%).74 75
The emergence of COVID-19 and the economic effects of job losses – some temporary,
others permanent – led to significant increases in the unemployment rate, though
Dubuque as a whole has seen dramatic recovery since the early months of the
pandemic. However, as this report is being completed, Iowa and the country are in the
throes of a second surge of Coronavirus cases.
Table 14: Unemployment Rate for the City of Dubuque76
Month (2020) Unemployment
Rate
April 12.9%
May 12.6%
June 9.1%
July 7.3%
August 6.5%
September 4.6%
October 3.3%
In order to track the number of individuals that may be impacted by “situational
poverty,” the Federal Reserve’s COVID-19 At-Risk Occupations List may be helpful for
City planners and the business community to consider. We’ve identified the number of
employees in each occupation in the Dubuque MSA shown in the following table.
Overall, nearly one in five jobs using the Federal Reserve list are at risk of unemployment
due to COVID-19.
742018 ACS TableID: S2301 https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=1600000US1922395&tid=ACSST5Y2018.S2301
752018 ACS TableID: S1701 https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=1600000US1922395&tid=ACSST5Y2018.S1701
76 Bureau of Labor Statistics
72
Table 15: Fifteen Largest Economically At-Risk Occupations Due To COVID-19 U.S.
Income and Wages
Median earnings in Dubuque are modest at $18.65 per hour, and lower still for non-
White communities and women. Further, the state of Iowa’s minimum wage, which is the
$7.25 per hour federal minimum wage, does not come close to covering families’ needs
and does not represent a living wage. Standard measures of poverty underestimate the
level of need that those individuals and families face and capture a much narrower set of
families than the full scope of all those who are actually struggling.
77 Wardip, Keith and Anna Tranfaglia, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, COVID-19: Which Workers Will Be Most Impacted?” April
2020.
78 BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2018)
Rank in numbers
impacted77
Occupation
Number of
employees
in Dubuque
MSA78
Percent of
Total
ALL OCCUPATIONS IN
DUBUQUE
59,130
1 Retail salespersons 2,170 3.7%
2 Supervisors of retail sales
workers
410 0.7%
3 Cashiers 1,120 1.9%
4 Waiters and waitresses 910 1.5%
5 Cooks 740 1.3%
6 Laborers and material
movers
740 1.3%
7 Construction laborers 320 0.5%
8 Carpenters 270 0.5%
9 Grounds maintenance
workers
240 0.4%
10 Personal care aides 870 1.5%
11 Child Care workers 300 0.5%
12 Assemblers and fabricators 850 1.4%
13 Food service managers 80 0.1%
14 Food preparation workers 320 0.5%
15 Security guards 190 0.3%
73
According to the 2018 American Community Survey, the City of Dubuque’s median
household income is $52,298 (while the median family income is $67,436), and a quarter
of households in Dubuque have incomes under $35,000.
Table 16: Percent of Dubuque Households at Various Income Levels79
79 2018 ACS, TableID: S1901
802018 American Community Survey, Table ID: S2001.
https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=dubuque%20city,%20iowa%20wage&t=Education&g=1600000US1922395&tid=ACSST5Y2018
.S2001&hidePreview=false
Total Household Income Percent of
Households
Less than $10,000 7.5%
$10,000 to $14,999 5.1%
$15,000 to $24,999 10.9%
$25,000 to $34,999 9.7%
$35,000 to $49,999 14.5%
$50,000 to $74,999 20.6%
$75,000 to $99,999 14.6%
$100,000 to $149,999 11.7%
$150,000 to $199,999 2.5%
$200,000 2.9%
highest disparity between men and women with bachelor’s degrees.
there is a gap of over $13,000 between men’s and women’s average earnings, with the
education levels. Average earnings for all individuals in Dubuque are $34,633, though
There are significant discrepancies in earnings by gender in the City of Dubuque at all
graduate or professional degrees earning $52,354.80
Dubuquers with bachelor’s degrees fare better, with earnings of $42,436 and those with
individuals with some college or an associate’s degree earned slightly more at $31,662.
High school graduates earned significantly more, at $29,143 during the same time, and
past 12 months, according to the 2018 ACS Community Survey.
Individuals in Dubuque with less than a high school diploma earned only $19,833 in the
Earnings vary widely according to education level, race and ethnicity, and gender.
74
Table 17: Average Income by Gender and Education Level in City of Dubuque81
Education
Level
Average Male Female Disparity
Overall $34,633 $41,496 $28,325 $13,171
Less Than High
School
$19,833 $22,333 $18,432 $3,901
High School
Graduate
$29,143 $35,309 $22,848 $12,461
Some College $31,662 $41,184 $25,495 $15,689
Bachelor’s Degree $42,436 $52,353 $35,827 $16,526
Graduate Degree $52,354 $58,352 $45,964 $12,388
Moreover, disparities in earnings by race are sizable among Dubuque residents. As
shown below, White Dubuque residents significantly out earn their Black, Hispanic, and
Pacific Islander peers, with Black individuals experiencing the lowest earnings.
Table 18: Median Individual Earnings and Mean Income in Past 12 Months by
Race/Ethnicity82
Race or Ethnicity Median Earnings Mean Income
Black or African American
$10,625
$8,933
Hispanic or Latinx $19,727 $15,873
Pacific Islander $30,615** $10,610
White $30,195 $29,431
** While these figures represent 2018 ACS counts, we can say with some certainty that
this number is inaccurate and that earnings of Pacific Islanders in Dubuque do not, on
the whole, exceed earnings by White residents. Collecting data for Pacific Islander and
Marshallese communities is a challenging endeavor; the Census results indicate a
staggering margin of error of +/- $19,605. Thus, this data should be regarded with
caution and not taken at face value. The mean income for this group likely paints a more
accurate picture.
81 US Census 2018 ACS, Table IDs: B20017B, B20017I, B20017E, B20017H, S1902
82 Ibid
75
B. Barriers to Wealth Building
As the data show, the economic status of those experiencing poverty is precarious, at
best. Most are living from paycheck to paycheck and aren’t able to build any wealth. For
most, this has been a persistent way of life filled with periods of three steps forward and
four steps back.
As explained by the Center for American Progress, “Wealth, defined as the measure of
an individual’s or family’s financial net worth, provides a myriad of opportunities for
American families. Wealth makes it easier for people to seamlessly transition between
jobs, move to new neighborhoods, and respond in emergency situations. It allows
parents to pay for or help pay for their children’s education and enables workers to build
economic sustainability in retirement. Importantly, it is the most complete measure of a
family’s future economic well-being. After all, families rely on their wealth to pay their
bills if their income disappears during an unemployment spell or after retiring, for
instance.”
Low-income people and many communities of color historically lack access to financial
tools and opportunities that allow them to build assets, purchase homes, and build
generational wealth by passing down these resources to their children. Instead, many
perceive their best or only option as to seek out predatory payday lenders, whose
exorbitant interest rates mean that under-resourced individuals end up paying more
than those with higher incomes who can afford to go through safer financial channels.
As the individual now has an even larger sum to pay off, the cycle of borrowing persists.
This is one example of the systemic ways in which marginalized and under-resourced
communities are prevented from building wealth in ways that perpetuate generational
poverty and maintain disparities.
Black families – and other families of marginalized communities, including Latinx and
Pacific Islander families – maintain significantly less wealth than White families
nationwide, translating into “fewer opportunities for upward mobility… and fewer
chances to build wealth or pass accumulated wealth down to future generations.”83
According to 2019 figures from the Federal Reserve, median wealth for Black and
Hispanic families in 2016 was $24,100 and $36,100, respectively, while for White
families, median wealth is over five times that amount, at $188,200.84
83https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2018/02/21/447051/systematic-inequality/
84https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/disparities-in-wealth-by-race-and-ethnicity-in-the-2019-survey-of-
consumer-finances-accessible-20200928.htm
76
Highlighted Barriers
In this section, we’ll review some of the barriers that came up in our research, focus
groups, surveys and Key Informant Interviews.
a. Low Wages
One of the most over-riding barriers to acquiring economic security cited by focus
group participants experiencing poverty were low wages. Most talked about the need
to work two part-time jobs to make ends meet. No one felt they were making a living
wage as suggested by the ALICE thresholds for the working poor. Many could only
get jobs from temporary agencies that in most cases was part-time; others
complained that if they did find a job that was paying around $15.00 per hour, it
remained part-time. In a survey among providers of services for people experiencing
poverty, they ranked low wages as one of the top three factors causing people to live
in poverty, preceded by generational poverty and lack of quality affordable child care.
And in a quick poll for the City of Dubuque’s “Imagine Dubuque” comprehensive
plan, “nearly half (48%) of quick poll respondents (90 individuals) identified
employment opportunities as a key factor contributing to poverty. In written
comments, statements like “wages are strikingly low in Dubuque” and “all work should
pay a living wage” were common.”85
b. Lack of Banking
An issue that Dubuque residents
experiencing poverty face is a lack of
full banking services. According to
Dubuque’s “Prosperity Now” Scorecard,
3.9% of residents are unbanked (lacking
traditional checking or savings account)
and 16.2% are underbanked, which
means they need to use alternative
banking services, such as payday lenders, at high interest rates.86
Nationwide, payday lenders have targeted vulnerable consumers that have been
affected by COVID-19, charging up to triple-digit interest rates, according to the Wall
Street Journal.87 Thus, the continued economic fallout of COVID-19 means that
85 Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, “Economic Prosperity: Chapter Three,” Imagine Dubuque (2017)
86https://scorecard.prosperitynow.org/data-by-location#city/1922395
87https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-payday-lenders-target-consumers-hurt-by-coronavirus-11591176601
77
opportunity to build their wealth or pass on a homestead to the next generation.
interest fees to acquire a mortgage. Instead, they continue to rent without any
credit scores, they aren’t able to afford the application fees, down payments nor
home, but for those who have low incomes, no banking accounts, and not-so-perfect
One of the longstanding and proven ways for a family to build wealth is to own a
. Lack of Home Ownershipc
and the Black community to yield a more successful result.
time include training peer counselors to reach out to people experiencing poverty
In our Promising Practices section, we recommend re-starting the program but this
section.
professionals. This is one of the Promising Practices highlighted at the end of this
peer counselors within the community who will have been trained by banking
currently inactive. We recommend the program be started again but this time with
However, Dubuque's Bank On program and account are no longer funded and is
subsequently, incur extremely high interest rates.
predatory “payday” lenders that people living in poverty must often resort to and,
individuals and families to pursue safer financial options than the harmful and often
program showed strong results and played a key role in redirecting Dubuque
that everyone has access to a safe and affordable bank or credit union account. The
local Bank On program affiliate with the national organization whose goal is to ensure
to a checking and savings account is one of the first steps. Dubuque used to have a
To build wealth, programs that promote financial literacy are vital, and having access
ethnicity.
these disparity levels will be similar for Dubuque, as will disparity levels by race and
show the poor are considerably unbanked and underbanked, it is safe to assume that
financial institutions as a means to narrow the wealth divide. Given national rates that
is to gather more in-depth data on this topic to gain deeper insights on access to
not readily available at the municipal level. One of the promising practices proposed
Unfortunately, an analysis of banking access by poverty rates, race and ethnicity, is
Dubuque and beyond.
banking and accessing safe financial options will be of enduring importance in
78
In Dubuque, only one in five (22.6%) of Black residents are approved for loans at the
County level88 and the home ownership rate for Black residents is 8%89. Conclusive
data for the number of Black-owned businesses does not exist, but the Iowa
Economic Development Targeted Small Business (TBS) has record of only one such
business in Dubuque.90
One organization that may provide inspiration in providing safe loan options and
comprehensive financial services for low income persons to purchase a home is the
national network of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA).
While they do not currently have a presence in Iowa, Dubuque should consider
reaching out to them to provide their services. It is one of the Promising Practices
presented in this report. It would be a way to increase home ownership rates,
particularly among Dubuque’s marginalized and under-resourced populations.
Dubuque residents may be able to take advantage of some of the organization’s
services without a full partnership, for example, their Homebuyer Workshops
available online.
d. Fees and Fines
Cities from Chicago to San Francisco to Ferguson, Missouri, have begun to examine
the disproportionate impact of fines and fees on low-income communities and
people of color. Low-income families who cannot pay their fines and fees can have
their driver’s licenses suspended, wages garnished, tax refunds intercepted, and
credit negatively impacted. 91
These can have dramatic consequences that
deepen poverty, including job loss, loss of
income, inability to pay other bills, interest
rate increases, and crushing debt. While
some cities are concerned about the
potential loss of revenue, analyses have
shown that many local governments and
courts receive little to no financial benefit
from many fines and fees.92
88https://ffiec.cfpb.gov/data-browser/data/2019?category=counties&items=19061
89https://scorecard.prosperitynow.org/data-by-location#city/1922395
90https://www.iowaeda.com/small-business/targeted-small-business/
91 https://spotlightonpoverty.org/spotlight-exclusives/chicagos-abusive-fines-and-fees-harm-the-poor-and-highlight-troubling-
national-trend/
92 https://www.policylink.org/blog/fine-and-fee-justice
79
They found that the cost of collecting fees is no less than the amount collected. It
should also be noted that inability to pay fines and fees is also a significant factor in
reincarceration.93
Further, when individuals experience the criminal justice system, they encounter fees
and surcharges, fines, and asset forfeiture. As discussed in-depth in the Racial Equity
Section of this report, people of color – particularly Black Americans – are
disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system and such fees and fines
make it even more difficult for them to achieve financial stability.
Research has found that: “Particularly in the jurisdictions that rely heavily on such
collections, researchers have found that law enforcement activities are distorted by
the need to raise revenue, affecting the types of crimes that are policed and
damaging the relationship between police and communities.”94
Cities across the U.S. are addressing the pervasive effects of this issue: in 2016, San
Francisco created a “Fines and Fees Task Force” to study their impact on San
Franciscans and issue recommendations. In June 2018, the City of San Francisco
abolished all locally-imposed criminal justice administrative fees, and was also the
first county to not charge fees to parents whose children were incarcerated in juvenile
hall, and the first Superior Court to stop suspending driver’s licenses when people
were unable to pay traffic court fines.95 As the American Bar Association characterize
it, fees and fines “criminalize poverty.”
e. Barriers to Economic Security from “Checking the Box”
All too often, to be convicted of a crime is a sentence to a life in poverty. According
to a well-regarded manual on Mentoring Former Prisoners: A Guide for Reentry
Programs by Public Private Ventures, every year, nearly hundreds of thousands of
adults are released from prison in the nation and they must find housing and jobs,
but the majority of them have not completed high school, nearly three quarters have
a history of substance abuse, and more than one third have a physical or mental
health condition.
93https://www.hamiltonproject.org/papers/nine_facts_about_monetary_sanctions_in_the_criminal_justice_system?_ga=2.16727532
6.1021269402.1605121750-907695901.1602883085
94https://www.hamiltonproject.org/papers/nine_facts_about_monetary_sanctions_in_the_criminal_justice_system?_ga=2.16727532
6.1021269402.1605121750-907695901.1602883085
95https://finesandfeesjusticecenter.org/articles/san-francisco-fines-fees-task-force-initial-findings-and-recommendations/
80
Aside from those high barriers, a criminal record by itself can effectively disqualify an
applicant from almost any job, which in turn feeds a vicious cycle of recidivism. With
nearly 90% of employers and 80% of landlords requiring criminal background
checks, a criminal record can present an insurmountable obstacle to obtaining
employment and housing for years after one’s debt to society has been paid.
In a survey of employers by the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation
(InfoAction Dashboard 2019-2020), managers report that 93 percent conduct a
background check and 60 percent require drug screening. Sixty percent, however,
report that they will hire ex-offenders.96 Overall, given the huge gap between their
many challenges and limited opportunities to overcome them, it is not surprising that
52% of prisoners are re-incarcerated within three years of release.97
Data from around the country underscore the dramatic economic impact that
improving employment opportunities for former prisoners could have on individuals,
families, and communities:
§ A Michigan study found that record-clearing enhances earnings of formerly
incarcerated individuals by 25%.
§ A Villanova study found that the poverty rate would have dropped by 20%
from 1980 to 2004 but for mass incarceration and the criminal records it
produced.98
States including Pennsylvania and Utah have passed Clean Slate legislation supporting
automatic record expungement for certain crimes, after a certain period of time. Other
states including California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, and
Washington have introduced similar measures with bipartisan support.99
As of September 2020, 36 states and over 150 cities have passed laws to “ban the box,”
for public sector employers, prohibiting job applications that require applicants to check
“the box” if they have been convicted of a felony – and effectively excluding them from
further consideration.
Fourteen states and 20 cities and counties have passed similar legislation that is
applicable to private sector employers, as well. 100 Cities can also support initiatives to
96https://www.greaterdubuque.org/media/userfiles/subsite_90/files/Action%20Dashboard/Action%20Dashboard%202019_2020.pdf
97 Mentoring Former Prisoners: A Guide for Re-Entry Programs by Public Private Ventures, 2007.
98 Ibid
99 https://www.americanprogress.org/press/statement/2020/06/30/486967/release-one-year-anniversary-pennsylvanias-clean-slate-
law-cleared-nearly-35-million-records/
100 https://www.nelp.org/publication/ban-the-box-fair-chance-hiring-state-and-local-guide/
81
encourage and support employers who proactively train and hire formerly incarcerated
individuals. One way to do this is by partnering with community-based organizations.
f. Mentoring
A body of research, including research funded by the Department of Labor Employment
and Training Administration, has demonstrated that well-designed and well-run
mentoring programs can positively affect outcomes for released prisoners. The DOL-
funded Ready4Work pilot study of 4,482 formerly incarcerated individuals enrolled in 11
mentorship programs nationwide, implemented by city, secular, and faith-based
organizations, found that participation reduced reincarceration rates by as much as half,
and that mentored participants were twice as likely to obtain a job.101 At one-year post-
release, participants who were mentored were 35 percent less likely to reoffend,
whether or not they were employed.
The City’s support of the Fountain of Youth
Program (FOY) in Dubuque to provide
“Partners in Change Mentors” to eligible
individuals reentering the community is a
successful and vital component to
addressing economic insecurity in the
community.
The mission of FOY is “to change the mindsets that contribute to generational poverty,”
to reduce recidivism locally by mentoring those returning to community following
incarceration. By offering tailored On-the-Job-Mentoring programs for employers of
formerly incarcerated people in the community, employees will be mentored and
coached on job expectations and strategies for success, while supervisors can also gain
insights into the challenges a former prisoner faces adjusting to community and work-
life.
Mentoring is a powerful tool for people making critical life transitions that includes
coaching and soft skills training. This approach is especially helpful for those who have
lived in highly controlled, institutional environments and must adapt to employment
settings where initiative and self-motivation are keys to success.
Businesses and non-profits can also contribute towards mentoring by volunteering
enlisting partners to provide community supports.
101 https://www.stlreentry.org/images/docs/PRItoolkit.pdf
82
While the focus of “Fair Chance” is economic opportunities, there are other important
ways that partners and businesses can contribute to this effort:
§ Providing mentors to children of incarcerated parents.
§ Supplying tools for success (business clothing, cell phones, internet service,
transit cards, or child-care services).
§ Offering support to regional reentry facilities.
g. Cliff Effect
Another factor that significantly impacts the wealth-building capacity of families is the
cliff effect. Each form of public support has its own income eligibility definitions and
levels: a “cliff” refers to the drop in these supports when earnings increase.102
Families whose income is increasing and who are making strides in economic security
may feel threatened or set back by the cliff effect and avoid further income boosts and
the saving of assets to prevent benefits from being taken away.
On the whole, these “cliffs” are quite steep, and do not provide gradual “on-and-off
ramps” for benefits. Calculating these “cliffs” is complicated, and is dependent on family
size, income, and what combination of benefits they are receiving. Many of our focus
group members talked about the fear and frustration of contending with the threat of
losing child care, health or food benefits.
Thus, the cliff effect is, yet another factor that keeps
Dubuque individuals and families from building
wealth, as our focus group conversations reinforced.
Its impact goes beyond financial loss, as was
discovered by United Way of Cincinnati in
commissioning a study on the cliff effect: “What
became clear was that there was a high level of
emotional attachment and security associated with
some benefits, most notably SNAP. The fear of
losing those benefits outweighed any incremental
gains in wages.”103
102https://www.umb.edu/editor_uploads/images/centers_institutes/center_social_policy/DOL_ETA_Oct_11.2018.REV.pdf
103https://www.gcfdn.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/wf_Cliff_Effect_Qualitative_Insights.pdf
83
For example, the loss of a child-care benefit can easily and significantly exceed a small
wage increase.104 The Cliff Effect traps families in low wage jobs in two ways:
1) It discourages people to accept more or higher paid work when an
incremental advancement would leave their families worse off, and
2) For those who exceed earnings thresholds (intentionally or not), it can
penalize their families by actually leaving them with lower disposable income.
Benefits cliffs also impact employers, contributing to high turnover and unavailability of
valued employees.105
While there is little that cities can do on their own to change how these federal and state
benefits are structured, they can help their low-income citizens navigate these cliffs and
join working groups to advocate for better policies at the state and federal levels. We
offer some Promising Practices to assist at the conclusion of this section.
C. Local Action to Build On
The business community of Dubuque has been active and engaged in partnering with
the City, the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, non-profits and community-
based organizations to identify ways they can be involved in generating “prosperity for
all Dubuquers.” In turn, this means addressing the needs of those experiencing poverty
and empowering them on a path forward towards economic security. The Greater
Dubuque Development Corporation along with participation of anchor businesses cited
earlier in this report and the Chamber of Commerce will be vital partners with the City to
help strategize, reimagine and employ policies and practices that address the barriers
cited and the “Promising Practices” proposed.
Beyond the private sector, a number of Dubuque nonprofits, programs, and community-
based organizations are already deep into the work of addressing economic insecurity
and poverty. The successful work of these groups offers the City a “roadmap” for
effective strategies moving forward and provides a strong foundation for future efforts to
build upon. The City’s continued support of these kinds of programs will be vital.
104https://www.umb.edu/editor_uploads/images/centers_institutes/center_social_policy/Cliff_Effect_Simulations_Expanded_Family_
Types.pdf
105 https://www.tampabaynewswire.com/2019/01/28/womens-resource-center-advocates-for-benefits-cliff-policies-74875
84
106https://www.cityofdubuque.org/1398/Gaining-
Opportunities#:~:text=The%20Gaining%20Opportunities%20(GO)%20Program,tracks%20to%20improve%20their%20situation.
107https://www.cityofdubuque.org/2786/Family-Self--Sufficiency
108 Email correspondence from Housing Program Directors of Getting Ahead, Gaining Opportunities & Family Self-Sufficiency
programs, September 23, 2020.
with a disability.
have a disability, and another 15% have a family member in the household
participants have households with minor children, 12% of heads of households
income,” and 5% are in the “low-income” category. Seventy-nine percent of
participants are classified as “extremely low income,” while 15% are “very low
are White, 71% are Black, 2% are Hispanic, and 1% are Asian. Eighty percent of
recent data show that 92% of participants are female heads of household, 28%
§ While demographic data for these programs is due to be updated, the most
skills to achieve less dependency on welfare assistance and rental subsidies.
with skills such as furthering education, money management, and job retention
programs are achieving their outcomes in terms of empowering participants
off of cash welfare. The average increase in earned income is 414%. Thus, the
§ Ninety percent of graduates no longer need housing assistance and 100% are
§ Sixty-two people currently participate in the program.
The FSS Program has achieved notable results:108
and family activities in both one-to-one and group settings.
building, interviewing, soft skills, and financial management), healthcare management,
employment, parenting and financial skills.107 They offer workplace skills (resume
their goals and connect them with activities focused on building educational abilities,
FSS Coordinators provide support, opportunity, and resources for participants to reach
through community support, strategic partners, and one-on-one coaching.106
management, employment, access to services, basic needs, and social connections)
living in poverty, focusing on six key community-building tracks (education, money
The program supports individuals in addressing the lack of resources that contributes to
Participants.
who want to become self-sufficient and is available to Housing Choice Voucher
Program and Getting Ahead. It’s a federal program that supports low-income families
and Community Development Department that includes the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS)
Gaining Opportunities is an overarching program run by the City of Dubuque Housing
Programs Creating Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency
85
Getting Ahead is funded through small private donations, with the City of Dubuque and
Greater Dubuque Development Corporation contributing funding. The programs
operate in partnership with the Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC), such as in
creating a drivers ed program for adults, the Iowa Workforce Development Center, and
Dupaco, a money match program for anyone who has graduated from Getting Ahead.
Project HOPE
Project HOPE is a partnership with the City of Dubuque and the Community Foundation
of Greater Dubuque whose role is to convene and collaborate with stakeholders in the
community and increase economic opportunity for all community members. They
engage in system-level work focused primarily on education, child care, and
training/employment. Project HOPE has proven to facilitate a number of successful
partnerships in Dubuque and typically engages with an initiative until it has found a
home, at which point Project HOPE will continue to provide support and meet the
initiative’s needs, though it will no longer be housed directly with them.
Project HOPE brings stakeholders together, fostering collaboration, and working
towards collective impact as a “backbone” organization that provides infrastructure,
support, and capacity. Project HOPE has served this role for initiatives such as Brain
Health, Opportunity Dubuque, and Re-engage Dubuque.
These serve as a successful example of using a collective impact model. Project HOPE
also plays a role in the Washington and North End neighborhoods, contracting with
individuals that live and work there through the vehicle of a neighborhood garden,
which they use as a tool to engage youth, allow families to hold cookouts, and grow free
produce.
Dubuque Works
The Greater Dubuque Development facilitates “Dubuque Works,” a collaborative
regional partnership of employers, funding partners, workforce experts, and educators
focusing on three goals:
1. Human Capital: Partners identify and address recruitment, retention, and
relocation needs as defined by Greater Dubuque employers;
2. Skill Development: Partners build workforce capacity by enhancing training to
meet employer demand;
86
3. Collaboration & Evaluation: Partners combine collaborative workforce efforts
with quality research to generate evidence-based practices that improve
performance and outcomes for local employers.109
D. Community Engagement: What We Heard You Say
In our community engagement process, when we raised the topic of economic
insecurity, we encountered individuals experiencing challenges related to finding jobs,
getting to them, low wages, basic needs, cell phone and Wi-Fi access, and the cliff effect.
Focus group and interview findings related to housing, transportation, education, and
early learning and care also inform our understanding of economic insecurity and are
discussed throughout this report. This section seeks to focus on findings that are not
repeated in other social service areas.
Homeless and low-income community members that we spoke to – particularly women –
in our focus groups voiced a perceived trade-off between low-paying jobs with long
hours and higher-paying jobs with fewer hours that ended up yielding roughly the same
amount of money. In each case, these wages fall short of meeting basic needs.
Women with children, specifically,
experienced a lack of employment
options: they felt that to find a job that
allows them to take time off for their
children will likely be a low-wage job with
no benefits and, potentially, only
seasonal employment. Many low-income
individuals consider finding work with the
temp agencies in Dubuque, but those
jobs come with no benefits.
Some community members felt that temp roles worked best for younger men who could
perform the physical work often required of these jobs but did not meet the needs of
women with families. Some participants expressed that getting a job entails costs that
many people may not immediately think of: if someone is already low-income, it is
particularly challenging to afford gas money for work, appropriate clothes or a uniform,
and other essentials without employer assistance.
109 https://www.greaterdubuque.org/workforce-solutions/dubuque-works
87
Further, in our community engagement efforts and discussions with local experts, we
were told to note the occurrence of factory jobs shutting down, which had historically
served as jobs benefiting generations of white families in Dubuque, helping them get
out of poverty, though the opportunity did not extend to families of color. Given the
decline of these jobs, training and education in the post-industrial economy is essential.
These community members, many of whom had grown up in and lived in poverty,
expressed a need for more programs and classes to gain skills and new ways of thinking
about poverty. Participants had largely positive feedback on existing programs like
“Getting Ahead,” but said that classes fill up quickly and do not meet high demand.
For Marshallese communities in Dubuque, specifically, we heard that culturally-
competent classes on managing a budget and building financial literacy would be very
helpful, as finances are different in the Marshall Islands and many find the U.S. system
difficult to navigate. Others shared that existing classes offered by the Lantern Center on
computer skills have been a valuable resource as have community college’s job training
programs (NICC) through the Opportunity Dubuque initiative.
Relationships with employers were also a prevalent topic of conversation. Many focus
group participants across groups expressed inflexibility by employers, even in the case
of genuine emergencies. One woman who had to leave work because her very young
daughter had pneumonia and was told not to come back to work: she explained, “I’d
rather lose a job than lose my baby.”
Other participants spoke of friends who had worked at companies in Dubuque for years
and were fired for having to care for sick children multiple times during the year.
Community members say that many jobs they apply for include questions asking how
many days they think it is acceptable to miss work. Additionally, they felt that many
employers don’t want to work with students whose schedules change each semester.
Language barriers and cultural norms may also impede relationships with employers for
people from outside the U.S. Employers and others in the community assume that
“everyone knows” common work practices like calling in ahead of time if they will be late
to or miss work and getting a doctor’s note, but individuals coming from different places
(including the Marshall Islands) often don’t know these unspoken “rules.”
Many participants indicate that they often have difficulty paying bills, including those
with full and part-time work (pre-COVID). Some identified electric bills as particularly
burdensome, with some months where costs are especially high and unmanageable for
many families. Others spoke of difficulties accessing financial assistance and signing up
for services even when contacting the appropriate agencies. Community members living
in poverty found local sources of assistance to be extremely helpful, but unable to cover
all of their gaps in needs.
88
Another unmet need related to economic insecurity voiced by participants of focus
groups was the cost of owning a smart phone, which for them is essential for finding and
maintaining a job, accessing government benefits, and meeting the needs of daily life.
Although people using food stamps or Medicaid can access free government phones
from companies like Cuelink, Assurance, Insurance Wireless, and Safelink, they have a
limited number of minutes and text messages that cannot be added. Further, it takes a
month to receive a phone and not everyone who applies for a phone receives one. For
homeless women, cell phones provide an additional degree of privacy in their job
searches, in that they do not have to leave the shelter as a contact number for
employers. The phone is also critical to their safety.
In almost every focus group, community members identified the cliff effect as a serious
obstacle to getting out of poverty. In their words, “Why get a raise if I’ll lose my child care
or healthcare?” People feel “punished” for trying to do better and achieve higher wages
and savings. Though they would like to be “off welfare,” they are unable to compromise
these benefits if they are barely just surviving.
Focus group participants called for a process to gradually get people off of government
assistance that does not suddenly or prematurely cut off services before a person can
independently shoulder all costs. Providers in Dubuque also noted the significance of
the cliff effect and recommended a tiered system for benefits should wages increase.
One of the most poignant insights from our community engagement process was the
sentiment that “it is expensive to be poor.” Living in poverty requires a series of difficult
choices and constant calculations. As one woman put it, “Do we buy food? Diapers? If I
pay this bill, my account will go negative. Can I afford to do that and pay the overdraft
fee?”
Similarly, being unable to make a bill payment leads to late fees that now mean the
person living in poverty owes even more money; those who borrow from payday lenders
then have exorbitant interest rates to pay back. People living in poverty are subject to
increased costs and often face difficult choices in paying for essentials that don’t have
right answers.
89
Lastly, we learned that the emotional effects of poverty run deep and are something that
children learn early. Homeless women expressed that their children don’t completely
understand but are very aware that their family faces challenges and feel anxiety about
their futures. One woman living in a shelter said that her young daughter has said to her,
“Mom, we’re not going to have anywhere else to go.”
As illuminated throughout this section, Dubuquers living in poverty face a range of
obstacles related to economic security that include unemployment, lack of living wages,
lack of skills to attract good jobs, the cliff effect, and the hidden costs of poverty.
E. Promising Practices to Consider
1. Living Wage Certificate
A living wage is the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs.
In many places, the legal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) does not enable workers to
meet these needs, and many minimum-wage earners must also rely on government
assistance. Since those earning less than a living wage are more likely to be women and
people of color, living wages can help to narrow racial and gender wage gaps, while
lifting working families out of poverty.
Although a City-mandated minimum wage is not permitted due to state law. The City of
Dubuque can use local data to identify an equitable living wage for the City, and
facilitate discussions with business leaders to find ways to encourage and support
businesses who voluntarily embrace living wage practices and principles. This can help
to establish a living wage as a local value and incentivize businesses to uphold this
standard. The Office of Shared Prosperity could assist in developing other benchmarks
beyond the living wage to award the certificate, for example, recognizing companies
that provide child care benefits, and other family friendly policies.
For example, the Mayor’s Office of Richmond, Virginia, launched a voluntary living wage
certification program. The Living Wage Certificate is awarded to businesses who
provide their workers a living wage, as determined by the City. Those businesses
receive a certificate from the City, which can be publicly displayed, and encourages
people to support businesses that pay a living wage. Strategies affecting economic
security will need to be continually assessed given the continuing impact of COVID-19
on jobs and wages.
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2. Create a Financial Empowerment Collaborative
Project HOPE would be a likely facilitator to work with the Anchor Collaborative cited
under the Infrastructure section of this report to explore social enterprise opportunities
among the anchor entities of “eds and meds” institutions and major employers both in
the public (City, County Government, School District) and private sector. The goal is to
identify ways in which local individuals, groups, and communities can become
entrepreneurs servicing their goods and services procurement needs. See the section
on Anchor Collaboratives for examples as to how cities have implemented such
enterprises.
The Collaborative could also explore additional insights that groups have studied in
Dubuque as to the Future of Work. Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine
Learning along with other digital technologies are predicted to displace thousands of
workers during this decade. Add to that the demand for automation and touch-free
services accelerated by COVID-19, and a new and growing cohort of individuals may be
thrown into poverty even sooner while the country struggles through the economic
fallout of the pandemic.
The Office of Shared Prosperity along with Greater Dubuque Development Corporation
will need to continually assess how technology will augment, replace or create jobs
locally, and then identify strategies to mitigate the impact on the most vulnerable while
preparing citizens to be successful in the ever-changing digital economy. To jump start
the research for such an endeavor, Public Works recently completed a year-long study
for one of the largest healthcare unions in the country on the Future of Work and how
the Fourth Industrial Revolution will replace, augment and create jobs. We’re more than
happy to share the results of that project and report.
3. Wealth Building Through Home Ownership
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) is a nonprofit,
community advocacy and homeownership organization that promotes home ownership
by counseling working people and empowering even those with poor credit to purchase
a home or modify a predatory loan with favorable terms. Through its history, NACA has
demonstrated that when working people have access to a prime rate loan, they can
become homeowners, make their payments, and become prime borrowers, showing
that high rates and fees are not necessary or constructive.
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NACA is also known for successful advocacy against predatory and discriminatory
lenders and is in the process of rapid expansion of its offices, opening the door for
potential action in the state of Iowa and Dubuque. Under a NACA mortgage, members
purchase their homes with no down payment, no closing costs, no fees, no requirements
for perfect credit, and a below-market interest rate. Members also have access to free,
comprehensive housing services. NACA also offers property renovation and foreclosure
prevention and state-of-the-art mortgage software for web-based counseling,
processing and underwriting.
To increase home ownership rates, particularly among Dubuque’s marginalized and
under-resourced populations, the City would do well to collaborate with NACA.
Dubuque residents may be able to take advantage of some of the organization’s services
without a full partnership, for example, Homebuyer Workshops.
4. Banking and Financial Equity
Dubuque used to have a local Bank On partnership affiliated with the national
organization and we recommend that it be restarted. Because the program mostly
consists of convening banks, communications/marketing, and sharing research and best
practices, it is not an extremely expensive program to administer. When the program
was running, the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque raised $6,700 from four
credit unions and four banks in Dubuque.
However, some Dubuque banks did not participate, and some that had contributed did
not make further efforts to enact Bank On-related changes. Lack of requisite support led
to the program ceasing to operate in Dubuque, though residents continue to experience
banking needs and lack connections to financial institutions and access to safe lending
institutions.
In our Promising Practices section, we recommend re-starting the program but this time
include training peer counselors to reach out to people experiencing poverty and the
Black community to yield a more successful result.
110 https://www.americanprogress.org/press/statement/2020/06/30/486967/release-one-year-anniversary-pennsylvanias-clean-
slate-law-cleared-nearly-35-million-records/
bipartisan support.110 As of September 2020, 36 states and over 150 cities have passed
number of states throughout the country have introduced similar measures with
record expungement for certain crimes, after a certain period of time. A growing
Clean Slate legislation and ordinances, also known as “Ban the Box” support automatic
5. “Fair Chance Pledge” and Ban the Box
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laws to “ban the box,” for public sector employers prohibiting job applications that
require applicants to check “the box” if they have been convicted of a felony – and
effectively excluding them from further consideration. Fourteen states and 20 cities and
counties have passed similar legislation that is applicable to private sector employers as
well. 111 Cities can also support initiatives to encourage and support employers who
proactively train and hire formerly incarcerated individuals. One way to do this is by
partnering with community-based organizations, as the City of Dubuque has with the
Fountain of Youth, a program mentoring individuals who have previous records and
have recently re-entered into the community.
The City of Dubuque has implemented a Clean Slate policy in hiring its employees and
City Council has considered passing a “Ban the Box” Ordinance. As described in the
section earlier, there are beneficial economic gains for both the community and those
who have been incarcerated and want to begin anew with employment, so they can be
contributing citizens for themselves and their families. Implementing this best practice
would deliver on both of these fronts and is highly recommended.
The City could also promote the “Fair Chance Pledge” that began as grassroots initiative,
and was formalized into national policy in 2015. Participating companies take a pledge
to make ongoing commitments to achieve the goals of promoting opportunity for all,
eliminating barriers to reentry into society, and providing meaningful opportunities to
succeed for formerly incarcerated individuals.
There are a number of ways to advance this work at the City level, such as passing “Ban
the Box” ordinances – and by hosting Free Expungement Clinics, as in Philadelphia, to
assist eligible individuals with the legal process of obtaining a criminal record
expungement. [Currently, criminal records eligible for expungement in Iowa are
generally limited to cases resulting in either a dismissal or acquittal,112 or to
misdemeanors after eight years’ time.113]
Local initiatives based upon the national “Fair Chance Business Pledge,” encourage local
and regional businesses to eliminate as standard the employment question requiring
applicants to check “the box” if they have been convicted of a felony, which often
eliminates them from further consideration for employment in any capacity. With or
without accompanying mandates, the City can encourage businesses to voluntarily make
the “Fair Chance Pledge” to proactively increase access to employment opportunities for
people who have been involved in the criminal justice system. Specifically, employers
can commit to:
111 https://www.nelp.org/publication/ban-the-box-fair-chance-hiring-state-and-local-guide/
112 https://www.iowalegalaid.org/resource/can-i-expunge-my-adult-criminal-conviction-in-1?ref=y3uf1
113 https://ccresourcecenter.org/state-restoration-profiles/iowa-restoration-of-rights-pardon-expungement-sealing/
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§ “Banning the Box” by delaying criminal history questions until later in the hiring
process, after qualifications can be evaluated, and considering criminal history
on a case-by-case basis;
§ Training human resources staff on making fair and reasoned decisions regarding
applicants with criminal records;
§ Making internships and job training available to some individuals with criminal
records;
§ Using reliable background check providers to help ensure fairness and accuracy;
§ Hosting a Fair Chance and Opportunity Job Fair
Signatories to the national “Fair Chance Pledge” include companies like American
Airlines, CVS, Facebook, IBM, Gap, Google, Koch Industries, McDonalds, Starbucks,
Tyson Foods, Unilever, and Walmart.114
6. Mentoring
The City’s partnership with experienced community-based organizations and the
community college’s (NICC) training programs to gain job skills has been very
productive in helping those with considerable barriers to economic security to gain
footing on a path forward. The mentoring and training programs offered by The
Fountain of Youth Program (FOY) in Dubuque to provide “Partners in Change Mentors”
to eligible individuals reentering the community has been supported by the City and
would do well to expand and continue this support. The mission of FOY is “to change
the mindsets that contribute to generational poverty,” and is already working to reduce
recidivism locally by mentoring those returning to community following incarceration.
7. Buffer the Impact of the Cliff Effect | Advocate for Change in Rules & Regulations
The Cliff Effect is one of the most damaging policies that keep working people who rely
on public benefits in poverty. The Cliff Effect refers to the negative impact that a small
increase in earnings can have on the total allowable resources that a family can receive in
public benefits such as food, housing, health and child care assistance. Benefits Cliffs are
created by federal and state welfare policies that do not gradually phase out benefits as
114 https://www.careeraddict.com/companies-hire-felons
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income increases, (creating a “cliff”). These can include SNAP benefits, Medicaid and
CHIP, and child care vouchers.
For example, the loss of a child-care benefit can easily and significantly exceed a small
wage increase.115 The Cliff Effect can effectively trap families in low wage jobs in two
ways:
1) It discourages people to accept more or higher paid work when an incremental
advancement would leave their families worse off and;
2) For those who exceed earnings thresholds (intentionally or not), it can penalize
their families by actually leaving them with lower disposable income. Benefits cliffs
also impact employers, contributing to high turnover and unavailability of valued
employees.116
Calculating these “cliffs” is complicated, and is dependent on family size, income and
what combination of benefits they are receiving. While there is little that cities can do on
their own to change how these federal and state benefits are structured, they can help
their low-income citizens to navigate these cliffs and join working groups to advocate for
better policies at the state and federal levels. Here are two actions to consider:
A. Leverage Online Tools to Provide Guidance to Benefits Recipients
With support from The Boston Foundation and in partnership with Project Hope
and Code for Boston, a group of volunteer coders is using Center for Social Policy
research to create an online tool to help social services caseworkers and families
understand and navigate how increases in earnings could affect their benefits.117
The City of Dubuque should follow the development of this tool, and when
available, work with these organizations to leverage this resource to help low-
income Dubuquers and local organizations that serve them make informed
decisions for their families. This tool should also serve to inform legislators about
the need for reform.
B. Form a Cliff Effect Working Group to Advocate for Reform
Cities can help address the “Cliff Effect” through a study group that can assess the
gaps and hardships caused by the Cliff Effect and identify ways to fill the gaps
115https://www.umb.edu/editor_uploads/images/centers_institutes/center_social_policy/Cliff_Effect_Simulations_Expanded_Family_
Types.pdf
116 https://www.tampabaynewswire.com/2019/01/28/womens-resource-center-advocates-for-benefits-cliff-policies-
74875
117 http://blogs.umb.edu/mccormack-speaks/2017/10/20/center-for-social-policys-research-on-cliff-effects-drives-systems-change/
95
locally until larger reforms are instituted. Despite the fact that the Cliff Effect is
essentially a result of federal and state income eligibility thresholds, the group
could identify ways to ameliorate the impacts and advocate for changes.
Documenting the stories of working people receiving benefits who did not apply
for a promotion, accept a raise, or work over a certain number of hours in order to
keep their benefits would be very powerful in engaging employers, policy makers
and legislators to better understand and address this issue.
The Child Care Coalition of Dubuque and the Women’s Foundation of Iowa along with
other statewide stakeholders provides an example, as to how advocacy can have an
impact in addressing the Cliff Effect on one major benefit: Child Care Assistance. Due to
new legislation, the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) has recently (July 2020)
made changes to the Child Care Assistance Plus program:
§ The 12-month eligibility limit for families is being eliminated. As long as family
income remains below the monthly gross income limit, families may continue to
remain eligible under the CCA Plus program.
§ Because the 12-month limit is being eliminated, the maximum monthly income
limit for the program is changing to 225% of the federal poverty level (FPL)
rather than 85% of the state median income (SMI).118
These new regulations will allow working families to continue receiving child care
assistance without fear of the Cliff Effect.
7. Fees and Fines Equity and Relief
The City of Dubuque recently formed an “Equitable Fines and Fees” Committee during
the same period we were researching cities who had pursued such initiatives along with
learning of the results of their efforts. It is our understanding that the principles and
many of the recommendations presented here are being reviewed by committee.
One city frequently cited as a best practice model is the initiative launched by the San
Francisco’s Board of Supervisors that directed the Office of the Treasurer and Tax
Collector to create a Fines and Fees Task Force (staffed by the Treasurer’s Financial
Justice Project) to study the impact of fines and fees and make recommendations.
118 https://iowaccrr.org/blog/2020/6/23/News/Important_Changes_for_Child_Care_Assistance_on_July_1/ar/2419/
96
The report presented four broad principles that can be applied to cities across the
board:
§ Engage community organizations, court and government officials, and other
stakeholders throughout the fees and fines reform process;
§ Review the fees and fines in the jurisdiction of interest, clarify guiding
principles, and know which government departments control which fees and
fines;
§ Craft a clear reform agenda; and
§ Work with courts and other government departments to implement approved
reforms and help low-income people take advantage of those reforms.
The first task, however, will be for the committee to work collaboratively with the County
in identifying the distinctions among three jurisdictions that influence the imposition of
fines and fees: the City of Dubuque, the County of Dubuque and the State of Iowa. There
are a number of state laws and codes that govern what a city and county can do in
imposing and/or waiving fees and fines. The only fines that a city controls are those that
are civil citations that are subject to a state cap.
Under Iowa state code, for example, payment plans and/or community service are only
available if someone owes $350 or more. Thus, if someone experiencing poverty
receives a fine of $349, they must reconcile it without any option to pay it via community
service or a payment plan. A fine at this amount for most impoverished people is
untenable. In this instance, the Committee could consider ways in which fines are levied
to begin with and explore a review of fines requested by prosecutors impacting low
income persons to better inform the Committee as to the policy and practice at the local
level that could be reformed.
The recommendations from the San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors “Fines and Fees
Task Force” report led to successful reforms that can serve as a model for other cities.119
The following list of reforms provides fodder for the Dubuque Equitable Fines and Fees
Committee to consider.
§ The repeal of all locally controlled fees charged to people leaving jail, as well as a
range of other costs such as fees for jailhouse phone calls. In Dubuque, the
County is the jurisdiction that controls such fees.
§ Allowing low-income individuals to establish payment plans for paying off motor
vehicle tickets, Transit Agency tickets, and in some cases to erase their debt
through community service. [Note: this led to an increase in revenue in the San
119 https://thecrimereport.org/2020/06/03/san-francisco-justice-how-one-city-ended-the-fines-and-fees-trap/
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Francisco project.] In Dubuque, the County and State are jurisdictions that control
such fees.
§ Abolishing locally-imposed criminal justice administrative fees120 and waiving
criminal justice administrative fee debt for low-income persons.
§ Piloting means-adjusted fines.
§ Ensuring that “Quality of Life” citations do not punish people for being poor —
police can issue written warnings instead of tickets, and when tickets are issued,
defendants should have opportunities to resolve their debt by receiving social
services or other alternatives.
§ Conducting an analysis of revenue from fines, fees, tickets and financial penalties
and identifying for reform fees or fines where:
o Revenue collected does not justify the cost of collection and enforcement
o Delinquent revenue is greater than or equal to revenue collected
o Collection and enforcement of the fine has a disparate impact on low-
income communities or communities of color.
120 https://finesandfeesjusticecenter.org/articles/san-francisco-abolish-criminal-justice-fees-penalties/
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3.2 TRANSPORTATION
Overview
Transportation serves as a vital bridge that allows individuals to access education,
employment, social services, and household essentials.
As the Brookings Institution reports, affordable commuting options significantly impact
economic mobility, with transportation costs serving as burdens for low-income job
seekers.121 The National Council of State Legislatures explains the wide range of factors
that come to bear on transportation access and the far-reaching effects of this access or
lack thereof:
“For low-income people, lack of reliable transportation is often a significant
obstacle to finding work. They may live far from available jobs, struggle to
afford transportation costs, or have inadequate access to public transit,
especially in rural and suburban areas. For families that balance work, job
training child care, it can be even tougher to get where they need to be.122”
Further, according to the Brookings Institute:
§ The working poor spend a much greater percentage of their income on
commuting. The working poor spend 6.1% of their income, compared to 3.8% for
other workers, while the highest portion of income spent is by the working poor
who drive to work, at 8.4%.
§ A greater portion of household budgets of the working poor are consumed by
housing and commuting costs. For those who rent, the disparities between the
working poor (32.4 percent) and other households (19.7 percent) are even
greater.123
For people living in poverty, affordable access to transportation is critical to accessing
opportunities and achieving self-sustainability. Dubuque residents living in poverty rely
on transportation to access education and employment opportunities, but struggle with
limitations of the bus system including schedule and price per ride, and costs of car
ownership, while employers and others in the community express frustration at what
they perceive as under-utilized transport services.
121https://www.brookings.edu/research/commuting-to-opportunity-the-working-poor-and-commuting-in-the-united-states/
122https://www.ncsl.org/Portals/1/Documents/transportation/Work_Job_Access_0515.pdf.pdf
123https://www.brookings.edu/research/commuting-to-opportunity-the-working-poor-and-commuting-in-the-united-states/
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The City of Dubuque faces a variety of challenges related to transportation use and
access which were discussed throughout our community engagement process,
including:
§ A disconnect between authorities and providers, who feel that they have made
adequate transportation options available, and residents who feel that they still
must struggle to access them.
§ A lack of reliable transportation serving as a deterrent to employment; an obstacle
identified particularly by homeless women.
§ A bus system found by many to be confusing, with inefficient routes, limited
hours, and costs that may be unaffordable to those most in need of public transit.
§ A need for a regular hourly shuttle between downtown Dubuque and Peosta,
where many technical programs are offered, and jobs held in the industrial center.
§ Obstacles to car-ownership for families living in poverty, such as affording gas,
paying for insurance, and covering costs of necessary repairs.
§ A state code that limits free transportation within two miles to students in the five
Dubuque schools with the highest numbers of students of color and students
living in poverty.
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Dubuquers with incomes under $35,000 rely on public transportation to get to work at
much higher levels than those with incomes greater than $35,000 as shown below.
Table 19: Means of Transportation to Work by Earnings in the Past 12 Months
Income Drove
Alone
Carpooled Public Transportation
$1 - $9,999 14.7% 26.9% 21.0%
$10,000 - $14,999 6.5% 3.8% 17.4%
$15,000 - $24,999 14.7% 17.7% 26.8%
$25,000 -$34,999 14.8% 16.6% 15.5%
$35,000 - $49,999 20.6% 16.5% 1.7%
$50,000 - $64,999 14.2% 10.2% 6.9%
$65,000 - $74,999 4.3% 3.4% 0%
$75,000 plus 10.2% 4.9% 10.8%
Source: 2018 ACS Census Table ID: S0802
Eighty percent of those using public transportation report an income of less than
$35,000. This income bracket also uses carpooling (65%) by which they rely on family
and friends, however, many report in focus groups that this often proves unreliable. A
lesser number (51%) report driving alone to work. Over 80 percent of workers’ commute
to work is under 20 minutes. However, it is important to note that more than 1 in 5
workers (22.4%) traveling to work via public transportation have commute times of 60
minutes or more. Over one-third using public transport ride the bus for 35 minutes-plus.
The following table displays travel time to work for three modes of transportation.
Table 20: Means of Transportation to Work by Travel Time to Work
Minutes Total Drove
Alone
Carpooled Public
Transportation
Less 10 m 29.8% 28.8% 28.6% 16.6%
10 to 1 m 29.3% 30.5% 25.2% 4.7%
15 to 19m 23.4% 23.8% 24.3% 27.6%
20 to 24 m 8.0% 8.4% 7.8% 2.2%
25 to 29 m 2.4% 2.4% 1.8% 11.3%
30 to 34 m 2.6% 2.4% 3.2% 1.7%
35 to 44 m 1.3% 1.3% 1.2% 8.6%
45 to 59 m 1.0% 0.7% 2.7% 5.0%
60 m plus 2.3% 1.6% 5.1% 22.4%
Source: 2018 ACS Census Table ID: B08134
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Dubuque offers transportation services including the Jule, which provides fixed -route
services and door-to-door minibus services for Dubuque residents including seniors and
persons with disabilities. The Jule fleet is comprised of 31 vehicles, 18 of which are fixed-
route and 13 of which are mini-buses. The following maps illustrate the Jule routes and
service area.
Jule Route Map
Source: The Dubuque Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (DMATS)
DMATS Long-Range Transportation Plan 2045
Ridership over the past five years has been diminishing as shown by the figures below.
The most marked decrease occurs in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Jule Ridership: 2016 – 2020
FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20
553,387 519,184 507,591 488,783 386,774
Residents also have access to the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) which provides
transportation for the general public, including children, the elderly, and people with
disabilities in the cities, communities, and rural areas of Delaware, Dubuque, and
Jackson Counties. RTA provides over 150,000 annual passenger trips serving more than
2,500 individuals across the three counties with a fleet of 25 light-duty buses, and
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accessible minivans. RTA map of services and ridership which has declined since FY
2012, are displayed below. The 2019 figures are influenced by the pandemic.
RTA Service Source
RTA Ridership: 2016 – 2020
FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19
149,500 146,800 118,850 102,000
While these services are helpful for Dubuque residents, they still experience many gaps
and obstacles related to transportation that affect their ability to pursue educational and
economic opportunities.
Iowa State Code: Two Mile Radius for Free Busing
Chief among these barriers is an Iowa State Code provision that strongly affects students
from the five schools of focus identified in the Education & Skills Section: Audubon,
Fulton, Marshall, Prescott, and Lincoln. The State Code mandates that free busing be
provided only to students who live outside of a two-mile radius from their school.
Community stakeholders working closely with this student population perceive that a
large number of students attending these five schools live under two miles from their
school but face additional transportation obstacles in their families. As detailed in-depth
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in the Early Learning section of this report, these schools educate significantly higher
numbers of Black, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic students, as well as students from
families with low incomes receiving Free/Reduced Lunch. Thus, students living in poverty
and many students of color, who are most in need of additional support are not
guaranteed transportation access -- while students with higher-income, car-owning
families living further from downtown are entitled to free transportation that they may
never need or use.
Some individuals in focus groups raised the two-mile radius policy as a barrier to getting
children to school. Nevertheless, the stringent nature of the state code leads to a
collective sense that not much can be done on this issue, as well as a sentiment that it is
ultimately the parent’s responsibility to get students to school. Though the state code is
a formidable obstacle, transportation obstacles for minority and low-income families
who face barriers in getting their children to school should be explored.
Key Informant Interviews with relevant officials informed us that optional busing is
available if there is an open space and a route servicing that particular area. The fee is
$310 per school year for a student to ride to and from school. If a family is on reduced
lunches, the fees are reduced by 60 percent and, for students on free lunch, the fee is
waived. This year, 300 families submitted requests for optional busing. The relevant
officials stated that, as long as there is bus space available, they will meet a family’s
request, but they must keep a few spaces free for necessary cases and absolutely cannot
go over capacity. While the City has approved the request to build additional capacity,
thus far, it has not taken the needed additional steps to meet this demand, such as
adding new buses, routes, and staff.
One step that could be taken to provide more space on buses for students from these
five schools is to update the current list of students eligible for free busing and remove
any students who do not regularly ride the bus. According to our Key Informant
Interview, many on the list do not use the
service but nonetheless occupy a number of
the limited spots that could be put to better
use. The state code clarifies that a bus spot
does not have to be reserved unless the
student is a regular rider, so taking measures
to update the list to include only regular riders
could free up much-needed space for students at our schools of focus. At the time of
these conversations, relevant officials were putting together a process to check in with
families to ascertain whether their children are riding regularly.
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Additionally, we heard that the Holy Family Catholic School District also requires busing
of eligible students, which similarly can consume limited capacity. Informants felt that
updating the list of parochial students actively using the service could be a helpful way
to free up additional space. The Dubuque Community School District Transportation
Office has the option of reimbursing families if busing is not available; members of our
community engagement process with relevant expertise suggested that, if parochial
students are not utilizing the transportation services, reimbursing these families could be
an effective way to free up spots for other families.
Considering such novel solutions is essential to best serve students from our five target
schools most in need of transportation to and from school, given the constraints of state
law.
Community Engagement: What We Heard You Say:
Throughout our community engagement process, we learned about additional
obstacles individuals and families in Dubuque face related to transportation.
Disconnect Between Providers and Residents
The topic of transportation is representative of a tension in Dubuque that plays out in
other social areas, as well: organizations, leaders, and often, providers, feel that a service
has been made available and express frustration when they feel that service is not being
utilized. (Another example of this would be child care services at Northeast Iowa
Community College (NICC).
Community members, for their part, continue to feel that they can’t access the service or
lack information about it. Focus group conversations suggest that, even if these services
are perceived as “low-cost” (such as the price to ride the shuttle provided by a temp
agency in Dubuque), what employers consider low-cost may still be out of range for a
person living and raised in generational poverty.
Our conversations suggest that a range of social factors interact to create challenges to
accessing services and opportunities that those who have not lived in poverty may
struggle to understand. As explained in the MIT Sloan School student internship,
Workforce Inclusion Report, “Not all barriers to employment are as straightforward as
transportation, child care, or access. Some barriers are stickier and harder to
understand.”124
124 MIT Sloan School Student Internship, Workforce Inclusion Report, Ibid.
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Further probing this question is essential to navigating such disconnects between
providers and users. Figuring out how to align transportation that is currently offered,
with an understanding of how people in need of those services best can access and
utilize them, will make service delivery more effective for all involved.
Transportation as an Obstacle to Employment
Many community members with whom we spoke felt that accessing transportation was a
considerable barrier to employment. Homeless women at our focus group with Opening
Doors’ Teresa Shelter, particularly, stated that not knowing how one would access a work
opportunity served as a deterrent to seeking out certain employment options. For the
twenty women in the shelter at the time of our focus group, only one had a car and,
while Opening Doors staff help with rides to the best of their ability, women in the
shelter cannot always get to their interviews, social services appointments, and other
important commitments.
Potential employees living in poverty may not seek out certain jobs without a reliable
way to get to work. Many people in Dubuque – particularly individuals and families in the
Marshallese community – rely on carpooling or sharing a car with family members. While
some companies and groups around town, including Express Staffing Agency, have
offered shuttles, they report that these services go unutilized. Based on community
conversations, we believe that it is possible that employees still feel too much financial
strain to take advantage of these paid services; however, more exploration is needed to
figure out how best to align available services with Dubuque residents’ needs.
Barriers: Bus Routes, Hours, and Cost
Community members living in poverty and local service providers alike brought up
consistent challenges pertaining to public transportation access. Focus group
participants asserted that, for individuals of all education levels, the bus system is
confusing and difficult to understand.
Multiple stops and transfers – which may total into hours – are required to access
locations that would take a few minutes by car. We heard in focus groups that the bus
route is inefficient and circuitous though it had been improved five years ago.
Further, the limited hours of the current bus schedule may not be a reliable option for
under-resourced individuals to get to work, school, or access other opportunities. Local
transportation is not provided on Sundays, offers reduced hours on Saturday, and
includes some routes that stop at 3:00 pm or 6:30 pm during the week. For those who
work on the weekend, or have evening classes or shifts during the week, public
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transportation is not always available, which places particular demands on people living
in poverty.
Many noted that the current cost of six dollars round trip to use the bus may be difficult
for individuals living in poverty. Specifically, providers said, for rural communities and
people working far from their job who struggle with transportation, $3 each way – which
totals over $1,500 per year – may not be financially feasible. Dubuque residents face a
“Catch-22” of needing employment to pay for transportation but not being able to afford
the transportation to get to their jobs.
In addition, focus group participants explained that for jobs with temp agencies, if they
do not have their own transportation, the agencies will provide transport using the Jule
route, but that money will be taken out of their pay. This places further demands on
employees living in poverty, an additional strain on temp workers without benefits.
Discussion on Peosta Shuttle
Participants throughout the community engagement process voiced a pressing need for
an hourly shuttle connecting downtown Dubuque to the NICC Peosta campus, where
many career and technical programs are held – including welding, CNC, and auto-
mechanics – and which is currently difficult for many students to access. Besides needing
transportation to attend schools, there are also numerous employers located in Peosta.
We heard that a shuttle between these two locations has been attempted multiple times
previously.
One focus group participant referred to prior attempts as a “chicken and egg” problem:
There have to be people to use the shuttle for it to exist, but before people will use it
and commit to scheduling classes in Peosta, there has to be a shuttle that they believe
will be consistent and convenient. Thus, the “demand” for the shuttle may not be evident
because people would not schedule their classes until the shuttle reliably existed.
Someone in the group asserted that there used to be a grant-funded program that ran
the shuttle on an hourly basis from 7:30am - 5 pm from downtown NICC to Peosta.
Those with whom we spoke to concurred that an hourly schedule was the most effective
arrangement for students. Currently, if individuals miss one shuttle, they may have to
wait up to 3-4 hours.
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Challenges for Car-Owning Families
Individuals and families that have their own vehicles and, thus, do not have to rely on
public transportation face their own set of obstacles. Focus group participants stated
that car owners living in poverty may drive without insurance or be unable to pay for
important repairs on their vehicles. Community members living in poverty explained that
paying for gas for any purpose, including required appointments to receive and
maintain benefits and even driving to work, strains their budget and makes it even more
difficult to make ends meet.
Hardships for School Students
We held a focus group with School Home Connectors from the Dubuque Community
School District who directly interact with students and their families through home visits.
Here are some of their insights on transportation:
Those in the group felt that transportation is one of the greatest problems people in
poverty face in Dubuque.
“The bus routes don’t flow with the school schedules.”
“Once you get on the bus, you’re in for a long ride. It’s basically a circle. But one bus
only comes once every hour. It’s not reliable for getting to jobs and or going to and
from school or training centers.”
“Children are forced to take a number of buses to get to school and some have to
leave at 6:00 am in the morning.”
“Public transit is just not in sync with consumer needs.”
“For a parent to drop off a child to school and then get to work – for example, to
Walmart – is very challenging.”
“Getting to the hospital is difficult. Most people use the Emergency Department as
their primary care doctor.”
“Pre-school is only 2-½ hours. They may be picked up by RTA in the middle of the
week which requires pre-scheduling. On Monday and Friday they do not pick up
children, so then it is on the parent. For the short time that they are at pre-school, it
may not be worth the long walk to school (up to a mile walk).”
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These factors combine to create a challenging transportation landscape for many
Dubuquers. The strategies below seek to begin to address these community needs.
Promising Practices:
1. Business Collaboration for Subsidized Transportation for Employees
Future transportation strategies in the City of Dubuque must engage businesses in
developing solutions for transporting employees and strengthening workforce
participation. The City should encourage businesses to collaborate to offer
subsidized Uber/Lyft rides to employees who work shifts that don’t have access to
public transportation to and from work. This strategy has worked well for the long-
term care industry, which needs to provide transit for workers between cities and the
suburbs. Businesses can also share expenses and purchase blocks of time for workers
to ride home via Uber or Lyft if they work late or work an additional shift.
It is important to note that any new service offerings must be accompanied by robust
outreach efforts to ensure that employees are aware of the available resources and
able to utilize them, and that, even with the subsidy, employees with low incomes
aren’t too cost-burdened to take advantage of them. These are obstacles current
transportation offerings have faced and should be thoughtfully engaged as these
new options are explored.
2. Conduct a Study on the Two-Mile Radius & Impact on School Attendance
As discussed above, the Iowa State Code provides for free transportation to school
only for students who live more than two miles away. Stakeholders largely perceive a
disproportionate impact on students from families of color and families with low
incomes, particularly those who attend the five schools of focus identified in this
report: Audubon, Marshall, Prescott, Fulton, and Lincoln. The City and Dubuque
Community School District would benefit from more concrete data on how this two-
mile radius affects the ability of under-resourced students to get to school. This study
would complement the School District’s ongoing initiatives that focus on attendance
based upon a philosophy of being proactive and positive, rather than punitive in
nature (See Section 3.3 on Student Attendance).
We suggest that this transportation-use study would analyze the impact on
attendance among children walking to school and track the rate of attendance
related to at least four variables: inclement weather via weather report archives, age
of child, number of children under 4 years in the home, and single mother head of
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household. With a better understanding of the needs of these families; transportation
solutions can be explored further to bolster student attendance.
3. Subsidize Car Repair Insurance
Earlier in this section, we discussed the lived experience of Dubuque residents who
own cars but struggle to pay for insurance and associated costs and cover necessary
repairs. Options for subsidizing car repair insurance empower people living in
poverty to pay for these repairs, drive a safe vehicle, and maintain employment.
Programs like CarShield 125 offer such vehicle repair insurance that provide
affordable protection for used cars. By contributing to subsidies for these repairs, the
City can enable workers to maintain employment when they may otherwise be
unable to without a car.
4. A Comprehensive Approach to Transportation for All Dubuquers
Ultimately, Dubuque may continue to enhance its service to community residents
by:
§ Reductions in bus fares and monthly transit passes would increase
options for transit riders. The City could also examine the results of the free
fixed-route Jule bus rides that have been offered to riders in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Is this a strategy that could be continued? Or in some
other form? What is the cost/benefit analysis? Did it bring new ridership? Some
cities have moved towards offering free fixed-rides within their city after
discovering that the costs of running the transportation system was often a
break-even enterprise versus the revenue generated from fares. As Clark
Gilman, Olympia City Council member and local transit authority board
member, explained, “We were looking at fare collection options that cost more
to collect and process the fare than the amount of the fare, itself.“ He’s quoted
in an article, “ Americans spend over 15% of their budgets on transportation
costs—these US cities are trying to make it free.” 126
§ The City could review additional ways to make mass transit affordable
and more convenient, such as family discounts, off peak fare cuts, and
unlimited multiple hour passes. The federal Transit Chek program permits
125 https://carshield.com/how-it-works/
126 https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/02/free-public-transportation-is-a-reality-in-100-citiesheres-why.html Americans spend over
15% of their budgets on transportation costs—these US cities are trying to make it free
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employers to provide tax free monthly transit benefits to help offset the cost of
commuting to work using mass transit. Transit Cheks would be easier to use
with the introduction of unlimited monthly and weekly passes.
§ A comprehensive assessment of all transportation services could be
undertaken to identify those neighborhoods that are underserved. Service
could be allocated so that all parts of the city can access transit options that
can get them to any other part of the city – as well as major nearby
employment and educational centers – more simply and rapidly.
§ Consumer-directed Rides. Private van and jitney services have effectively
competed with fixed-route systems worldwide by providing a service that is
more flexible and customer-directed. Dubuque could explore doing the
same. This means innovations such as a “request a stop” program that allows
passengers to be dropped off closer to their destination than the regularly
scheduled stop might permit; use of smaller vehicles, with more flexible
routes; and a dispatching system that allows these smaller vehicles to pick up
and drop off passengers where it is most convenient for the passenger.
Today’s technology makes it much simpler to operate such a system – as Uber
and Lyft do. Municipalities can do the same, and some, in fact, do.
Ultimately, the point is not to undertake any one, or all, of these particular options. It is,
rather, to look comprehensively at Dubuquers’ transportation needs and how to create a
complete network of solutions that meets those needs.
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3.3 EDUCATION & SKILLS TRAINING
Overview
Students experiencing poverty face a host of challenges that jeopardize their ability to
learn and thrive. Growing up in food insecure homes where parents aren’t sure where
the next meal comes from, where a single mom feels under the constant threat of
eviction, where an “affordable” apartment means being subjected to substandard
housing and continuous moves that uproot their sense of belonging and connectedness,
extracts a profound toll. Experts now consider this toll as a form of trauma. And, if you’re
a child of color, the trauma is even more severe.
The fall-out from the toll of poverty continues to manifest in higher education and, later,
in employment. In turn, this affects Dubuque’s talent pipeline as too many young people
lack the skills they need for employment. Employers in the region frequently report that
job openings aren’t being filled, and, while these figures have undoubtedly changed
due to the pandemic, a 2017 study of local employers found that 28 percent report an
increase in the number of unfilled positions.127
Educational attainment in Dubuque is strongly impacted by race and poverty. The table
below demonstrates the significantly higher rates at which White residents graduate
from high school and earn bachelor’s degrees than non-White students.
Table 21: Educational Attainment by Race in Dubuque 2018
*Note: Margin of error is extremely high for Pacific Islander estimates due to low sample number,
at +/-32.4% for high school graduate or higher and 29.3% for bachelor’s degree or higher.
Source: 2018 ACS Census Table ID: S1501
127 Study by student interns of the MIT Sloan School of Management for the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
https://www.dbqfoundation.org/sites/default/files/reports/mit-_childcare.pdf
Education Level Black Pacific
Islander*
Hispanic/Latinx White
High School
Graduate or Higher
84.6% 55.5% 66.3% 92.5%
Bachelor’s Degree
or Higher
13.2% 17.5% 31.9% 31.2%
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Table 22: Percentage of Students in District Proficient by Subject by Race
Black Hispanic Pacific
Islander
White FRL
English Language
Arts Proficiency
33.5% 59.39% 19.53% 73.7% 50.2%
Math Proficiency 34.2% 60.1% 27.3% 76.1% 50.2%
Source: Iowa School Performance Profiles, Iowa Department of Education
These disparities in educational outcomes are substantial and affect the livelihoods of
non-White individuals and families while contributing to generational poverty.
As is evident in the table below, there is a clear connection between educational
attainments and poverty rates. More than one in four individuals (26.2%) with less than a
high school degree lives in poverty. These individuals have median earnings of under
$20,000 and are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than any other group. This
data makes clear that educational attainment is an essential lever for economic well-
being.
Table 23: Poverty Rate and Median Earnings by Educational Attainment
Education Level Poverty Rate
Population
25 years+
Median Earnings in
Past 12 Months
Less Than High School Graduate 26.2% $19,833
High School Graduate or
Equivalent
11.1% $29,143
Some College/Associate’s Degree 12.3% $31,662
Bachelor’s Degree or Higher 8.6% $42,436
Graduate or Prof Degree Not Included $52,354
Source: 2018 ACS Census Table ID: S1501
Digital access also varies widely for students in Dubuque: not all households have
computers and/or broadband internet. This issue is of particular relevance during
COVID-19 as students rely on such technology for remote learning. Families with lower
levels of educational attainment are less likely to have a computer and broadband
internet.
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Table 24: Presence of Computer & Broadband Internet by Education Level
Education Level Has a
Computer
Broadband
Internet
No Computer
Less Than High School
Graduate or Equivalency
66.6% 57.5% 33.4%
High School Graduate,
Some College or Assoc.
89.6% 81.3% 10.4%
Bachelor’s Degree or
Higher
96.8% 91.2% 3.2%
Source: 2018 ACS Census Table ID: B28006
Focus on Elementary School Children
In approaching this project with an equity lens, stakeholders in the community
consistently explained the importance of focusing on five elementary schools (Pre-
Kindergarten through 5th grade): Audubon, Fulton, Marshall, Prescott, and Lincoln.
These schools educate larger proportions of students of color, English Language
Learners, and students from families with low incomes (measured by percentage of
student receiving Free/Reduced Lunch (FRL) than the district and state average, as
shown in the table below. Due to the high percentage of students experiencing poverty
in these schools, they receive Title 1 designation.
Table 25: Demographics Among Title 1 Elementary Schools
School Black Hispanic Pacific
Islander
White Free/Reduced
Lunch
Lincoln 42.6% 8.9% 5.4% 30.2% 79.2%
Fulton 32.0% 4.8% 14.1% 33.5% 84.4%
Prescott 39.8% 6.6% 8.7% 32.9% 74.0%
Marshall 6.4% 5% 0.7% 79.7% 64.4%
Audubon 28.2% 5.7% 8.6% 45.0% 82.3%
District 9.4% 5.0% 0.3% 76.1% 43.8%
Iowa
Average
6.4% 11.1% 2.5% 75.1% 43.0%
Source: Iowa School Performance Profiles, Iowa Department of Education
Compared to a state average of 6.4 percent and a district average of 9.4 percent, Black
students comprise over a quarter of the student body at four of our schools of focus. The
percentage of FRL students at all of these schools is over 20 percent higher than the
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district and state averages, and in some schools as much as 40 percent higher. With
under-resourced families and students largely concentrated in these five schools,
equitable educational strategies must prioritize these students.
Students at these schools achieve lower outcomes than their peers across the district.
The following table explores student proficiency in English Language Arts, Math, and
Science for our five schools of focus, as compared to the district average: proficiency
rates for these students are consistently 20 percent lower than the district average.
Table 26: Percentage Proficient by Subject at Title 1 Elementary Schools
English
Language Arts
Proficiency
Math
Proficiency
Science
Proficiency
Lincoln 42.8% 44.1% 32.3%
Fulton 41.7% 43.9% 20.0%
Prescott 42.8% 42.8% 39.6%
Marshall 47.2% 45.9% 41.7%
Audubon 45.0% 45.1% 23.3%
District
Average
67.9% 70.2% 55.2%
Source: Iowa School Performance Profiles, Iowa Department of Education
It is evident that student achievement measured by standardized testing at these
schools, lags behind the rest of the district. Further, Black, Hispanic, Pacific Islander
(Marshallese), and FRL students across the district achieve substantially lower rates of
proficiency than White students.
Low proficiency rates in key areas of educational achievement further show the toll
that poverty extracts from children. It is not about these children being less than their
counterparts. It’s about them experiencing less opportunity, equity and the
foundational footing to learn in an impoverished home.
In response, the Dubuque Community School District’s “Prioritized Resource Allocation”
for students in Title 1 schools, provides further insight as to the depth of poverty in the
concentrated areas discussed earlier in this report (Tracts 1 and 5) and how the
Dubuque Community School District is responding.
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“Recognizing that students living in poverty often face additional barriers to learning, the
Dubuque Community School District has prioritized resource allocation to support
enhanced staffing and services in schools with a higher concentration of poverty through
a mix of federal dollars and local decisions about allocation of district resources.”128
Table 27: Prioritized Resource Allocation | 2019-2020 Per Pupil Expense
Dubuque Community School District
Title 1 Schools Tracts 1& 5
State/Local
Revenue Source
Federal Revenue
Source
Total Per Pupil
Expense
Audubon Elementary $17,748 $2,785 $20,533
Lincoln Elementary $17,533 $2,216 $19,748
Fulton Elementary $16,613 $2,132 $18,745
Prescott Elementary $15,215 $2,142 $17,357
Marshall Elementary $14,413 $1,634 $16,047
The Dubuque Community School District has also dedicated resources towards
increasing attendance and working directly with families to strengthen their capacity in
fostering learning with their children. Here is a brief re-cap:
Attendance and Home Connectors
Attendance initiatives have been ongoing for many years in the district with a philosophy
of being proactive and positive so as to focus on identifying and reducing barriers to
attendance that, in turn, result in creating positive learning environments for children.
In addition to providing ongoing attendance awareness campaigns, the district recently
added a district-level position that includes a focus on school attendance within its
responsibilities (2017/18 School Year). The person in this position meets monthly with
School Home Connectors who work directly with families and teachers to review
attendance data, identify obstacles that impede school attendance and discuss family
engagement strategies unique to the child’s and family’s needs, along with identifying
the unique resources and policies of the child’s school.
These monthly meetings also serve as an opportunity to share experiences, best
practices and challenges that School Home Connectors face, so as to further guide and
advance their work in performing this most vital and empowering role within the schools
128 Memorandum by the Dubuque Community Dubuque Community School District on “Additional Information for the City of
Dubuque Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan,” December 10, 2020.
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and community. Each of the Title 1 elementary schools employs a School Home
Connector who’ve proven to be an extremely valuable addition in holistically addressing
the learning challenges of children and their families face experiencing poverty.
School principals and district staff have attended Hedy Chang attendance professional
development sessions supported by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. These
sessions have been ongoing since 2012 and the district relies on the “Attendance
Works” website for the latest research and best practice in school attendance resources
and strategies.129
For the 2019-2020 school year, a Multi-Tiered System of Support specifically related to
attendance was developed and professional development on this system is ongoing this
year.
Community Engagement: What We Heard You Say
Educators and community partners bring a wide-array of programs and initiatives to
address the obstacles in meeting the educational needs of students and their families
experiencing poverty. Consistent themes emerged from focus groups and Key Informant
Interviews in terms of the skills that students living in poverty struggle to acquire that
hinder them from fully realizing their potential and all that PreK-12 education has to offer
them and beyond.
A cadre of stellar programs in the community offer valuable after-school and wrap-
around services that build knowledge, character and skills among children experiencing
poverty. Several focus on children of color who face not only the impact of poverty but of
racial inequities, as well. The following highlights these community partners:
§ Multicultural Family Center is best described through their mission and vision
statement: “The Multicultural Family Center empowers all families and community
members of Dubuque to reach their potential and build unity through diversity,
equity, and inclusion. We envision an equitable and inclusive Dubuque built on a
foundation of understanding and collaboration across all cultural groups
committed to producing engaged families and community members. The Center
serves as an inviting and safe place for community members, stimulates
connections, and provides programs to foster civic engagement and social and
economic success.”
129 https://www.attendanceworks.org/
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§ The Dream Center excels at providing mentoring to youth, socio-recreational
programs after school, educating and partnering with parents, and works directly
with teachers in Title 1 schools so students have seamless tutoring offered at the
Dream Center that can target specific skills to build for each student. A cadre of
volunteers from the community serve as tutors and mentors to children attending
the center.
The center also employs several School Connectors who work with teachers from
the Title 1 elementary schools to coordinate homework assignments and address
learning needs of students being tutored at the Center. The program is in
extremely high demand with a waiting list of 170 children from pre-K through high
school (2020).
§ St. Mark Youth Enrichment Center provides innovative programs and services
that cultivate the educational and social-emotional growth of youth and families.
The non-profit organization has served the Dubuque Community for 30 years
providing before and after school programming in four of the Title 1 elementary
schools in the Dubuque Community School District. They also provide before and
after school programs in Dyersville and Peosta.
§ The HEART (Housing Education and Rehabilitation Training) Program offering a
hands-on learning experience for young people to achieve their goals of attaining
a high school diploma while transforming Dubuque’s most blighted
neighborhood back into a livable, walkable community for working families.
§ Re-Engage Dubuque, a partnership with the Dubuque Community School District
designed to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline by recruiting Black students
who have dropped out of high school and helping them graduate and work on
credit recovery. Students are connected to Success Coaches who operate as
advisors and counselors and are responsible for registering students into
programs.
Students in Dubuque schools at all levels benefit from the determination and
thoughtfulness of their principals and teachers to improve outcomes for all students, all
of which, was apparent from a focus group conducted with several local Pre-K-5
principals.
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Despite all of the good works being done in Dubuque, young people – and particularly
students living in poverty and students of color – face a number of obstacles in learning
and achieving the proficiencies and skills they’ll need to succeed. These include:
Student Attendance
This issue is addressed earlier in this section of the report, however, a few other insights
are offered: Principals noted the difficulty of the task to improve attendance when so
much happens in a child’s life at home that neither School Home Connectors, nor
teachers or principals can wholly address. Addressing obstacles to attendance requires
a community-wide and family response.
PreK-5 principals identified student attendance as a major obstacle to achieving positive
outcomes for them and their students. Principals expressed concern at the number of
preschool and school-aged children that may not be taking full advantage of the
educational environment being offered them through the schools. They felt that a
database attached to housing data would
enable schools to better know if there was
a preschool- or school-aged child at home
during school hours, and, if so, reach out
to their families to enable their child to get
to school. This is of particular concern for
the thirty percent of young people in
Dubuque that make up the transient student population, meaning they do not start and
end the school year in the same classroom.
Need for Soft Skills & Modeling
Principals in our PK-5 focus group spoke of the importance, especially for students in
poverty, of developing soft skills to get one’s foot in the door for a job or opportunity.
According to one principal, if a student does not have anyone at home working
consistently for them to model, the student may struggle to demonstrate qualities valued
by employers. With employers expressing that they have jobs to fill for which they need
qualified employees – and referencing soft skills as an important part of this equation –
developing these skills appropriately at all age levels throughout school is of high
priority.
Principals and higher education professionals feel that these issues can be addressed
through increased mentoring opportunities for young people and noted the wealth of
community resources on this front. While community leaders described what they see in
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terms of “soft skills” and “modeling,” it is worth repeating what the student MIT Sloan
School of Management found in their Workforce Inclusion Report: “Apparent lack of soft
skills may be an external manifestation of deeper root causes such as low emotional
resources resulting from trauma or generational poverty.”130 When considering ways to
develop soft skills among Dubuque students and workers, it is necessary to
acknowledge the structural roots of these deficits.
Need for Improved Trauma-Informed Care and Multicultural Competency
Pre-K-12 principals, higher education professionals, and other community voices
adamantly expressed the importance of providing multicultural and trauma-informed
care to students living in poverty and/or with marginalized backgrounds at all levels of
schooling. Principals in our Pre-K-5 focus group indicated that at some of the focus
schools identified in this plan, nearly every 4th grader has multiple “Adverse Childhood
Experiences (ACEs)”, or traumatic events occurring before age 18 years that may
encompass abuse and neglect, parental mental and brain health conditions, substance
abuse, divorce, incarceration, and domestic violence. Traumatic experiences affect
students’ ability to self-regulate and, thus, may frequently manifest as behavioral issues.
Classrooms with higher numbers of students with multiple ACEs face particular
challenges in managing disruptions and limiting effects on learning. As one principal
described it, “The behavioral effects of the ACEs have significant impacts and ripple
effects on students’ educations and what they’re able to do.” As such, trauma-informed
care must be an essential component of services for Dubuque children in schools, after-
school programs, and the community.
Another integral part of effectively supporting under-resourced students and students of
color in Dubuque is a focus on multicultural competency. Community members that we
spoke to, many of whom worked with youth directly, felt that teachers in Dubuque
schools would benefit from more training and continuous opportunities for professional
development surrounding multicultural competence and that this would best equip
them to meet the wide-ranging needs of diverse young people. Specifically,
professionals already working with youth of color in the community called for “a stronger
identity among educational professionals for what it means to work with students in
poverty and a more nuanced understanding of the range of experiences of Black
students.”
130https://www.dbqfoundation.org/sites/default/files/reports/usa_lab_dubuque_final_report_2019.5.13.pdf
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Desire for Information-Sharing Among Schools and Community Services
Principals in our focus group expressed a need for dialogue around how professional
organizations can collaborate more effectively to serve students. Principals wear many
hats in connecting students and their families to resources. They felt that if they had a
“hub” where they could assemble their collective knowledge on various topics
(connecting students to transportation, food, counseling) across schools, they could
better serve students in need of these resources. Essentially, principals are searching for
tools to comprehensively address the root causes of poverty and to share information
and resources amongst themselves. Having more opportunities for educational leaders
to discuss how to collaborate most effectively, principals felt, would lead to a more
connected ecosystem of services and resources for students.
Difficulty Recruiting and Retaining Teachers of Color
While local schools and the Dubuque Community School District have consciously made
efforts to hire minorities and individuals who have experienced poverty, on the whole,
recruiting and retaining teachers of color is challenging. A robust body of research
points to the advantages of students of color learning from teachers who look like them,
and Dubuque schools have rightly recognized the import of increasing the number of
non-White teachers in their classrooms.
As a whole, Dubuque has a relatively small percentage of non-White residents and while
the City is becoming increasingly diverse, many people of color are younger and may
have moved to Dubuque more recently. Principals and community members also noted
that teachers of color may feel isolated in the greater Dubuque community, even if they
are supported while in school. People we spoke to showed concern about the quality of
these teachers’ lives outside work and perceived that it “must be a lonely place” for
teachers of color in Dubuque without an established support system. Some local
employers like John Deere and IBM who employ diverse young professionals have
programming designed for them to build community and feel connected, which our
focus groups hoped to see for young teachers of color, as well.
With the aim of devising new strategies to recruit teachers of color from outside the City,
one community stakeholder cautioned: “I hope that when Black people and Marshallese
people are being hired in the school system, it is because they are qualified and not for
disciplinary reasons, as in trying to create a control system with Black students.” It will do
well for all education stakeholders and the community at large to embrace the basic
tenet that a diverse and inclusive faculty raises up the entire learning ecosystem for all
children. White children and their families also benefit from seeing and learning from
Blacks and People of Color as teachers and administrators.
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Need for Meaningful Family Engagement
The importance of authentic family engagement in both Pre-K-12 and higher education
could not be overstated by stakeholders we engaged. Students whose families have
fewer years of combined schooling may benefit from or require support and
engagement to stay connected to educational opportunities. For first-generation
Dubuque students, in particular, involvement of family and elders plays a key role in
graduation rates. At a Pre-K-12 level, meaningful family engagement is crucial to build
communities of trust and collaboration for everything from making plans to get students
consistently to school, to assessing a student’s holistic needs that encompass nutrition,
health and other factors that affect in-class learning.
Principals and higher education professionals explained that the educational attitudes of
a student’s family can dramatically affect student achievement and decisions to pursue
higher education. Some spoke of seeing families disown students who had received
scholarships, citing a fear that the student’s success will cause them to leave their
families and Iowa behind.
Participants in the Fountain of Youth focus group spoke about the difficulty of trying to
break the mold of their communities as families and peers felt they were looking down
on them as they progressed. As one man put it, “While on my way to class at Springfield
Technical College, my friends asked: What are you going to school for? You’re supposed
to be out here on the streets with us.” He went onto share, “I had to leave behind my
closest friends, people that I grew up with. It was a very lonely experience.” Others in
attendance shared that, “If you try to ‘get out’, the people that you want to be proud of
you will try to pull you back in,” and that, “You feel like an outcast in both worlds: once
you ‘make it’ and work in higher places with better jobs, you still feel lesser-than. You still
feel like an outcast there, too.” One service provider in our community engagement
process said:
“Combatting generational poverty requires education beyond the person you’re
working with; it means engaging family, relationships, and everyone caught in the
cycle.”
Supporting under-resourced or marginalized students in accessing educational and
work opportunities requires engaging closely with students’ families in ways that are
culturally-informed, collaborative, and tailored to meaningfully connect with them.
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Lack of Accessibility in Higher Education Institutions
In our higher education focus group, participants teaching at local colleges and
universities revealed the difficulty that first-generation students, students living in
poverty, and students of color in Dubuque face in accessing and feeling comfortable in
institutions of higher learning. While local colleges and universities have active outreach
systems in place to recruit students of color and students who would be the first in their
family to attend college from both within and outside of Dubuque, they still struggle to
create more diverse educational environments.
Voices from our community engagement process stressed the importance of a
thoughtful recruitment process. One participant cautioned that, unless students of color
have a strong sense of cultural self, they may be “used” promotionally by their institution
or locality for advertising and further recruitment purposes.
These obstacles are not limited to just recruiting marginalized students, but also to
retaining them at universities and ensuring that they feel at home in their environment
and are able to access information and opportunities. As one professional put it, “While
institutions can provide assistance, resources, and training, what we can’t do is change
the fact that, by its nature, education is a middle-class culture and, for students coming
from generational poverty, it is not a comfortable place. Many students may not be able
to picture themselves in a position other than the one they are currently in, with no vision
for full employment, adequate housing, and not having to scramble for their next meal.
It’s a lot about being able to ‘see themselves’ there.” She also explained that:
“Students raised in a middle-class household with one or more parents who
attended college have knowledge of codes, systems, networks, and institutions
that they may not actively notice but that give them access to a different ‘world’
than students with more limited educational backgrounds and families living in
poverty.”
Another participant explained that as the educational leaders and instructors of students
of color in predominantly white institutions, “We must ask ourselves, Is the system that
they enter equitable? Can it support their gifts and their authentic voice?” These valuable
questions must continuously be asked in processes serving under-resourced and
marginalized students.
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Importance of Skill Development
Hand-in-hand with educational attainment is skill development: the combination of
technical and sector-based skills and “soft” job skills (e.g. communications, people skills)
that empower workers to achieve and maintain employment. Stakeholders across the
City, including employers, note a lack of these skills throughout the workforce that
makes it challenging to fill available positions.
The program Opportunity Dubuque creates skill-building pathways to employment for
students of different backgrounds. This job training effort emerged in response to local
employers’ workforce needs and offers training and short-term certificates in a variety of
disciplines to fill high-demand and high-wage careers in Dubuque. Because program
offerings are developed in tandem with employers, there are clear pathways to
employment, resulting in high hiring and retention rates for those that participate in the
program.
One of the strengths of the program is its “Success Coach” model that pairs each
individual with a coach who works with them through intake, orients them to the
program, and serves as a constant throughout the process from start to finish. The model
also succeeds in meeting individuals where they are and building the program to fit the
demands of their lives, for example, scheduling courses during the evenings, eliminating
traditional barriers to enrollment like tuition, and providing wraparound support
including transportation, child care and emergency funding.
Opportunity Dubuque also provides pathways for people with unique circumstances,
such as having a criminal background. Outcomes for students of color, particularly Black
students, trained through Opportunity Dubuque, are extremely positive. Of the 108
Black students who have completed a training program with Opportunity Dubuque, 95
individuals (88%) are either newly employed, have been retained at their jobs, or are
pursuing continuing education. One area for improvement is increasing program
participation for Marshallese individuals: only four Pacific Islander students have ever
been enrolled in Opportunity Dubuque programs, according to data at the time of
review.
Of the twenty-three training programs offered through the Opportunity Dubuque
program by NICC, the most highly-subscribed programs are Certified Nurse Aide, CNC,
Information Technology Programs, and Welding. Across all of the programs, 506 out of
571 students throughout Opportunity Dubuque’s history are either newly employed,
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have been retained at work, or are seeking continuing education, accounting for an
impressive 88.6%.131
Given the success of Opportunity Dubuque’s training programs – and the availability of
spots for qualified applicants – recruiting program participants to the point where they
are “ready” to take advantage of the program must become a community-wide initiative
where every service provider among all sectors can provide information on this
opportunity and referral.
Promising Practices:
1. Promote/Co-Sponsor “Trauma Centered Care” Training for City Staff
Both children and adults who have lived in poverty – which is, itself, a trauma, and
which is often accompanied by other traumas, including racism – benefit from
programs and services that come from a trauma-informed or trauma-centered lens.
Trauma affects children’s ability to focus in the classroom and affects adults’ ability to
find and maintain employment. This is because poverty and trauma impact our
executive function skills, which are essential for everything from setting goals and
paying attention to regulating emotions.132 Designing programs and agencies with
trauma-informed mindsets and strategies will enable these communities to thrive in
both school and employment settings.
The City of Dubuque could promote/co-sponsor poverty-induced “Trauma Centered
Care” training for City Department agencies serving low-income populations,
community providers, and employers. This programming would also include an
increased focus on multicultural competence to equip City staff to more effectively
serve diverse Dubuquers. These efforts would be coordinated in tandem with
trauma-informed training offered to teachers by the Dubuque Community School
District of Dubuque.
The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque has received a $50,000 grant to
support social-emotional and trauma-informed learning with St. Mark Youth
Enrichment and the Dubuque Dream Center through its Every Child Reads initiative
and children’s brain health working group.
131Opportunity Dubuque, First-Half Fiscal Year Review – 2019.
132See Harvard’s Center for the Developing Child & Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) for extensive research on this topic.
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2. Create a City-Wide Prosperity Coordinating Council
As we know from the literature and heard from Dubuque community members
throughout this process, education is strongly related to other social service areas
and social determinants of health. Students and their families are deeply affected by
employment and income, housing, health status, transportation access, and other
factors. When serving Dubuque residents, these areas cannot be siloed and, instead,
must be integrated to understand and serve the “whole person,” embedded in their
family and community.
To do so, Dubuque could create a city-wide “Prosperity Coordinating Council” to
identify opportunities for deeper levels of holistic integration among planning
agencies, human service agencies, schools and health care providers. Each of these
sectors, in large part, works along parallel tracks while clients and case managers try
to juggle services among them.
Meaningful family engagement, and a “Citizen’s Journey” process previously
discussed in the “Benefits and Access To Services” section of this report can be used
as an organizing principle for understanding how these services intersect.
3. Co-Sponsor Career-Oriented Programming for Youth
Dubuque children and young people benefit from being exposed to career pathways
early on in their educational careers, especially through hands-on and experiential
opportunities. We recommend that the City co-sponsor Career Camps for middle
school students, “Earn and Learn Projects” and On the Job work simulations for high-
school students. These efforts could be explored through a higher education-aligned
partnership with NICC, which has a proven track record of delivering effective career
and skill training and achieved by tapping workforce funding and summer recreation
funding sources.
4. Enhance Mentoring Programs for Those Returning from Incarceration
When individuals return to their communities from incarceration, they are often faced
with a range of obstacles, including finding housing and employment when they may
face discrimination from landlords and employers. City-level efforts such as “Clean
Slate” ordinances whereby individuals are not required to divulge their previous
history with the criminal justice system are initiatives that would further advance this
work. This is discussed in greater detail elsewhere in the report.
One-to-one mentoring is another invaluable resource for those with histories of
incarceration. The Fountain of Youth is an exemplary model of providing mentoring
to those returning to the community following incarceration. The Fountain of Youth is
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also well-positioned to offer tailored On the Job mentoring programs for employers
in the community, so that employees will be mentored and coached – as well as their
supervisors – on the unique needs of a formerly incarcerated person adjusting to
community and work-life.
5. Enhance Funding for & Build Upon Successful Strategies of Local Youth Programs
A number of organizations in Dubuque are already succeeding at serving families
and meeting the needs of local children and youth: these efforts are invaluable and
must continue to be supported and built upon. These groups already doing the work
in the field and understanding what children and families need include the
Multicultural Family Center (MFC), Dream Center, St. Mark Youth Enrichment, HEART
(Housing Education and Rehabilitation Training) and the Every Child Reads
Collaborative, among others. The city of Dubuque boasts a number of community
organizations that effectively meet the needs of children and youth: rather than
starting from scratch, these efforts must be continually reinforced, funded, and
broadly supported.
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3.4 PHYSICAL, BRAIN HEALTH & FOOD INSECURITY
Overview
Dubuque residents face a range of concerns related to both physical and brain health,
and disparities in health equity for lower-income and non-White individuals. Many of
these are a result of social determinants of health, defined by the World Health
Organization as the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age133,
and also including the complex, interrelated social structures and economic systems that
shape these conditions.
According to the CDC, these may include aspects of the social environment (e.g.,
discrimination, income, education level, marital status), the physical environment (e.g.,
place of residence, crowding conditions, built environment [i.e., buildings, spaces,
transportation systems, and products that are created or modified by people]), and
health services (e.g., access to and quality of care, insurance status).134
Each of these determinants – explored throughout this report – contribute to Dubuque
residents’ health and wellbeing outcomes. The Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan
understands that the strongest way to address mental and physical health is to
comprehensively address poverty and trauma derived from social factors, as this plan
does holistically.
In this section, we will explore the particular health challenges that Dubuquers
experience, while understanding their structural links to other determinants. Across
Dubuque, 5 percent of residents are uninsured, though there are extreme disparities in
coverage for non-White individuals as shown below.
Table 28: Percent Uninsured by Race/Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity Percent Uninsured
Black 15.6%
Hispanic/ 14.3%
Pacific Islander 31.3%
White 4.0%
Source: 2018 ACS Census Table ID: S2701
Black and Hispanic residents in Dubuque are uninsured at more than three times the rate
of White residents. The incredibly high rates for Pacific Islanders can likely be
understood to be even higher than the rate listed: as described elsewhere in this report,
Marshallese communities in the United States are not eligible for health insurance,
133https://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/
134https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/socialdeterminants/index.html
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despite the health challenges inflicted as a result of U.S. intervention on the Marshall
Islands.
Further, data from the U.S. Census shows that households with lower incomes are
uninsured at much higher rates than higher-income households. The highest rate for
uninsured Dubuquers (11.7%) is for households earning under $25,000, followed by a
rate of 6.2% for households between $25,000 and $49,000. Combined, these two
groups account for nearly one in five being uninsured (18%). All other income levels are
below the average uninsured rate.
Table 29: Percent Uninsured by Household Income
Income Percent Uninsured
Under $25,000 11.7%
$25,000 to $49,000 6.2%
$50,000 to $74,999 4.6%
$75,000 to $99,000 1.6%
$100,000 and Over 2.3%
All Households 5.1%
Source: 2018 ACS Census Table ID: S2701
The trend holds true for educational attainment, with Dubuque residents at the lowest
level of education experiencing the lowest rates of insurance coverage, and the most-
highly educated individuals with the highest rates of coverage.
Table 30: Percent Uninsured by Educational Attainment
Education Level Percent Uninsured
Less than high school 11.6%
High school graduate 5.4%
Some college or associate’s 4.6%
Bachelor’s degree or higher 2.9%
Source: 2018 ACS Census Table ID: S2701
Additionally, the age groups with the highest rate of uninsured are 26 to 34 years old (at
9.3%) and 19 to 25 years old (8.5%).135
Insurance coverage is an essential part of quality health care for communities. When
residents cannot afford insurance, they must rely on one of only a few providers in
1352018 ACS Census Table ID: S2701
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Dubuque who serve uninsured individuals, or resort to using the emergency room,
which burdens the health care system. Lower insurance rates for non-White and lower-
income communities lead to disparities in long-term health outcomes.
The Community Health Needs Assessment Health Improvement Plan and Mercy Medical
Center Community Health Needs Assessment provide a valuable starting place for
understanding physical and brain health needs. While the health data on the next page
applies to residents of all of Dubuque County, we expect that many of the same
indicators remain relevant for individuals and families in the City of Dubuque. The
following data are included in a “Dubuque County Health Portrait” from Community
Commons included in Mercy Medical Center’s Community Health Needs Assessment:136
1. Among adults, 42 percent are reported overweight compared to 35% for the State of Iowa.
2. Nearly one-third (29 %) of Dubuque County adults are not taking blood pressure
medication when needed which is significantly higher than the statewide rate of 19.1%.
Dubuque County also has a significant number of Medicare Beneficiaries with high blood
pressure (51%) which is comparable to the state’s average.
3. Dubuque County has 31.5 percent age-adjusted estimate for the percentage of adults who
drink excessively, ten percent higher than the Iowa average of 21.4 percent.
4. The percent of adults never screened for HIV/AIDS is higher (78.7%) than the Iowa average
(73.82%).
5. The chlamydia infection rate per 100,000 population in Dubuque County (412.76) which is
higher than the statewide average (382), as is the gonorrhea infection rate (86.73%)
compared to the state average (53.1%).
6. Dubuque County has a lower percentage of the insured population receiving Medicaid
(15.24%) than the Iowa average (17.96%).
7. Dubuque County (140) has more mental health providers per 100,000 than the Iowa rate
(125.1) but well below the national average rate of 202.8.
8. 1 in 5 adults in Dubuque County are without a regular doctor compared to 17.93% in Iowa.
The Steering Committee that developed the report ranked the14 most significant
community health needs facing Dubuque County.137 These areas of care are consistent
with the challenges that community members in our focus groups identified.
136https://www.mercyone.org/dubuque/_assets/documents/chna-dbq-2019-2021.pdf
137https://www.mercyone.org/dubuque/_assets/documents/chna-dbq-2019-2021.pdf
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Health Needs
(In order of Significance)
Brief Description of Community Health Needs
Opioid Use & Abuse
Dubuque County has been particularly impacted
by the opioid crisis and lack of treatment and
resources available across the community.
Obesity & Overweight Over 40% of adults in the community report being
overweight.
Alcohol Use & Abuse The age-adjusted percentage of adults who drink
excessively in Dubuque County is 31.5%
Mental Health Access We have many mental health resources in the
community, but there are significant access
challenges related back to awareness of services,
provider availability, and insurance coverages.
Influenza Immunizations Communities continue to see high incidence of
influenza-associated hospitalizations.
Healthy Homes Data indicates particular concerns with childhood
lead poisoning rates, household moisture and gas
challenges, and general safety issues impact the
overall health and safety of the community.
Primary Care Access Though uninsured rates are low, many surveyed
indicated challenges with accessing primary care
related to insurance, transportation, and
availability.
Emergency/Disaster Planning Community preparedness is the ability of
communities to prepare for, withstand, and recover
– in both the short and long terms – from public
health incidents.
Drinking Water Protection Data indicates private water supplies for those not
served by public water systems are negatively
impacted by inadequate wastewater treatment in
underserved communities.
HIV/AIDS Screening &
Prevalence
Dubuque County has a high incidence of known
positive HIV/AIDS diagnoses and data indicates
14% of Iowans living with HIV are undiagnosed.
STD/STI Screening &
Prevalence
Gonorrhea and Chlamydia infection rates are
higher than the state averages.
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When members of the public were surveyed in development of these community health
needs assessments, the following were identified as the most important health concerns
in the next 3-5 years:138
§ Mental health/mental illness/suicide (73.21%)
§ Obesity/overweight (47.91%)
§ Healthy homes (44.19%)
§ Illegal drug use (41.3%)
§ Drinking water protection (40%)
§ Disaster preparedness (32.37%)
§ Water pollution (30.79%)
Community residents identified the following as the most important barriers that keep
people in Dubuque County from accessing healthcare:139
§ Not able to pay out-of-pocket expenses, including co-pays and prescriptions
(80.09%)
§ Lack of health insurance (64.47%)
§ Not able to navigate the health care system (39.16%)
§ Not enough providers; hard to get an appointment (35.35%)
When surveyed, only 1 in 5 community members
believed there were enough health care providers
who accept Medicaid or other forms of medical
assistance: nearly half (48%) solidly disagreed
while nearly one-third (31%) neither agreed nor
disagreed.
Further, under 10 percent of respondents felt that there were enough bilingual health
care providers in the County: 15 percent strongly disagreed, 31 percent disagreed, and
45 percent neither agreed nor disagreed. These results speak to a need for more health
care providers accepting Medicaid and providing access to translators.140
Substance abuse is another prominent indicator. As of September 2018, there had been
a 38 percent increase in methamphetamine treatment admissions over the four
preceding years. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Lab has identified increases
in recent years, as well: 16 percent increase in fentanyl/other, 15 percent increase in
heroin/fentanyl mix, 5 percent increase in fentanyl, 4.6 percent increase in heroin, 4.5
138https://www.mercyone.org/dubuque/_assets/documents/chna-dbq-2019-2021.pdf
139https://www.mercyone.org/dubuque/_assets/documents/chna-dbq-2019-2021.pdf
140https://www.mercyone.org/dubuque/_assets/documents/chna-dbq-2019-2021.pdf
132
percent increase in methamphetamine, and 1 percent increase in cocaine.141 The pain
caused in Dubuque and in the U.S. by the opioid epidemic and other substance use
issues have caused in Dubuque and in the U.S. cannot be illustrated with numbers alone;
its impact on individuals and communities is something that our focus group
conversations with Dubuquers made clear.
The County Health Plan identifies a range of actions being taken to address health issues
faced by residents. For example, for a goal of establishing substance use treatments and
resources through multi-disciplinary agency coordination, the following actions were
identified to address this need:142
§ Support current and future strategies for substance usage and opioid
prescription, education and patient management practices to reduce the
development of substance use and opioid use disorders.
§ Coordinate continuing medical education credits on substance abuse/use for
area physicians.
§ Dubuque Area Substance Abuse Coalition and Dubuque County Wellness
Coalition collaboration.
For a goal of reducing the current level of overweight population in the County through
improved food and physical activity opportunities, the plan has identified several
actions, including:143
§ Increase Dubuque County Wellness Coalition membership.
§ Explore and share available grants focusing on the food and/or physical activity
environment with appropriate agencies and wellness providers.
§ Promote and support local food initiatives – e.g., Double-Up Food Bucks,
Dubuque Farmer’s Market and community gardening projects.
As the City seeks to address these health concerns, efforts should be carried out in
tandem with County health objectives and actions to collectively address the health
needs of the region. The data included in this section was consistently reinforced by our
conversations in the community.
141https://www.cityofdubuque.org/DocumentCenter/View/27067/CHNAHIP-Document-FINAL-Sept-2018
142 https://www.cityofdubuque.org/DocumentCenter/View/27067/CHNAHIP-Document-FINAL-Sept-2018
143 https://www.cityofdubuque.org/DocumentCenter/View/27067/CHNAHIP-Document-FINAL-Sept-2018
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Community Engagement: What We Heard You Say
Dubuque residents that we spoke to throughout the community engagement process
identified a variety of needs related to both physical and brain health:
One of the most significant challenges expressed by focus group participants was
difficulties finding doctors and dentists who accept Medicaid. In addition,
participants said that lists of doctors and dentists accepting insurance constantly
changes and by the time they had called and made an appointment with a provider, they
may no longer accept their insurance and so they must call a provider on the new list,
and the process repeats.
Healthcare costs and accessing medication is particularly difficult for people over
age Sixty-Five. Accessing medication after reaching this age and aging out of Medicaid
is a concern for many. Further, with increases in the elderly population in Dubuque,
some of whom do not have families living nearby to care for them, many require costly
facility care. Few families in Dubuque can afford to fully pay for assisted living out-of-
pocket or they lack any type of insurance to cover it. Expensive end-of-life care results in
fewer assets that seniors can leave onto their families. Healthcare costs for the elderly are
a significant issue with many not qualifying for government insurance nor can afford to
buy insurance. If seniors receive Medicare, they still have to buy extra coverage for
prescriptions, dental care, and hearing aids, along with paying for co-pays and a
supplemental Medi-gap policy.
Many low-income students and workers struggle to schedule medical appointments
due to the difficulty of giving up the pay from a work shift, and their health suffers
accordingly. Providers noted that many people living in poverty experience barriers to
accessing care. Some – due to difficult circumstances or different cultural experiences –
may cancel an appointment or fail to show up. Some providers do not let these patients
return. Meanwhile, the few providers that do accept these patients (such as Hillcrest
Family Services and Crescent Community Health Center) are then burdened with
months-long waiting lists. This lack of availability leads to people using the emergency
department.
Community health education materials must be tailored to the communities they are
designed to reach. Appropriate, accessible language must be used, and trust must be
built in communities. An example of this is the work that Crescent Community Health
Center’s Pacific Islander Health Project has done for Marshallese families in Dubuque.
134
Crescent runs culturally-specific community diabetic education classes that include
medical education and sessions on social determinants of health on topics like income
tax, using the Emergency Department, banking, and use of car seats, discussed further at
the end of this section.
Marshallese communities in Dubuque experience extremely high rates of diabetes
and increased rates of cancer and other diseases as a result of the United States having
used the Marshall Islands as a nuclear test site during World War II. Even though
Marshall Islanders came to the U.S. in response to the devastation of their homeland and
its resulting health consequences, the Marshallese are not eligible for insurance
coverage in the U.S. following the Clinton Administration’s welfare reform. Crescent
Community Health Center’s Pacific Islander Health Project has had a solid track record of
building trust and success with this population; however, the organization is under-
resourced and facing ever-growing demand. Crescent’s sliding scale results in most
patients not having to pay additional co-pays.
Participants consistently expressed difficulty accessing appointments with mental
health professionals. Additionally, switching providers could mean months-long delays
in getting a new appointment and long gaps between accessing medication. They
identify a general lack of mental health resources and say that finding resources is
particularly challenging for people coming from other places, like Chicago. Focus group
participants said that Hillcrest Family Services offers many mental health services but had
to cut significantly last year due to a lack of funding. Providers indicated the limits of a
poor statewide system of mental health care but said that Dubuque offers strong brain
health resources – just not enough to meet demand.
Participants stressed a link between substance use and mental health in their
communities. They urged for more Information & Referral resources, and materials on
the link between substance abuse and mental health to be made available. Opioids are a
serious problem, but so are other drugs. Service providers in the community also
recognized the added difficulties of drug addiction within families who struggle with
generational poverty. As a consequence, they lack a support system among family and
friends to assist a loved one both emotionally and financially along the arduous road to
recovery. Providers spoke of seeing substance abuse at the nexus of brain and mental
health conditions, chronic unemployment, and poor health. They also spoke of the
public stigma associated with substance use, as in the sentiment expressed by a
respondent to our public survey: “People bring it on themselves and, if you try to help
them, they’ll just spend or sell whatever you give them on drugs.”
135
In addition to a need for more mental health clinicians, community members further
stressed a need for opportunities to gather as peers and form support groups.
Participants in almost every focus group session among those experiencing poverty
referenced a desire to “put their heads together,” to support one another, and consider
solutions to the problems facing them and their communities. “If we put more support
groups out there, people will help people. A group will come up with an answer.”
Participants in the community engagement process strongly stressed a link
between their experiences and the conditions of living in poverty, and their mental
health. They referenced the constant fear of not knowing if their immediate future is
secure, the many struggles of daily survival, the feeling of working so hard but never
feeling like they’re really getting ahead, and the challenges of navigating the social
services ecosystem. Among social service providers, and educators, they viewed the
daily life of children and adults living in poverty as a life filled with trauma.
Focus group members said that the stigma from employers surrounding mental
health and disability was a significant obstacle. Many jobs ask if there are any mental
or physical limitations that would make the job difficult to accomplish. One participant
said that she had tested both checking and not checking the box (identifying a disability
or mental illness) and found anecdotally that disclosing the information led to fewer job
opportunities. The mental health of people with histories of arrest or incarceration is an
exacting challenge. The lack of opportunities and having to constantly “check the box”
for housing and employment only adds to feelings of depression and hopelessness.
Though Dubuque’s children and families experiencing poverty face a number of health-
related challenges, the community benefits from a wide range of health care providers
and coalitions, non-profits, government programs along with health equity initiatives
sponsored by the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. The following proposed
best practices build upon the work already occurring in the community.
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Promising Practices
1. Establish a Community Health Worker Network
The proposed Office of Shared Prosperity would do well to encourage the continued
development and expansion of health care providers and non-profits in hiring and
deploying “Community Health Workers” (CHWs). These front-line, culturally competent,
public health workers serve as a bridge between under-served communities and
healthcare systems. Ideally, these workers share ethnicity, language, socioeconomic
status, and life experiences with the people they serve. CHWs are a way to address
shortages of health care workers. According to the CDC, “they can help people reduce
risk factors for disease, manage chronic conditions, connect with local resources, and
access the healthcare system.”144
Among interventions that CHWs can assist with are: screenings, health education and
prevention work, first aid and blood pressure, outreach, enrollment, and information,
serving as members of care delivery teams, and serving as community organizers. The
National Health Institute refers to them as “front-line agents of change, helping to reduce
health disparities in underserved communities.”145 Cultural competence must be an
essential part of CHW training, and deliberate efforts be made to train CHWs from Black,
Marshallese, and Hispanic communities.
An important mechanism for advancing health equity for residents of disadvantaged
neighborhoods has been the Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo, which
works with individuals and organizations to empower communities in improving their
health. The network trains “frontline workers”— community health workers, housing
organizers, parent facilitators, patient advocates, street outreach workers, and peer
counselors—on how to best engage residents and community-based organizations to
define their own challenges, identify strengths and opportunities, and work toward
change.146
2. Holistically Integrate & Coordinate Services Across Agencies
As discussed throughout this report, the City of Dubuque needs holistic integration of
services and assessments to align and cohere the fragmented and largely siloed social
services ecosystem. Schools, Health Care Centers and social services agencies would do
well to work more closely together in addressing brain and physical health conditions in
the community. These gaps affect the health and well-being of Dubuque residents, who
144https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/pubs/docs/SIB_Feb2016.pdf
145https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/healthdisp/role-of-community-health-workers.htm
146https://www.nationalequityatlas.org/sites/default/files/EP_summary-buffalo-05-05-17.pdf
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are not able to benefit from an integrated approach where there is coordination
amongst these community providers and stakeholders. Currently, each runs on a parallel
track.
Enlisting teachers who are on the front lines of working with children and their families
every day, along with School Home Connectors from the school district and the tutors
and school liaisons of the Dream Center to advise on work groups and planning sessions
to create methods of integration and coordination would be extremely valuable.
Building off of strong existing community capacity will be an essential lever for achieving
better service integration and improved outcomes for Dubuque residents. Greater
coordination will also result in improved efficiency through stronger data sharing and
reduced duplicative actions amongst agencies.
3. Identify “Naturally Occurring” Educators to Provide Health Education
The City of Dubuque should work to identify “naturally occurring” educators who are
already leaders and connectors in their communities to provide meaningful health
education to residents. These resident leaders share characteristics with their
communities and are trusted figures that resonate with community members receiving
the health education. One example of this is the award-winning “Shape Up Your Colon”
project for Black and Latinx barbers that teaches barbers how to approach their clients
about the importance of colon cancer screenings.147 Similar strategies have been
employed engaging “naturally occurring” leaders that are hairdressers or members of
church groups.
4. Use Data on Health Outcomes to Target Investments
The proposed Office of Shared Prosperity’s Data Collaborative would facilitate ways in
which the multiple health care providers and social service agencies that collect health
data on persons experiencing poverty could collect and analyze data to measure the
collective impact of health programs. This would be in concert with the County Health
Department’s annual health assessment but with more data at the census tract level for
residents of the City.
The goal would be to build data capacity to assess health outcomes by race, income
level, and neighborhood in order to more effectively target investments to the
communities most in need of services. This data can inform city and county officials and
local decisionmakers on which communities experience the worst health outcomes, and
accordingly inform their distribution of resources, funding, and allocation of staff time
147This work was developed by Dr. Linda Rhodes of Public Works and Mercyhurst University in a grant from the Pennsylvania
Department of Health. The materials are free should any group in Dubuque request it.
138
toward healthy interventions in these neighborhoods. One example of a data-informed
approach for targeting local investments is the Neighborhoods of Focus Initiative
(PDF) in Lansing, Michigan, which conducts asset-based community development
modeling to select neighborhoods that can reserve targeted investments and then jump
to the top of the list for funding when new city resources become available. Leveraging
data to elicit a greater understanding of health disparities will empower the City to more
equitably meet the health needs of Dubuque residents.
Policylink provides ten design principles for powering health equity action steps with
online data tools that could also be helpful in drilling down health data to
neighborhoods.148
5. Build off of Successful Efforts in the Community | Brain Health
The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque’s (CFGD) convening of a Mental Health
Stakeholder group with representation from services providers, the United Way, and the
City of Dubuque to advance the proposals outlined in their initial mental health needs
assessment is vital to addressing the mental and brain health needs of those
experiencing poverty. The work in 2019-2020 expanded to include a Children’s Brain
Health Working Group to address the specific support needed for children, including
training for Trauma-Informed Care. All health efforts benefit from using a trauma-
informed framework. The many people serving people living in poverty, including
physicians, nurses, teachers, social workers, employers, law enforcement and service
providers should be equipped with training on what it means to work with those living
with trauma as a result of poverty, the stigmatization of being poor, and racism.
Accomplishments to date from the Mental Health Stakeholder group include:
completing a resource guide for brain health services in Dubuque, expanding the
availability of a Mobile Crisis Unit, Wraparound Program, Mental Health First Aid
Training with local law enforcement, improve the 211 process for people experiencing
brain health issues and the ongoing development of an Access Center for Dubuque
County. The City would do well to continue its support of these initiatives, especially, the
creation of a local access center through funding and assistance in securing a contract
partner and advocating for financial support from the state.
Crescent Community Health Center is another entity that the City should look towards in
guiding health efforts: Crescent’s culturally-competent community health programming
designed for target audiences (such as the Marshallese community) has demonstrated
success in building trust and educating these communities on important topics like
proper use of the Emergency Department and monthly community diabetic education
148 Ross, Angela, “Powering Health Equity Action with Online Data Tools: 10 Design Principles,” PolicyLink 2017.
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classes. Providers understood that this cultural community operates collectively and
subsequently designed programs to be delivered in a group setting and social in nature.
Assuring culturally-specific and holistic approaches could be a standard benchmark
required of agencies when applying for City funds as well as evidence of collaborative
engagement.
Lastly, all health efforts should be approached from a trauma-informed framework. The
many people serving people living in poverty, including physicians, nurses, teachers,
social workers, employers and service providers should be equipped with training on
what it means to work with those living with trauma as a result of poverty and racism.
FOOD INSECURITY
Overview
A food secure household has access to enough high-quality food for an active, healthy
life for all household members. Food security is integral to combatting poverty and
inequality because individuals of all ages require healthy food to prosper. Consistent
access to a nutritious diet is a key determinant of overall health, affecting one’s ability to
work, learn, and engage in the community. In fact, poor-quality diet is a greater cause of
disease and mortality than unsafe sex, and alcohol, drug, and tobacco use combined.
Unsustainable food production and distribution systems are also being recognized
globally as the leading driver of both widespread public health epidemics, and of
environmental degradation.149
All Dubuque residents are affected by the sustainability, resiliency, and inclusiveness of
its food system. The local food system -- the ways in which food is produced and
distributed -- is an important entry point for addressing poverty and inequality because it
impacts human and environmental health directly along with the local economy. Food
systems typically employ a large segment of the local workforce.
Access to healthy food is among the most vital indicators of the wellbeing of current and
future generations.
The rise of food planning networks globally, such as the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact,
Sustainable Food Cities Network, C40 Sustainable Food Cities Network highlight the
149 Summary Report of the EAT Lancet Commission Report, https://eatforum.org/content/uploads/2019/07/EAT-
Lancet_Commission_Summary_Report.pdf
140
growing recognition of the fundamental role of the food system in social equity. They
offer several published frameworks and toolkits of best urban practices 150 151
Snapshot of Food Insecurity in Dubuque
In Dubuque County, nine percent of the adult population and thirteen percent of
children are considered food insecure.152 Food insecurity impacts health: of Dubuque
adults with incomes below the poverty line, 39% are obese, 29% have high cholesterol,
17% have diabetes, and 13% have heart disease.153 154 According to the Community
Equity Survey of 2014, 76 percent of respondents believed that fresh and healthy food is
accessible in Dubuque while 57% did not believe it was affordable.155
According to the County’s Community Health Assessment, Dubuque County (74.74) has
a higher percentage of fast food establishments per 100,000 population than the state
average (63.19). The County also has a higher percentage of population with low food
access than the statewide average (21.41%) and a lower rate of grocery stores per
100,000 population than the state of Iowa (20.06).
In Iowa’s First Congressional District, which includes Dubuque:
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are received by 9
percent of households.
One third of children come from families with incomes low enough to qualify
for free or reduced school lunches.
The median income of households on SNAP is $24,217, compared to
$62,550 for households not on SNAP.
Most households (82%) receiving SNAP benefits are white; 95 percent of
households not receiving SNAP are white.
Black families are overrepresented among SNAP recipients, comprising 13
percent of households receiving SNAP and 2% of households not receiving
SNAP.
150 MUFPP (2018) Food and Cities: the role for cities for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Available at:
https://www.barillacfn.com/media/material/food_cities.pdf (accessed 13 August 2019)
151 European Commission (2017) Food in Cities: study on innovation for a sustainable and healthy production, delivery,
and consumption of food in cities. Cunto, Tegoni, Sonnino, Michel, and Lajili-Djalaï. Available at:
https://ec.europa.eu/research/openvision/pdf/rise/food_in_cities.pdf (Access 13 June, 2019).
152 152http://map.feedingamerica.org/county/2018/overall/iowa/county/dubuque
153 http://inclusivedbq.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Intro_DBQDemo_Health.pdf
154 https://www.icip.iastate.edu/sites/default/files/poverty/poverty_19061.pdf
155 http://inclusivedbq.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Intro_DBQDemo_Health.pdf
141
From 2018 to 2019 SNAP usage increased in Dubuque County and Iowa as a whole.
The Double Up Food Bucks program, a part of Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative, allows
Iowa SNAP recipients to double the value of their fresh produce purchases at
participating locations (up to $10 per day) with “Double Up Bucks” redeemable for
locally grown fresh produce.
Utilization of this program increased over 800% statewide from $15,818 in 2018 to
$132,430 in 2019, with participating locations increasing from 14 to 34 during the same
period.156
Only about half of food insecure families in Dubuque County are eligible for SNAP or
other food subsidies. (See figures below.)
Source: Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap157
While the data show that the rate of child food insecurity in Dubuque County is
similar to that of the state of Iowa as a whole, poverty rates in the City of Dubuque are
156 156https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Program-that-encourages-fresh-fruit-vegetable-purchase-with-SNAP-sees-growth-
566575241.html
157 https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2019-05/2017-map-the-meal-gap-all-modules_0.pdf
142
higher than in the County overall. It can be inferred then that the rate of child food
insecurity in the City of Dubuque is higher than the state as a whole.
Another way of identifying food insecurity among children is to look at the number of
children qualifying for the free lunch program. When students have access to healthy
meals, we know that they are more prepared to learn. As such, the Dubuque
Community School District’s food and nutrition department serves as a significant
community resource for feeding children in need.
Nine schools in the district (Audubon, Fulton, Hoover, Lincoln, Marshall, Prescott,
Jefferson, Washington and the Alta Vista Campus) participate in the Community
Eligibility Provision, a provision of the federal lunch program that provides no-cost
reimbursable meals to ALL students at participating schools throughout the school
year. This includes breakfast and lunch. This offering provides federal funding for
the district to expand access to healthy school lunches and ensure that students
receive nutritious meals.
Table 31: Free and Reduced Lunch Among Five Title 1 Schools
2019-2020 School Year158
Elementary School Free/Reduced Percentage Free/Reduced Number
94.56% 226
Prescott 88.78% 261
Fulton 88.24% 255
Lincoln 76.84% 209
Marshall 66.56% 211
At the district's non-CEP schools, the district actively promotes the Free and Reduced-
Price Meals application which provides meals to students based on family income
guidelines. The district also provides summer meals at the locations where summer
programming is held. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the district (as well as a number
of community partners) has continued to be a major community source of providing
meals for students. Since March of 2020, the district has served over 200,000 meals to
those ages 18 years and under needing them. During this school year, a change in USDA
guidelines has made school meals free for ALL students in the entire district through the
2020-2021 school year.
158 Memorandum from the Dubuque Community School District for the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan, December 2020.
Audubon
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Food Security Promising Practices
1. Develop a Food Access App
Develop an app that informs residents of the weekly schedules and real-time availability
of food pantries throughout the City. This could include notifying residents of pop-up
opportunities, and providing the opportunity to schedule pickup time slots in order to
avoid long lines and shortages. For example, the app Plentiful (see
http://plentifulapp.com) was created by the New York City Food Assistance
Collaborative (whose members include the NYC Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, NYC
Human Resources Administration, United Way of NYC, City Harvest, and New York State
Health Department) as a user-friendly tool for families in need and service providers to
eliminate long lines at charitable food programs, prevent the need for multiple
crosstown trips by struggling families who may lack child care or transportation, provide
practical real-time information and increase efficiency for service providers. This would
enhance the efforts now offered during COVID-19 by the collaborative with food
pantries, Resources Unite and the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque along
with other non-profits.
2. Consider Food Access Routes in Public Transportation
Not all residents have access to private vehicles, and not all communities have direct
access to a supermarket via public transportation. Cities can adopt a resident-centered
approach by assessing transportation gaps that limit access to healthy foods by
evaluating the public transportation paths that residents of different communities
(especially low-income communities) could take to reach a supermarket. If these routes
require too many transfers and waits, they are not a viable means to grocery shop.
Working people, families with children, and the elderly cannot realistically take hours-
long two-way bus rides to do their grocery shopping.
A Food Access Analysis could examine the public transportation routes that residents of
low-income areas (for example with median incomes below 200% of poverty level) must
take to reach the nearest grocery store. The City of Baltimore partnered with the Central
Maryland Transit Alliance to carry out such an analysis and subsequently advocated for
adjustments to the city’s bus routes to connect “food deserts” (that is geographic areas
with limited access to sources of nutritious and affordable food) to grocery stores. The
City can “walk through” the routes that Dubuquers must take to reach the nearest source
of produce, for example, and ensure that food access is considered in the development
of public transportation routes.
144
3. Create jobs along the food distribution chain by aligning employment opportunities
with enhancing local food resources in low-income neighborhoods.
Dubuquers living in poverty face both food insecurity and unemployment challenges.
These may be jointly addressed by pursuing strategies that create job opportunities in
food-insecure areas. For example, Baltimore’s food strategy facilitates the development
of composting locations directed by community partners that encourage youth
employment and other workforce development; composting sustains two to four times
as many local jobs as comparable landfill or incinerator disposal occupations.
Cities can support diverse employment opportunities at different points in the local food
system – from production to distribution to processing (e.g. working in community
gardens, composting, and distributing food). The City can maximize its investment in its
local economy by aligning initiatives to promote food security with its efforts to reduce
unemployment.
4. Connect health care providers to food resources so they can provide referrals and/or
“food prescriptions” to patients who are vulnerable or in need.
Hospitals have a concerted interest in and are well-equipped to address social
determinants of health such as food insecurity which is extremely costly in human terms
and in public expenditures. For example, a “big data” analysis of patient health status
upon admissions by Mt. Sinai Hospital (NYC) found that malnourished people were far
more likely to develop infections during a hospital stay. As a result, they developed
nutrition interventions during a patient’s hospital stay and following discharge.159 Good
nutrition has been long known to reduce the incidence of illnesses and diseases that
require hospitalization, in the first place.
Health care providers can play vital roles as engaged partners in addressing food
insecurity. With corresponding funding, health care providers would be well- positioned
to implement best practices to promote food security for vulnerable patients,
including:160
§ Maintaining an up-to-date internal database for social resources and tools for
clinicians to share with patients in need. Examples include Project Bread in
Massachusetts, which created a Hospital Handbook for clinicians and staff in an
accessible format, and Eat San Francisco, a web-based database of healthy food
resources in the area.
159 Rhodes, Linda, on-site field visit Mt.Sinai, NYC, 2018 for “Technology’s Impact on Health Care Jobs,” SEIU NYC.
160https://foodcommunitybenefit.noharm.org/resources/implementation-strategy/connecting-food-insecure-individuals-
resources
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§ Developing an active referral system through which patients can authorize third-
party social welfare organizations to follow up with patients directly. Kaiser
Permanente Colorado utilizes a referral form in patients’ electronic medical
record, allowing patients to sign and authorize a local anti-hunger nonprofit,
Hunger Free Colorado, to contact them directly. This drastically increased the
percentage of referred patients who received additional resources for which they
were eligible from 5 percent to 78 percent. Similarly, the Boston Medical Center
issues “food prescriptions” to patients who are food insecure, inputted into their
medical record and forwarded to the Preventative Food Pantry.
§ Delivering services with cultural competence, including translating materials,
removing cultural barriers, and training staff in cultural competence, of particular
importance for Marshallese and Hispanic communities in Dubuque.
5. Create a Citizen-Led Food Collaborative as an Advisory Group.
Collaborative groups that engage diverse stakeholders can be powerful forces in
furthering effective food policy and planning. Examples include the Pittsburgh Food
Policy Council (see: https://www.pittsburghfoodpolicy.org) and Baltimore’s Resident
Food Equity Advisor group (see: https://planning.baltimorecity.gov/resident-food-
equity-advisors) . The New York City Food Assistance Collaborative works with
emergency food suppliers to bolster supply and access for food insecure areas. The
group has also created Plentiful, a digital reservation system for pantries that allows
those in need of food to find what they need without waiting in line.161 Resident leaders
who are well-connected to their Dubuque communities and who understand the
strengths and challenges facing their neighborhoods – can serve as champions of food
security.
6. Consider innovative food production and distribution solutions targeted to
neighborhoods in need of greater food access.
As Dubuque explores new opportunities for mixed-use housing developments, “agri-
hoods” should be explored. Agri-hoods are housing developments built around
working farmland. They can leverage the “sweat-equity” of residents to build sustainable
food production systems for the immediate and surrounding communities. The
Cannery, a mixed-use housing development in Davis, California calls itself a “farm-to-
table new home community.”162 Places like New York City have experimented with other
small-scale local solutions on the distribution side. Green Carts is a mobile grocery
161https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/ten-ways-nyc-combat-food-insecurity/
162https://www.damemagazine.com/2018/12/05/the-future-of-solving-food-insecurity/
146
market that sell fresh fruits and vegetables in areas with low access to fresh produce,
some of which accept EBT.163 Similarly, Perry County, Ohio has piloted mobile grocery
markets that bring food to local clinics, elementary schools, and neighborhoods with
limited food access.164
7. Coordinate food security initiatives with the programs of the Hawkeye Area Community
Action Program (HACAP).
Now that the community action agency merger has taken place (October 2020) with
HACAP, the City of Dubuque has an enhanced opportunity to expand its reach in food
security. As a member of Feeding America, “HACAP Food Reservoir leads the fight
against hunger in East Central Iowa by providing food access, advocacy, education, and
disaster response. The Food Reservoir distributes over 10 million pounds of food
annually to more than 160 community partners across seven counties.”165 Their Food
Reservoir programs include: the BackPack Program, Mobile Food Pantry, and Senior
Totes and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.
One area that deserves special attention is developing programs that address
malnutrition and undernutrition among elderly Dubuquers – a group that is especially
vulnerable to the flu, cancer, diabetes and COVID-19 – all of which require a well-
nourished body to recover. Food security is vital for this population, as are children
163https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/ten-ways-nyc-combat-food-insecurity/
164https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/four-ways-address-food-insecurity-through-transportation-improvements
165 https://www.hacap.org/our-initiatives/health-nutrition
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3. 5 RACIAL EQUITY & PROSPERITY
Overview
The Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change has become a national leader for
the past two decades in helping communities identify and address disparities that fracture
the foundation of community. They have shown that structural racism is a leading cause as
to why Blacks and People of Color are not equitably sharing in their community’s and
society’s prosperity.
The term structural racism, according to the Institute, “refers to a system in which public
policies, institutional practices, cultural representations and other norms work in various,
often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity….the structural racism lens allows
us to see that, as a society, we more or less take for granted a context of white leadership,
dominance, and privilege.
This dominant consensus on race is the frame that shapes our attitudes and judgments
about social issues. It has come about as a result of the way that historically accumulated
white privilege, national values, and contemporary culture have interacted so as to preserve
the gaps between white Americans and Americans of color."166
This section of the report will highlight these gaps in the form of disparities shedding light
as to how poverty and race intersect and why an equitable poverty prevention plan requires
achieving racial equity at its core. It is worthy to note, that acknowledging structural racism
as a barrier to success for Blacks and People of Color does not minimize the barriers and
struggles that white people similarly face.
This report recognizes, however, that there have been laws, policies and cultural norms in
our history that have created a distinct and significant disadvantage for people of color that
still remain and have an active and powerful impact on people’s ability to succeed today.”167
166 Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change, “Structural Racism and Community Building, June 2004.
167 Inclusive Dubuque, “Community Equity Profile: A Note on Structural Racism” 2015.
148
Disparities
Quite simply, Blacks and People of Color are not faring as well as white residents in most
indicators of well-being and prosperity in the nation and in Dubuque. Consider the
following:
In the city, nearly sixty percent of Blacks (56%) live in poverty; as does 22 percent of Latinx
and 38 percent of Marshallese compared to 13 percent of Whites.168
The rate of Blacks experiencing poverty in Dubuque (56%) is almost twice as high as the
statewide rate of 30 percent and national rate of 23 percent.169
In Dubuque County, just over one in five (23%) Black residents are approved for loans.170
Home ownership rate for Black residents is 8 percent compared to 63 percent for
Whites.171
The unemployment rate among Blacks is four times higher (20%) compared to five percent
for Whites.
Conclusive data for the number of Black-owned businesses does not exist, but the Iowa
Economic Development Targeted Small Business (TSB) has record of only one such
business in Dubuque.172 However, in a flyer distributed at a Black Lives Matter Work
Session with City Council by the Tri-Phoenix Media, twenty-five “Black Owned Dubuque
Businesses” were listed.173 Many are likely sole proprietorships and chose not to register
via the state.
Blacks and People of Color live in concentrated areas of poverty: there are two census
tracts with high poverty rates in the city of Tracts 1 and 5. Sixty-five percent of Blacks
residing in Tract 1 are experiencing poverty as are 52 percent living in Tract 5. “Black
residents living in concentrated neighborhoods of poverty are well below the national
averages in economic opportunity, employment, healthcare access, healthcare quality,
public health and access to broadband.”174
168 American Community Survey, U.S. Census, 2018
169 Ibid
170https://ffiec.cfpb.gov/data-browser/data/2019?category=counties&items=19061
171https://scorecard.prosperitynow.org/data-by-location#city/1922395
172https://www.iowaeda.com/small-business/targeted-small-business/
173 http://www.findglocal.com/US/Dubuque/322712514585408/Tri-Phoenix-Media
174 Noel, Nick, D. Pinder & S. Stewart III, McKinsey: The economic impact of closing the racial wealth gap, 2019.
149
We would have liked to find more extensive disparity measures but there is not as much
data available for smaller cities such as Dubuque, thus, we would need to rely on county
data which would skew the findings as most Blacks and People of Color live in the city. We
do know, however, from our Dubuque focus groups, key informant interviews, surveys and a
review of national studies on race and poverty that the following research from the
American Progress Center is relevant to the minority community in Dubuque.
As was stated in the Economic Security section of this report, communities of color have
historically lacked access to financial tools and opportunities that allow them to build assets,
purchase homes, and build generational wealth by passing down these resources to their
children. Instead, they have to resort to borrow from payday lenders, pay higher rent on
month-to-month leases, pay high fees to receive money wired from family and friends, buy
used cars that more often than not lose them even more money in repairs. It’s why we heard
a resounding theme throughout our focus groups that:
“It’s expensive to be poor.”
Other obstacles to building wealth exist: Blacks and People of Color households are more
likely to be underpaid, less likely to have adequate resources in the event of an emergency,
and less likely to have sufficient savings. Further, they are more in need of short-term
savings to address day-to-day financial struggles.175 While this research from the Center for
American Progress specifically addresses Black wealth, these factors affect other low-
income and non-White families, as well.
However, the historical and structural context for Black households is unique with direct
links to slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, school segregation, mass incarceration, and other
discriminatory policies.
175https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2018/02/21/447051/systematic-inequality/
150
The harm of this history is evidenced through the following inequities:176
Black households have fewer assets than Whites. They are less likely to own their own business,
to be homeowners, and to have a retirement account.
Black individuals and families carry more costly debt because they owe larger amount of high-
interest debt, such as installment credit and student and car loans.
Black households have less access to crucial savings tools, such as housing and retirement
accounts, and significantly lower home equity. They are also less likely to secure savings bonds
and mutual funds: median savings for these options were $2,650, compared with $12,400 for
White families.
Disparities in income and employment are often linked to employment discrimination and weak
enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.
Employment disparities may be exacerbated by the large number of Black individuals who have
experienced incarceration which greatly diminishes their chances of being hired.
Blacks, Indigenous and People of Color are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice
system in terms of arrest rates, as a result, they also face significant fines and fees that they may
not be able to pay. This can quickly spiral into more fines, potential loss of a driver’s license, and
even jail time. (See “Fees and Fines” Promising Practice in the Economic Insecurity section of
this report).
Black boys raised in America, even in the wealthiest families, still earn less as adults than white
boys with similar backgrounds. That's according to a study from the Equality of Opportunity
Project, analyzing U.S. Census data to study the lives of 20 million children. (This is why
mentoring programs and youth centers e.g. The Dream Center, Multicultural Family Center, St.
Mark Youth Enrichment Center and HEART are vital in Dubuque).177
Further, wealth varies by age: the median young (under 35 years) Black family has very little
wealth ($600) compared to the median young White family with a wealth of $25,400. Wealth
for both groups increases over the life span but at dramatically different rates: while the
median white family over age 55 years holds wealth of $315,000, Black families at the same
age have wealth totaling $53,800.178 Median wealth for Black and Hispanic families in 2016
176https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2018/02/21/447051/systematic-inequality/
177 Hendren and Chetty, Equality of Opportunity Project, 2018.
178https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2018/02/21/447051/systematic-inequality/
151
was $24,100 and $36,100, respectively, while for White families, median wealth is over five
times that amount, at $188,200.179
Community Engagement | What We Heard You Say
These quotes are representative of the kinds of themes that surfaced through surveys,
interviews and focus groups:
“Iowa has the highest discrepancy between
marijuana usage rates and incarceration.
Dubuque has one of the highest incarceration
rates among Blacks. It has awful consequences
for student loans, housing, access to services.”
“Police follow and profile men of color to find
a reason to fine them.”
“Men of color are much more likely than
Whites to be arrested for a marijuana-related
offense.”
“Classism is very strong in Dubuque – if you’re
not born with a certain family name, it means
you can’t be accepted, or given access to the
“right people” and jobs.”
“Checking “The Box” on application forms
keeps you from getting a job, benefits,
student loans and housing.”
“Poverty is intentionally hidden in
concentrated areas, so those with
resources, and upper classes don’t have to
see the poor.”
“Plenty of myths are under the radar. Many
non-poor believe that people like being on
welfare, and don’t want to work. They have
misinformation on how much people
receive for child care and other benefits.”
“The “Cliff Effect” keeps you poor (losing
benefits when you earn a better income).”
“Agencies and prison systems benefit from
the money they make and jobs they hold
to serve the poor. It is a form of
exploitation. Example: the Half-Way
Houses make a great deal of money to
house people who were incarcerated.”
179https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/disparities-in-wealth-by-race-and-ethnicity-in-the-2019-survey-of-consumer-
finances-accessible-20200928.htm
152
Promising Practices
Given that Blacks and People of Color in Dubuque are disproportionately and significantly
experiencing poverty, the many Promising Practices identified throughout this report to
address poverty are intended to advance their quality of life and assure them equal access
to the community’s shared prosperity.
There are, however, distinctive concerns that have been raised by the Black community at
the Black Lives Matter work sessions with City Council and throughout our community
engagement sessions in Dubuque. Thus, the next set of Promising Practices focuses on
several of those issues raised. Our first recommendation, we consider foundational and
urgent. It sets the groundwork for achieving racial equity in very concrete ways that can be
measured as a guidepost towards successfully creating a thriving community where ALL
share in prosperity.
1. Racial Equity Index
The Center for Social Inclusion defines racial equity as both an outcome and a process.
“As an outcome, we achieve racial equity when race no longer determines one’s
socioeconomic outcomes; when everyone has what they need to thrive, no matter where
they live. As a process, we apply racial equity when those most impacted by structural
racial inequity are meaningfully involved in the creation and implementation of the
institutional policies and practices that impact their lives.”
“When we achieve racial equity:
§ People, including people of color, are owners, planners, and decision-makers
in the systems that govern their lives.
§ We acknowledge and account for past and current inequities, and provide all
people, particularly those most impacted by racial inequities, the infrastructure
needed to thrive.
§ Everyone benefits from a more just, equitable system.”180
The overarching question, however, is how does a community know they are achieving
racial equity? It means digging deeper and further asking: What will success look like? What
are the benchmarks to indicate success? How are your measuring it? Is the data, itself,
180Center for Social Inclusion, “What is Racial Equity?” https://www.centerforsocialinclusion.org/our-work/what-is-racial-equity/
153
authentic, deep and without bias? Who is accountable for the measuring? How do
community stakeholders interpret and respond to what’s learned from the measurement?
And once racial equity is measured, who and what entities remain accountable for the
steadfast movement of achieving benchmarks and pushing forward so that the equitable
measures are achieved?
To answer the first question requires creating a community “Racial Equity Index” that’s
developed collaboratively with stakeholders who are impacted by past and current
inequities and those charged with programs, policies and services to remedy it. There are
models that exist and communities across the country that are answering the measurement
questions cited above. The City has already begun this type of work within each department
of City government and it has been set as a priority by City Administration and City Council
in response to sessions held with Black Lives Matter leaders earlier this year (NAACP,
Switching Places, Dream Center, Black Men Coalition, Fountain of Youth, Multicultural
Family Center, Fair Housing including representatives of the LATINX community).
The City through the proposed Office of Shared Prosperity would be well positioned to
support and advise the foundational work of the Inclusive Dubuque initiative by the
Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque (CFGD) in developing a Racial Equity Index.
The foundation’s past work in developing the “Community Equity Profile” and its plan to
focus the second round of this endeavor into developing a “Racial Equity Index” for the city
using the impending release of the 2020 census data, will enable all partners and
stakeholders to move quickly on this all important guide-post.
The Racial Equity Index will adopt a similar process as was used in the Inclusive Dubuque
initiative in creating a community equity profile. Focus areas based on the eight
determinants of poverty described throughout this report will be addressed by: using data
presented in this report, updating local data with new 2020 census findings, hosting
community dialogues on focus areas, and developing concrete strategies and benchmarks
to create a Racial Equity Index that can be implemented and measured and embraced by
community leaders and advocates. The 2015 equity profile summary is found
at https://inclusivedbq.org/community-equity-profile/ providing an overview of how the
Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque would engage the community in developing
the Racial Equity Index.
154
Beyond the Office of Shared Prosperity, two vital partners working with the Community
Foundation of Greater Dubuque in creating a “Racial Equity Index” will be the advocacy
groups of the Black Lives Matter movement that met with City Council as referenced in this
report and the Business Leaders Equity Cohort. This group now numbering over 40
employers has spent the past two years raising awareness of institutional racism/implicit bias
and learning its impact on communities of color.
At their October 2020 meeting they made a commitment to move from learning to action
and developing a public statement expressing their commitment to equity and inclusion by:
addressing workplace culture, how to better recruit and retain minority employees and
address barriers to wealth building among Blacks and People of Color.
We recommend that the Inclusive Dubuque initiative by the Community Foundation of
Greater Dubuque in guiding the development of the Racial Equity Index, continue to work
closely with the Human Rights Commission given their breadth of experience in this field.
The City of Des Moines with their One Economy
initiative also provides a robust example of how they
set benchmarks for their “Racial Equity Index” in five
crucial areas – all of which have been addressed in this
report: Employment, Financial Inclusion, Education,
Health and Housing.
Identifying indices matched with concrete strategies
with accountable partners and stakeholders in
achieving them by a date certain will be a critical
component of the process in developing the City of
Dubuque’s Racial Equity Index.
Below is an example of how such an index would be developed for the community
measuring Financial Inclusion. The same process would be completed in these equity areas
using the information gleaned from this report on the determinants of poverty:
1. Financial Inclusion
2. Employment
3. Education
4. Health
5. Housing
6. Internet and Digital Access
7. Children
8. Justice System
155
The table below serves as a template that cites six measures, for example, to track
Financial Inclusion. It quantifies the disparity, determines what success will look like
(Benchmark) and when it should be achieved.
Table 31: Template for Racial Equity Index on Financial Inclusion
Equity Measure Percent of
Blacks/PoC
Percent of
all others
Benchmark Year
1. Home Ownership
2. Unemployment Rate
3. Unbanked: No checking
or savings account
4. Loan approval rate
5. Percent of cost-
burdened renters
6. Number Black-owned
businesses
Most of the measures cited in Table 31 do not have city-level data obtainable, however,
two were available and are shown below to provide an example as to how the Racial
Equity Index would be created.
Equity Measure Percent of
Blacks/PoC
Percent of all
Others
Benchmark Year
1. Home Ownership
8.0%
63.0%
4% increase
2024
2. Unemployment Rate 19.8% 5.1% 5% decrease 2024
Each of these “Racial Equity Measures” should be grounded in research and sessions
with stakeholders so that all are invested in achieving these benchmarks and developing
concrete steps to get there. The business community, especially financial institutions,
would be partners with stakeholders in developing, investing and embracing the
benchmarks and the strategies to realize Financial Inclusion.
On average, five or six measurable outcomes would be developed for each of the eight
areas identified (poverty determinants) culminating into a “Racial Equity Dashboard” of
156
40 to 50 indices to track for all stakeholders in the community to address and track. Most
indicators for equity measures are available through the US Census American
Community Surveys, others will need to be developed working with the County but
drilling down to census tracts within the city.
Designing Equity Measure Resources
In a recent article by McKinsey & Company announcing their new initiative, “McKinsey
Institute for Black Economic Mobility,” they identify five critical components required for
communities to effectively address the racial disparities and systemic disadvantages that
Black Americans face in the United States. The five attributes of successful coalitions to
engage racial equity are:181
a. Unite around one clear mission
b. Coordinate and collaborate via central backbone
c. Secure adequate and appropriate funding
d. Ensure accountability
e. Win and maintain support from a broad set of stakeholders
The strategies set forth throughout this report meet the criteria cited above and will
bode well for the creation of a Racial Equity Index that engages all sectors of the
community in both taking on poverty and reversing the racial disparities that Blacks and
People of Color have been burdened with for far too long.
Racial equity action planning is increasingly becoming a common practice in the United
States and a resource that can assist in this process is offered by the National League of
Cities (Municipal Action Guide: Advancing Racial Equity in Your City).
2. School Resource Officers
During the course of conducting research for this report, we began looking at justice
issues raised by advocates and persons experiencing poverty. In August 2020, City
Council held two work sessions on “Black Lives Matter: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” and
in response, identified action steps, priorities and initiatives to address the issues cited
by a core group of community partners who attended the session and continue to hold
dialogue and partner with the City.
181 https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/its-time-for-a-new-approach-to-racial-equity
157
The following Promising Practices on School Resource Officers are presented to further
inform the process and policies being studied.
Considerations for the School Resource Officers Work Group
Currently, City staff, the City Police Department, School Resource Officers and the
Dubuque Community School District have been meeting to discuss and gain a deeper
understanding as to how the role of SROs can best meet safety needs in the schools and
foster positive outcomes from their presence and interactions with students. One of the
more complex issues they’ll address is the local NAACP’s recommendation that arrests
made on school premises by SROs would only be employed for a weapons offense. This
will require an in-depth analysis as to responding to the frequent offenses of assault,
harassment and general bullying while balancing the rights of victims with rights of those
committing the offense.
Various studies nationwide have cited that the role of the SRO has been evolving over
the past several years, some of which is to manage student misbehavior that had been in
prior years handled by teachers and administrators.
Students who are minorities, of low socioeconomic status and/or challenged by
disabilities disproportionately encounter interactions with a School Resource Officer.182
Jennifer Counts, School Resource Officers in Public Schools, 2018
The major concern expressed by most of these studies and reports is the inadvertent
result of sending youth down the school-to-prison pipeline.183 In a study by the Center
for Public Integrity Iowa ranks 26th in the nation of SRO arrests per 1,000 students.184
182 Counts, Jennifer, et al. "School Resource Officers in Public Schools: A National Review." Education & Treatment of Children, vol. 41,
no. 4, Nov. 2018, p. 405+. Gale Academic OneFile,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A560415715/AONE?u=new30429&sid=AONE&xid=1a806e14.
183(Ryan, et al., “The Growing Concerns Regarding School Resource Officers,” 2018.
184 Center for Public Integrity
158
Below are some of the questions that the work group convened by the City with the staff,
police, school resource officers, advocates and the Dubuque Community School District
may find helpful in exploring as they develop policy and practice as to the role of School
Resource Officers:
§ What type of Memorandum of Understanding does the School District have with
SROs? How often is it updated? An example of such an agreement and the
scope of a School Resource Officer’s roles in schools is offered by The National
Association of School Resource Officers’ manual, “To Protect and Educate.” They
also discuss how the SRO can prevent the school-to-prison pipeline.
§ Does the School District keep records on the nature of every teacher referral to
an SRO and the results? Are these records and those of the police department
the same? What does the police department record as to student interactions?
§ What is the breakdown of teacher/school-initiated vs SRO initiated interactions?
Who reviews teacher reports to identify patterns or issues requiring intervention
with teachers?
§ Over the last three years, how many students have had a law enforcement
interaction with an SRO? What is their age, year in school, race? How many of
these encounters became arrests? What was the student arrested for?
§ What is the expulsion rate of students? Did the student have prior encounters
with the SRO?
§ Are there disproportionate numbers of SRO arrests among students of color, low
socio-economic status and those with disability?
§ What is the process for a teacher, parent or student to voice a concern/complaint
regarding action taken by an SRO?
§ What state laws and departmental regulations govern School Resource Officers?
§ How are students, parents and teachers viewing SRO’s? How do SRO’s see their
roles in the schools? What conflicts/concerns do SROs have regarding keeping
schools safe?
159
The work group may find a very informative journal article cited earlier, “School
Resource Officers in Public Schools: A National Review,” to be of value. It “examines the
availability and nature of current state legislation and Department of Education (DOE)
recommendations regarding the use and training of SROs. Additionally,
recommendations are provided… to administrators on how to develop safe and
effective SRO programs.”185
3. Social Workers on the Police Force
Police Departments are creating “Social Services Response Units” that respond with
police officers to incidents that benefit from their level of expertise. Consider a social
services unit within the police department that develops strategies to address calls
related to domestic violence, mental illness, child/elder abuse, sexual abuse, substance
abuse and youth and family issues. They provide crisis intervention in situations
requiring immediate assistance, short-term counseling and referrals, assist with mental
health assessments, court advocacy for Orders of Protection, assistance with death
notifications and grief counseling, provide victim/witness support and follow-up on
incidents reported to the police that require further assistance.
This also raises the need for short-term placement of individuals with mental and brain
health conditions rather than placing them in jail or holding cell. The social work police
unit would work with mental health providers to arrange for such over-night
accommodations. It would be extremely beneficial for this unit to be diverse and
culturally-competent with a deep understanding of trauma-informed care related to
poverty and race.
The following serve as promising practice examples of social work police units:
Naperville Police Department (FL) operates such a unit with a master’s level
social worker.
The Houston Police Department deploys a licensed clinical social worker or
caseworker to ride along with police officers answering emergency calls
regarding people presumed to be experiencing mental health issues.
185 Counts, Jennifer et al, Ibid, 2018.
160
The Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) dispatches a paramedic
and social worker to minor 911 calls in a “low-key van,” rather than an armed car
to address mental health and substance use issues.
The Eugene, Oregon’s emergency response system, called CAHOOTS, sends out
a medic and crisis responder with free service to anyone in a crisis; they handle
approximately 20% of local 911 calls and have estimated $6 million saved in
medical services costs for a cost of $2.1 million a year (compared to the combined
$90 million police budgets of Eugene and Springfield).
As part of the 2021 budget process, the City of Dubuque Police Department has
requested a position to coordinate follow-up on cases that would benefit from social
work skills and perspective along with the additional responsibility of promoting jail
diversion programming.
This may also present the opportunity to consider a name change as have some of the
departments cited above to reflect shifting their focus beyond solely law enforcement as
a “Police Department,” towards one of a “Department of Public Safety” shifting towards
violence prevention.
4. Diversion Work Group
Diverting people from entering the criminal justice system whenever possible and
appropriate is of benefit not only to the individual arrested but his/her family and the
community, as well. Restorative Strategies “provides a non-punitive approach to
addressing instances of harm. With a focus on middle and high school-age youth, the
program builds accountability while deterring future interactions with the criminal justice
system.”186 The program is offered through Juvenile Court Services and has been a very
successful endeavor with the support of the Community Foundation of Greater
Dubuque, the County of Dubuque and the Dubuque Community School District.
Programs like this deserve continued support to enhance their reach in breaking the
school to prison pipeline.
We recommend that a Diversion Work Group with advocacy groups (e.g. NAACP,
Black Men Coalition, Switching Places, Fair Housing), schools and community
organizations such as Fountain of Youth and others active in the Black community
186 Community Foundation of Dubuque, Restorative Strategies Flyer, 2019.
161
convene with the City Police Department and other representatives of the justice system
to review data and trends upon which policies, practices and procedures may
consciously or inadvertently place Blacks and People of Color in undue jeopardy of
entering the justice system and on track towards prison and a life of poverty.
An example as to how data can inform discussion, the following table shows “Marijuana
Possession Arrests by Race and Gender” over the past three years. The arrest rate
between Blacks and Whites remains relatively the same over the past three years in that
approximately one-quarter of Blacks and three-quarters of Whites are charged with
marijuana possession. However, this is disproportionate given that the Black population
accounts for five percent of the population.
Table 31: City of Dubuque Marijuana Possession Arrests
by Race and Gender187
2017 2018 2019
Black Male 60 82 80
Black Female 13 25 18
Total Black (23%) 73 (28%) 107 (27%) 98
White Male 182 195 185
White Female 66 85 86
Total White (77%) 248 (72%) 280 (73%) 271
TOTAL ARRESTS 321 387 369
The number of “Drug Charge Arrests” (up to age 21years) is even more disproportionate
in that in 2019 there were 480 youths arrested of which 206 (43%) were Black (male and
female) compared to 274 (57%) White (male and female).188 This represents an arrest
rate eight times their share of the population. It’s important to note, as shared by the
Chief of Police, the majority of marijuana arrests are secondary offenses as they are
discovered as part of an investigation (e.g. fighting, domestic, traffic stop). They are
rarely the initial reasons for police contact. As long as the State of Iowa and federal law
have not legalized marijuana, the discovery of possession and/or use leads to an arrest.
According to a recent national ACLU study, a Black person in Iowa is 7.3 times more
likely to be arrested than a white person for marijuana possession, even though both
187 Data provided by the City of Dubuque Police Department
188 Ibid
162
189 https://www.acluia.org/sites/default/files/tale_of_two_countries_racially_targeted_arrests_in_the_era_of_marijuana_reform.pdf
190 https://www.aclu-ia.org/en/press-releases/iowa-ranks-among-worst-states-racial-disparities-marijuana-arrests
191 Fleig, Shelby, “As Des Moines studies decriminalization, here's what you should know about marijuana laws in
Iowa,” Des Moines Register, June 23, 2020.
guide for groups to engage in an open, authentic dialogue.
Oluo. It’s an excellent, easy-to-read book to get the conversation going with a discussion
begin with encouraging people to read “So You Want to Talk About Race,” by Ijeoma
The Office of Shared Prosperity with the Library’s “All Community Reads” initiative could
Coalition and the NAACP.
furthering opportunities of heart-to-heart conversations on race, as has the Black Men
group born from the Black Lives Matter movement has expressed a deep interest in
by the Fountain of Youth’s “Real Talk” program. The newly founded “Switching Places”
community leaders and persons experiencing poverty and racial inequities sponsored
“Race in the Heartland,” and the experiential conversations that have been held with
Continue the hard work of addressing Racial Equity by expanding on such initiatives as
5. Keep Talking
Economic Insecurity section of this report.
and adjudication (for example suspending a driver’s license) as described in the
ill-afford to pay and to conduct a review of fees, fines, penalties associated with arrests
example, performing community service activities in lieu of fines that the individual can
Group. In addition, they can also explore alternative sentencing opportunities, for
Delving deeper into these arrest rates would be an important task of a Diversion Work
pipeline.
and the fear that this will cause a young generation of Black youth to enter the prison
raised as a major point of concern, especially with the number of youth being arrested
In focus groups and interviews the arrest rates among Blacks and People of Color were
how many times they've been charged.191
anywhere from six months to two years in jail and be fined up to $6,250, depending on
In Iowa, people charged with possession of marijuana for personal use can spend
are decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana.”190
the fifth-worst in the nation in racial disparities for marijuana arrests, even as other states
groups use marijuana at about the same rate.189 According to the report, “Iowa ranked
163
The City could create incentives (e.g. City Council Resolutions, proclamations,
certificates) among employers, faith-based groups, civic organizations to hold their own
book club events and include watching the “Taking on Poverty” video done for this
project to also discuss the stigmatizing of people experiencing poverty among all races.
The Caucus for Community process used to gather insights on the Equitable Poverty
Prevention Plan could easily be adopted to hold such events that keep the conversation
going. These conversations are vital to creating a community where all prosper but they
are most worthy when words said become deeds for the greater good.
164
3.6 AFFORDABLE SAFE HOUSING
Overview
Housing conditions are a major determinant of poverty.
When people are safely and affordably housed, they experience long-term positive
effects: People earn more over their lifetimes, they live healthier and longer lives, and
their children do better in school. 192 Numerous studies therefore have concluded that
ensuring safe and affordable housing is the most cost-effective strategy for reducing
childhood poverty, increasing economic mobility, and lifting people out of poverty.193
This section briefly examines the condition of housing in Dubuque, drawing in part on
the findings of Imagine Dubuque,194 the City’s 2019
Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice
report,195 and the City’s 2020 Community
Development Block Grant Consolidated Plan,196
that are rich in data and recommendations. This
section of the EPPP report supplements, rather than
supplants, existing housing initiatives in Dubuque.
Housing and Poverty
Housing affects almost everything. The link
between safe and affordable housing and improved
outcomes for individuals, children and families is well established. Housing is the key to
reducing intergenerational poverty and increasing economic mobility.
Studies consistently show that concentrated poverty exacerbates the challenges of
being poor, as residents face higher crime rates, underperforming schools, poor health
outcomes, and substandard housing options. The effects are particularly hard on
children, who face increased levels of stress that can lead to emotional and behavioral
problems.197
192 https://www.habitat.org/costofhome/housing-affordability-and-families
193 https://nlihc.org/explore-issues/why-we-care/problem
194 https://imaginedubuque.com/.
195 https://www.cityofdubuque.org/DocumentCenter/View/44569/City_of_Dubuque_2019_Analysis_of_Impediments.
196 https://www.cityofdubuque.org/DocumentCenter/View/43491/Consolidated-Plan.
197 https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/news/2013/06/05/65268/addressing-urban-poverty-in-america-must-remain-
a-priority/
“Decent, affordable housing should
be a basic right for everybody in this
country. The reason is simple:
Without stable shelter, everything
else falls apart.”
Matthew Desmond, Author EVICTED:
POVERTY AND PROFIT IN THE AMERICAN
CITY
165
According to a recent report by Barbara Sard, vice president for housing policy at the
Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, living in neighborhoods of “concentrated
disadvantage” — characterized by high rates of racial segregation, unemployment,
single-parent families, and exposure to neighborhood violence — can impair children’s
cognitive development and school performance.
A report prepared as part of the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities by the
graduate students from the University of Iowa School of Urban and Regional Planning
during the 2012-2013 academic year, Schools, Neighborhoods and Student Outcomes,
concluded that school performance – and thus success in life – is “linked” to housing:
City planning tools such as inclusionary zoning, removal of minimum lot requirements,
and mixed income developments can all serve to foster equity within not only schools,
but the greater community. Since education benefits society as well as the student,
inclusionary housing policies can mitigate the achievement gap and help break the cycle
of poverty.
Residents of poor neighborhoods also tend to experience health problems — including
depression, asthma, diabetes, and heart disease — at higher-than-average rates. The
COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting economic and eviction crisis it has triggered,
further heighten the urgency for action on housing. As the Eviction Lab at Princeton
University emphasizes, “Ensuring housing security is vital to mitigating the spread of
COVID-19 and sustaining health, economic security, and family stability.”198
Tracy Morrison, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Dubuque,
recently described the impact of housing on Dubuquers’ lives in a television interview:
“When an individual or family has a stable home or roof over their heads they can focus
their energies on being a good parent or productive employee, but when you are
worried that you might not even have a home to come home to, you are not being
productive in other areas of your life. So, having stable housing really affects all facets of
a person’s life and this is especially true since the pandemic.”199
Research confirms Morrison’s insights. Just one example is how housing affects health.
COUNTY HEALTH RANKINGS AND ROADMAPS, a collaboration between the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, states:
198 https://evictionlab.org/.
199September 10, 2020. City of Dubuque Concerned Over Lack of Housing Assistance Applications Amid Pandemic
https://www.kcrg.com/2020/09/11/city-of-dubuque-concerned-over-lack-of-housing-assistance-applications-amid-pandemic/
166
Good health depends on having homes that are safe and free from physical
hazards. When adequate housing protects individuals and families from harmful
exposures and provides them with a sense of privacy, security, stability and
control, it can make important contributions to health. In contrast, poor quality
and inadequate housing contributes to health problems such as infectious and
chronic diseases, injuries, and poor childhood development. Housing measures
can also be considered proxy indicators of more general socioeconomic
circumstances.
When the majority of a paycheck goes toward the rent or mortgage, it makes it
hard to afford health insurance, health care and medication, healthy foods, utility
bills, or reliable transportation to work or school. This, in turn, can lead to
increased stress levels and emotional strain. 200
Housing instability – including frequent moves, overcrowding, unsafe housing
conditions, and the threat of eviction or foreclosure – fuel stress and hopelessness for far
too many Americans. U.S. housing costs have been rising faster than incomes for some
time, placing severe financial stress on individuals and families.
Dubuquers are no exception.
These findings echo those of both Imagine Dubuque and the Impediments to Housing
reports. As stated in the Impediments to Housing report:
Dubuque’s issues mirror nationwide issues. The widened wealth gap, a minimum wage
and median income that has not kept pace with the cost of living, and the results of mass
incarceration and systemic racism all contribute to the Dubuque’s fair housing context.
This analysis finds that persons of color and low-income residents in Dubuque
experience a greater housing cost burden, more housing problems, and inequitable
access to opportunity.201
For Dubuquers, the lack of affordable housing, the extent of substandard housing, and
the excessive cost burden of housing, combined with the state’s low minimum wage of
200https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/explore-health-rankings/measures-data-sources/county-health-rankings-model/health-
factors/physical-environment/housing-transit/severe-housing-problems
201 2019 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice – City of Dubuque
Households experiencing severe cost burden have to face difficult
trade-offs in meeting other basic needs.
167
$7.25 per hour, create a perfect storm of challenges: Housing that is safe and available is
often unaffordable or inaccessible for low-income persons using housing subsidies. One
effect is a concentration of poverty within neighborhoods.
Dubuque’s residents have concerns about the availability of safe and affordable owner-
occupied and rental housing and the lack of resources to assist eligible residents. In this
section, we will discuss how lack of affordable housing is leading to increased
concentrated poverty.
Affordability
Affordability was the most prevalent impediment to housing found in both our public
engagement process and in the Analysis to Impediments report. Nearly one-third of all
Dubuque households are cost burdened.202 Data from the National Low Income
Housing Coalition supports residents’ concerns regarding affordability; its report, “Out
of Reach 2017,” notes that the Dubuque metropolitan statistical area is the fourth most
expensive area in the State of Iowa: Defining an “affordable rent” as one that requires
spending not more than 30% of gross income on housing, affordable rents for a two-
bedroom apartment in Dubuque requires an hourly wage of $15.75. A worker earning
the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour thus requires 2.2 full-time jobs to afford a two-
bedroom apartment in the city.203
In Dubuque, one in four households spend 50 percent or more of their income on
housing costs, a severe housing problem – called “cost burden” – under federal
Department of Housing & Urban Development standards.204 A cost-burdened
household is one that spends 30 percent or more of its income on housing costs:
21 percent of Dubuque renters reach the cost burden threshold, according to the City’s
2019 Analysis of Impediments.
202 2019 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice – City of Dubuque
203 Source: Out of Reach Report
204 https://archives.huduser.gov/portal/glossary/glossary_all.html.
168
In addition:
§ Twenty-one percent of Dubuque’s renter households are paying 30
percent to 49 percent of their income on rent.
§ Twenty-four percent of renter households spend 50 percent or more
of the household income on rent.
§ Owners without a mortgage had a cost burden rate of 6.7 percent
and a severe cost burden rate of 4.3 percent.
§ Owner occupied households with a mortgage had a cost burden rate
of 15 percent, and severe cost burden at 5.8 percent.
As with arguments about the federal poverty level, the 30 percent cost burden
threshold, designed to protect low-income renters in 1981, is considered by many to be
out-of-date and an inadequate measure today.205 For instance, according to the
National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s publication, “Out of Reach 2020,” at the Iowa
minimum wage of $7.25 per hour it takes 1.3 full-time jobs to afford a one-bedroom
apartment at fair-market rent.206 In Dubuque County, a wage of $15.06 per hour is
necessary to be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair-market value.
This lack of access to affordable housing has led to a high concentration of poverty in
Dubuque. Highly concentrated poverty is defined by the U.S. Census as areas with 40
percent of the tract population living below the federal poverty threshold. A study by
24/7Wall Street207 using U.S. Census data concluded that from 2010 to 2016, Dubuque
experienced a 10.1 percent increase in concentrated poverty with an increase of
approximately 1,169 people. According to the report, 10.1 percent of Dubuque's poor
population resides in the city's high poverty areas of Tracts 1 and 5 reflecting the highest
concentrated poverty rates of any Iowa metro area.208
This is particularly troubling given that African American, American Indian and Alaskan
Native, and Latino children are six to nine times more likely than white children to live in
high-poverty communities.209 Concentrated poverty directly contributes to
intergenerational poverty. Further data from DataUSA illustrates the extreme income
disparity in the city resulting from the concentration of poverty. In 2017, the location with
205 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-17/housings-30-percent-of-income-rule-is-near-useless.
206 National Low-income Housing Coalition, Out of Reach Report 2020: https://reports.nlihc.org/oor/iowa
207 https://247wallst.com/.
208 https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2018/07/13/city-hit-hardest-extreme-poverty/36658191/
209 https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/14065816/SafeAndHealthyHomes-report.pdf
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the highest median total household income in Dubuque was Census Tract 11.01 with a
value of $71,523, followed by Census Tract 101.05 and Census Tract 8.02 with median
incomes of $68,534 and $60,326, respectively. In contrast, the highest median
household income amongst Black Dubuquers was found in Census Tract 5 with a value
of only $22,059, followed by Census Tract 1 with a value of $21,382, and Census Tract 3
at $2,499. These numbers for all three tracts fall below the federal poverty level.210
Housing Vouchers
The city estimates that there are approximately 5,300 people eligible to receive
vouchers but that there is only a federally allocated budget for approximately 900
families – 17 percent of those eligible – with only 796 currently actually holding such
vouchers.211 This reflects the nationwide housing voucher shortage upon which only 23
percent of eligible renter households actually receive a voucher.212 Access to housing
assistance can substantially increase a person’s ability to escape poverty.
A crucial resource the City uses to mitigate renters’ cost burden is the federal Section 8
Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. HCVs have lifted millions of Americans out of
poverty213 by providing housing assistance to very low-income families so that they can
afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing. A “housing subsidy” is paid to landlords
directly by the City on behalf of the participating family. The family then pays the
difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized
by the program.
Landlord Engagement
This problem is exacerbated by the reported problems with landlords in Dubuque.
Residents expressed two primary concerns:
§ Landlord unwillingness to accept tenants who use public assistance, and
§ The negative stigma applied by landlords to people who use housing assistance
programs.
During our community engagement process, citizens expressed the view that many
landlords do not accept residents who use any form of public assistance and that those
210 https://datausa.io/profile/geo/dubuque-ia/.
211 Hodgson, Gina, City of Dubuque Housing Authority, Email on Housing Voucher Statistics, November 5, 2020.
212 Center on Budget and Public Policy; http://apps.cbpp.org/shareables_housing_unmet/chart.html
213https://nlihc.org/resource/fact-week-housing-assistance-and-other-federal-aid-lift-millions-out-poverty
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few who do so do not adequately maintain their properties – leaving only subpar
housing for people using assistance.214
Community participants felt that landlords perceive all public assistance recipients to
constitute a certain “type” of resident and that many landlords had not previously rented
to Section 8 voucher holders and were thus wary of taking a chance on such tenants.
They speculated that middle-class residents increasingly were taking over the affordable
housing that the working poor need because they look better to landlords on the
application, further limiting housing options for poorer residents.
In any event, nearly two-thirds (63%) of Dubuque rental housing
units do not accept housing subsidy vouchers, as previously cited
in this report. This is commonly referred to as “Source of Income”
denial of rental applications. Why do so few landlords accept
housing subsidies?
Dubuquers shared potential reasons during focus groups.
Comments ranged from discrimination and “othering” of people
of color and people in poverty to pointing to pictures that had
been circulated of how Section 8 residents allegedly left their
housing after vacating, contributing to stigma and spreading fear
about renting to people receiving public assistance. Still others
expressed fear that only a few landlords currently accept residents
on public assistance and the landlords that do accept it are
“slumlords in town” and if residents are kicked out of the system because of substandard
housing conditions, “no one will accept vouchers.”
Safe Housing Conditions
Affordable housing in Dubuque is concentrated within the city’s older, and less-safe,
housing stock. As one Dubuque official put it, “The most vulnerable residents live in the
oldest, most vulnerable housing stock.”
214 The academic research bears out this impression, finding that negative experiences with such programs typically involve some
combination of frustration with the bureaucratic elements of the program, & costs.
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Older housing stock translates into more physical and structural housing problems.
Federal standards defines a housing problem as a:
1) Housing unit that lacks a complete kitchen;
2) Housing unit that lacks complete plumbing facilities;
3) Household that is overcrowded; and
4) Household that is cost burdened.
A household is said to have a housing problem if they have any one or more of these
four problems.215 As reported in the City’s most recent Analysis of Impediments report,
about three in ten Dubuque households (both renters and owners) experience at least
one housing problem.
What We Heard You Say: Community Engagement
Women experiencing homelessness in focus groups, expressed that even though their
children may not fully understand the circumstances that brought them to a shelter, they
know that their family faces challenges and are anxious about their futures and where
they’ll go next. Older children often feel ashamed.
A focus group of school principals noted how critical safe, stable housing is for their
students. In particular, educators discussed how having to move frequently for reasons
of safety or affordability negatively impacts their students’ learning.
Key themes we heard from focus group participants and other community engagement
activities include:
§ Need for increased safe, affordable housing.
§ Most in need of affordable housing: seniors, persons with disabilities,
persons of color, and single parents.
§ The inability to purchase housing means lack of ability to build
intergenerational wealth.
215 HUD User Glossary, https://archives.huduser.gov/portal/glossary/glossary_all.html
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§ Barriers to renting: arrests, background checks, and source of income.
§ Students’ learning is negatively impacted by moves, unstable housing.
§ Studying problems but not taking transparent action reduces trust.
We heard considerable frustration that past City studies like the federally-required
Analysis of Impediments, are not acted upon by local government. More than one
resident commented that “the City studies issues but doesn’t always take action.”
A focus group of School Home Connectors who visit directly with student’s families in
their homes offered these insights:
§ Poor housing is the most cited major problem that people in poverty face. Too
many of the apartments being rented out are unsafe – despite inspections. Rats,
lice, and bed bugs are commonly reported problems. It’s why most people move
out as soon as they are able to which feeds into the high transient rate of kids
being moved from one school to the next.
§ Housing Vouchers are awarded the 11th of every month – then you have so many
days to use it. You can only go to those places that are deemed acceptable and
those landlords that accept it then a Social Worker has to come in to make sure
other extra people aren’t moving in. If you work, then you must report it and the
voucher is reduced.
§ Most of the moves are throughout the downtown area. As a result, school Home
Connectors suggested re-introducing the “Downtown Busing Program,” so that if
a child moves, for example, in the catchment area for Fulton School but they have
been going to Prescott; they can still be picked up and transported to Prescott.
(Note: they will do this for a student if they are in the middle of a school year, so
they can complete the year at the school of origin). But after that – they must
transfer.
§ It’s not uncommon to see families doubling up in housing because someone has
lost a job.
§ Every week there are two to three kids in and out of schools. One school had 75
new incoming kids and 75 transfer out last year, alone. (2019)
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Additional insights are offered resulting from Key Informant interviews:
“Financial institutions are not willing to loan to low-income people to get a
small house, so they have to keep paying money for rent (which often increases).
Resulting in no house as an asset to pass down, perpetuating generational poverty.”
“The families of the most at-risk learners are not connected to a mortgage and many
students’ families move around to several apartments. This means they may often
hop between schools, impacting their learning.”
“The Washington Neighborhood Project was a successful initiative where the City
fronted the cost of renovating some homes (lead regulations, electrical) and then
sold them for reasonable prices, filling the area with more single-family units (slum
lords had been using the houses in this neighborhood).”
“Moving between rentals is very expensive: it’s hard to come up with money required
for deposit and first month rent, and then the former landlord may keep your last
deposit.”
“Housing is a significant challenge for the Marshallese population, many of whom
“double up” with family members.”
“Even if affordable housing is available, you need a job with livable wages to be able
to afford it, regardless.”
“Middle-class people who look better on paper are moving their way into affordable
housing that low-income people need, leaving them with even fewer options.”
“Landlords look at your source of income with a housing voucher – and then they
look the other way.”
“It’s really frustrating to those with low-incomes and a barrier that the Housing
Authority switched from a waitlist to a lottery.”
“For the first time we’re seeing growing numbers of seniors looking to come to
shelters. If they don’t qualify for senior housing, they can’t afford the high rents on
their fixed incomes.”
“Some landlords leave properties in poor condition and they play on the fact that
people don’t know how to navigate the system to report them, or they are too afraid
to as they have no place else to go.”
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One School Home Connector told the story that when she visited a family in their
apartment, all of the children were sitting on a bed. She asked why? It was because
they were afraid of the rats running along the floor in the apartment.
Promising Practices
Increasing high-quality, affordable housing is a top policy priority for the Dubuque City
Council under the city’s comprehensive plan.216 Notably, the City and its community
partners have long been working on expanding affordable housing through the
rehabilitation of historic homes, supporting first-time homebuyers, providing incentives
to housing developers, and a number of other
initiatives.
For over a decade, significant investments have
been made in the city’s Washington Neighborhood,
where poverty and old housing stock is
concentrated. Low-income Housing Tax Credits
(LIHTC), a local Housing Trust Fund, and numerous
federal grants, including CDBG funds, have been
used to try to meet the ever-increasing need for
safer, more affordable housing that exceeds the
existing supply.
The fact the entire nation is experiencing issues of
safe, affordable housing similar to Dubuque’s
circumstances presents opportunity: Other
communities (states and global communities) are
testing strategies and promising practices have
emerged. The City of Dubuque’s 2019 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice,
which was also developed by Public Works LLC, presents a robust list of action steps for
the City to consider in addressing the wide range of impediments outlined in the report.
The three most frequent housing-related challenges the EPPP team learned from focus
groups among those experiencing poverty are: high rent-burden given minimum and
low-wage salaries; sub-standard housing; and landlords not accepting or discriminating
against those persons using housing vouchers.
216https://www.cityofdubuque.org/DocumentCenter/View/46709/2020-Council-Goals-and-Priorities
Federal Policy Changes
Three proposals to address this gap
in voucher coverage — Section 8
expansion, the Livable Incomes for
Families Today (LIFT Act), and the
American Family Act (AFA) are to be
advanced by the Biden
administration.
Researchers at Columbia’s Center on
Poverty predicts that these policies
would lift 5.6 million Americans out of
poverty.
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Table 33: 2019 PROPOSED FAIR HOUSING PLAN
BARRIER PRIORITY ACTIONS
Goal One: Advance equity with fair housing advocacy, education and enforcement.
Housing Choice Vouchers are
not accepted as source of
income for rental units.
High Continue obtaining accurate Housing Choice Voucher
data from landlords as to the number of units, location
of units, vacancies, and denials of rental applications;
identify landlords unwilling to accept HCVs and conduct
targeted outreach and education.
Lack of communication and
relationships between HCV
tenants/applicants and
landlords.
Medium Implement communication and trust-building activities
for landlords and HCV program participants such as
“Meet and Lease” events or other national promising
approaches.
Human Rights Commission
effectiveness.
High Conduct an assessment of HRC and support capacity
building efforts, including publication of a strategic plan.
Fair housing materials not
available in languages
spoken in the community.
High Review the inventory of fair housing education materials
(e.g. fact sheets) and update to reflect the languages
spoken in the community and what community
members say they most want and need.
Residents report they
perceive potential bias
and/or discrimination in
public and private housing
practices.
High Establish an external, independent fair housing testing
program for residential, accessibility, sales and lending,
or insurance discrimination to identify the problems
members of protected classes face when seeking
housing in Dubuque.
Goal Two: Increase and promote safe, affordable housing.
Lack of affordable, safe
housing.
High Continue implementation of the Imagine Dubuque
strategies, and the City Housing and Community
Development Department’s efforts to affirmatively
further fair housing through licensing and tiered
inspections, making decisions more transparent.
Lack of confidence that the City
is focused on equitable housing
choice for all residents.
Medium To build community trust, publish short (e.g. one
pager and/or data dashboard if possible) updates
regarding the increase in safe, affordable housing.
Recent predatory pricing
practices by Mobile Home
community owners are pricing
people out of their residences.
High City Council, as at least one member has publicly
stated, should take any and all appropriate action to
protect the residents in mobile home communities.
This may come in the form of an ordinance or other
action but promotes safe, affordable housing for the
over 800 Dubuque residents who live in mobile
homes.
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Goal Three: Implement local government policies that encourage equity and decrease disparate
impacts.
Arrest records used as a
barrier to landlord
acceptance of HCVs and
background check process
is confusing to residents.
High Audit the background check process for disparate
impact.
Lack of eviction data and
analysis to assess
discrimination and
disparities and provide
support to residents facing
evictions.
High Implement quarterly review of eviction data to evaluate
for disparities/discriminatory impact.
Lack of living wage that
empowers self-sufficiency;
state law prohibits local
control over minimum
wage setting.
Medium Educate regarding the impact of the state’s minimum
wage and conduct activities to increase wages.
Lack of a Source of Income
Ordinance and/or state
legislation creates
disparate impact on
protected classes.
High Continue exploring a Source of Income Ordinance.
Lack of access to child care
is a barrier to opportunity
such as employment.
Medium Evaluate the potential for including child care proximity
into housing development proposals and assess the
feasibility of a local subsidy to support child care and/or
preschool accessibility, affordability and quality.
Goal Four: Increase access to opportunity and the building of social capital.
Lower median earnings and
wages for women.
High Assess, develop and implement metrics and
strategies to reduce the Gender Wage Gap.
Negative community
perceptions about poverty
impact fair housing and access
to opportunity.
High Increase community awareness about the impact
of poverty and toxic stress on the brain; develop
measurable equity and inclusion metrics.
Law enforcement actions
disproportionately impact
people of color.
High Evaluate disparities in arrest rates by race and
detail metrics and actions to decrease racially
disproportionate arrest rates.
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The nonprofit service array is
confusing to consumers.
Medium Use assessments currently underway (Equitable
Poverty Prevention Plan process and another
group’s review) regarding the nonprofit services
array and gaps to make necessary improvements
that increase access to opportunity.
Lack of public transit may
negatively impact access to
educational opportunity.
Low Assess the need for public transit to
Northeast Iowa Community College
programs in Peosta and make improvements
as indicated.
Source: Figure 1 2019 Proposed Fair Housing Plan
Beyond the list of initiatives identified by the Analysis of Impediments report upon which
the poverty team fully supports, we also recommend:
1. Enact a Source of Income Ordinance.
If strategies that encourage acceptance of Housing Vouchers aren’t successful within six
months of the EPPP’s Report release, pass an ordinance.
As for “Source of Income” denial of rental applications, one strategy other communities
have used is passing a city ordinance that prohibits rental application denials based on
this “source of income.” In February 2017, the City Council made the decision not to
pass a Source of Income Ordinance217 and instead, try other strategies. According to
both City data and our citizen engagement findings, this problem persists.
At the October 27, 2020 session of the Dubuque Housing Commission, the Housing and
Community Development Department proposed an initiative to monetarily incent
landlords to accept vouchers by bridging their costs for keeping housing units open for
voucher holders. There was not consensus among commissioners around this approach,
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Sam Wooden said. “Our goal should be to make sure that
Housing Choice Voucher participants aren’t being turned away.”218
To bridge the lack of community consensus and avoid city ordinance battles,
other communities have tried a combination of approaches. For instance, King
County, Washington’s “Landlord Liaison Project,” is a cross-collaborative effort
between the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, King County, and the
City of Seattle. The King County Housing Authority staffs three “Owner Liaisons”
217 https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Dubuque-wont-force-landlords-to-accept-housing-vouchers-414302803.html
218 Dubuque Housing Department proposes initiatives for housing voucher program, Nov 9, 2020, Telegraph
Herald, https://www.telegraphherald.com/news/tri-state/article_9b648de9-df33-51f1-9332-9498fe31968a.html
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who build relationships with new partners and strengthen existing partnerships
with landlords to encourage participation in the HCV Program.
The Landlord Participation Study (February 2019) solicited input nationwide and
analyzed factors influencing landlord decisions on whether to participate in housing
voucher program highlights promising approaches.219 One evidence-based activity
identified was the District of Columbia Housing Authority’s “Meet-and-Lease event”
model that focused on developing relationships and reducing the “othering” of low-
income families.
Los Angeles County's Homeless Prevention Initiative funds the County's Homeless
Incentive Program pays holding fees, rental application fees, vacancy loss claims, and
damage claims for voucher holders who have been homeless.
Other promising alternatives to source-of-income ordinances being tested across the
country include:
§ Helping tenants pay security deposits or negotiating other arrangements
regarding damages.
§ Offering bonuses to landlords for joining the program.
§ Making it easier to complete administrative steps and communicate with the
Public Housing Authority.
Dubuque also could use an array of strategies to change negative views of tenants, most
of which are based on strengthening communication and building relationships
between landlords and tenants.
2. Train Resident Housing Inspectors
While the City has placed a strong focus on revamping how it prioritizes inspections, and
recently proposed a “hotline” for residents to report issues, a citizen-driven approach
that may be helpful is to pilot the efficacy of Citizen Inspectors.
The District of Columbia’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA)’s
launched a Resident Inspectors program approach to “hire and train an army of citizen
inspectors who can perform much-needed inspections in their spare time. Think of it as
an Uber app, but for inspections.”220 The program has created income for people
serving as trained, independent contractors, and streamlined the inspection process.
219 https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/Landlord-Participation-Study-Final-Report.html.
220 https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-agency-trains-citizens-to-conduct-housing-inspections-in-spare-time/2413038/
179
Because of this program, DCRA has been able to more than double its inspection
capacity, allowing the agency to respond to inspection requests fast, sometimes almost
instantaneously. The program applies successful elements of the on-demand, gig
economy to the most requested types of inspections performed. DCRA trains residents
to perform housing, illegal construction, and vacant building inspections, and then pays
the trained inspectors whenever they successfully complete an inspection.
Trained Resident Inspectors get paid between $30 and $100 per inspection. More than
170 people have been trained as citizen inspectors; about one-third are women. In the
first year of the program, citizen inspectors have conducted more than 2,500
inspections.221
As a result of the program, DCRA “has more than doubled its inspection capacity,
allowing the agency to respond to inspection requests faster, sometimes almost
instantaneously. While the Resident Inspection Program is not a replacement for the
agency’s team of full-time inspectors, it does allow the agency to meet the city’s growing
demand and divert its full-time inspectors toward more complex cases.”222
3. Adopt Inclusionary Zoning
Inclusionary zoning is a tool used by hundreds of jurisdictions nationwide — it requires
developers to set aside a fraction of newly constructed housing units to be affordable to
lower-income households. Typically, a city or county will adopt a land-use ordinance to
both to add more affordable homes and to ensure that low- to moderate-income
households can live in high-opportunity neighborhoods. Inclusionary zoning advances
equitable development by ensuring that housing is available for a diverse workforce;
guarding against concentrations of poverty and affluence; and providing ladders of
opportunity to lower-income households to gain access to better jobs, schools, transit
options, health care, and fresh food grocers.
In California alone, more than 170 jurisdictions have implemented inclusionary zoning
policies resulting in the addition of an estimated 30,000 newly constructed affordable
homes in higher-opportunity neighborhoods in California.223 Inclusionary zoning can
help to reduce racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, which tend to
221 Program details can be found at https://dcra.dc.gov/service/resident-inspector-program.
222 https://dcracommunications.medium.com/dcras-resident-inspector-program-one-year-later-373b5e66fda3
223 http://nonprofithousing.org/wp-content/uploads/IHIReport.pdf.
180
produce negative impacts for residential health, educational achievement, and
economic mobility.224
Montgomery County, Maryland, is the oldest example of inclusionary zoning and is
widely touted for dispersing affordable units relatively evenly throughout the
jurisdiction.225 Its moderately priced dwelling unit program requires that 15 percent of
units in new developments of 50 or more dwelling units be set aside for affordability.
The program has produced more than 12,500 units since it started in 1974.226 The
county’s inclusionary zoning laws require developers to set aside 12 to 15 percent of
new homes at below-market rates and allow the public housing authority to purchase a
portion of these units. As a result, two-thirds of public housing residents in Montgomery
County live in economically diverse, low-poverty neighborhoods.227
4. Consider Enacting a “Just Cause” Eviction Ordinance
Just cause eviction ordinances are a form of tenant protection designed to prevent
arbitrary, retaliatory, or discriminatory evictions by establishing that landlords can only
evict renters for specific reasons — just causes — such as failure to pay rent. Cities have a
bottom-line interest in housing stability: when financially insecure residents are evicted
from their homes, city budgets pay a big price due to lost tax revenue, unpaid utilities,
and the costs associated with services for homeless people.228
The City of Oakland passed its Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance in 2002.229 It includes
11 legally defined "just causes" for eviction in recent years, average rent in Oakland
more than doubled due to the Bay Area housing crisis. Facing unprecedented
displacement pressures, voters passed Measure JJ in 2016 to strengthen the city's just
cause protections and expand coverage to about 12,000 more units.230 The city council
is currently considering actions to end fraudulent owner move-in evictions.231
In 2017, San Jose enacted the Tenant Protection Ordinance232 implementing just cause
protections.233 Amid soaring Silicon Valley rents and a shortage of affordable housing,
224 See Affordable by Choice: Trends in California’s Inclusionary Housing Programs, http://nonprofithousing.org/wp-
content/uploads/IHIReport.pdf.
225 https://housingmatters.urban.org/research-summary/inclusionary-zoning-can-improve-outcomes-public-housing-residents.
226 http://nlihc.org/article/40-years-ago-montgomery-county-maryland-pioneers-inclusionary-zoning.
227 https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/housing/.
228 https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiatives/opportunity-ownership/projects/cost-eviction-and-unpaid-bills-
financially-insecure-families-city-budgets.
229 http://rapwp.oaklandnet.com/issues/eviction/.
230 http://www.oaklandtenantsunion.org/protect-oakland-renters-yes-on-jj.html.
231 https://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2017/07/11/oakland-looks-to-close-owner-move-in-and-occupancy-
loopholes-reduce-evictions-and-harmful-rent-increases.
232 http://www.sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/68577.
233 http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=5518.
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the city council required landlords to cite one of a dozen reasons for eviction,
distinguishing between "just causes" based on tenant actions and "no-fault just causes,"
which require relocation benefits paid to tenants.234
5. Create an Eviction Study Group
The Eviction Study Group would assess the legal resources renters have when facing
eviction and identify the most frequent circumstances surrounding eviction – what could
have been done to intervene? For example, national studies show that single Black
women with children experience the highest eviction rates. Are evictions related to
becoming unemployed or facing a health care crisis/illness in the family? Who is
monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on evictions especially when the moratorium is lifted
on deferred rental and mortgage payments.
6. Increase Funding for Legal Representation for Renters Facing Eviction
The harms from current evictions will last far beyond the current health and economic
crisis. In an April 30, 2020 letter to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, the Iowa ACLU and
other groups emphasized, “Critically, the aftermath of an eviction persists for decades,
as tenants with prior eviction records face major obstacles to accessing future housing
opportunities. Landlords routinely employ screening policies that deny housing to any
renter previously named in an eviction case, regardless of whether the case was
dismissed, occurred many years ago, or was filed on unlawful grounds. As a result,
eviction often exacerbates and reproduces conditions of economic insecurity for low-
income women and communities of color.”
Preventing evictions is a key strategy of the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan. In 2019,
the Center for American Progress found that, nationwide, about 90% of landlords have
legal representation in eviction cases, while only 10% of tenants do.235 Eviction
rates drop from 90 percent to about 50 percent when a tenant has legal representation.
While individuals facing criminal charges have a right to counsel, no such right exists in
civil cases, including eviction cases; many tenants are displaced from their homes
because they cannot afford legal counsel and are unaware of their rights and options. In
many cities, evicted tenants are disproportionately minorities: In Philadelphia, for
example, from 2010 to 2015, eviction rates in census tracts where more than 80 percent
of the population was Black were more than three times higher than the eviction rates in
234 https://allincities.org/toolkit/just-cause.
235 https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/reports/2019/10/02/475263/right-counsel-right-fighting-chance/.
182
predominately White areas.236 Black female renters are filed against for evictions at a
rate twice as high as white (non-Hispanic) renters.237
Preventing evictions can also save cities a lot of money. A cost-benefit analysis of legal
counsel for renters in New York City found that a renter’s right-to-counsel program
would cost about $200 million per year, but would save the city $320 million in costs
related to housing displaced families in the homeless shelter system, the preservation of
rent-regulated affordable housing, and unsheltered homelessness.238
In 2017, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-
Viverito announced that the city would become the first in the nation to provide legal
assistance to all low-income tenants facing eviction. In 2014, a $62 million pilot program
in the city prevented nearly 5,000 evictions resulting in the city’s lowest eviction rate in a
decade.239 To cover the costs of the new program, the city’s eviction legal aid spending
will increase by $93 million, over the course of five years.
The Eviction Defense Collaborative in San Francisco provides pro bono assistance to
tenants facing legal proceedings brought by their landlords.240 The San Francisco
Tenants Union provides volunteer advice and support at a regular drop-in clinic, but, like
many groups, does not provide legal representation in court.
Boulder, CO, residents recently approved by a nearly-60 percent vote Ballot Issue 2B to
ensure legal representation for all tenants facing eviction in the city.241 Ballot Issue 2B
will also establish a rental assistance fund and an education process that will notify
Boulder renters of their rights.
Our understanding is that Iowa’s Legal Aid provides some representation for Dubuquers
facing eviction. However, the Dubuque City Council should have the benefit of city-
specific research findings to assess and the need and cost for providing legal
representation for Dubuquers facing eviction. This may come in the form of a pilot
proposal or city ordinance. Mirroring the 2019 Analysis of Impediments report and given
the pandemic’s impact, a tightly time-limited eviction study is needed to enable the City
to access and compile data that would inform next steps.
236 https://www.reinvestment.com/research-publications/evictions-in-philadelphia/.
237 https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/clearing-the-record-how-eviction-sealing-laws-can-advance-housing-access-for-women-
of-color/.
238http://www2.nycbar.org/pdf/report/uploads/SRR_Report_Financial_Cost_and_Benefits_of_Establishing_a_Right_to_Counsel_in_E
viction_Proceedings.pdf.
239 http://civilrighttocounsel.org/major_developments/894.
240 http://evictiondefense.org/.
241 https://boulderbeat.news/boulder-ballot-election-2020/.
183
7. Enhance and/or Repurpose Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Resources
HTF’s are funds established by cities, counties, or states to provide dedicated, ongoing
public revenue to support affordable housing. They provide an important source of
financing for affordable housing preservation and development, which may not
otherwise be reliably funded in a city’s budget. HTFs can play a role in comprehensive
equitable housing solutions by focusing on projects that provide for long-term
affordability and serve very low-income households, people of color, and other
historically disadvantaged communities, including those in danger of displacement.
The Iowa Legislature created the Local Housing Trust Fund program, and Dubuque is
certified under this legislation. We encourage exploring the outcomes of the current
trust fund and other promising practices while continuing to focus on ways to benefit
local residents.242 Currently, 100 percent of the funds are dedicated to local first-time
home buyers and rehab of homes in the Washington Neighborhood.
Below are a few initiatives taking place across the country with Housing Trust Funds:
There are 116 city housing trust funds in thirty-three states, bolstered by another 176
jurisdictions participating in Massachusetts’ Community Preservation Act, and 296
communities certified in New Jersey by the Council on Affordable Housing — a total of
588 city housing trust funds.
In 2018, housing trust fund revenues generated by cities exceeded $1 billion. The most
common revenue source collected by city housing trust funds are developer fees — used
by twenty-seven city housing trust funds and all jurisdictions in New Jersey. According
to the Center for Community Change 2016 Housing Trust Fund Survey Report,243 the
average amount of public and private funds leveraged for every dollar invested in
affordable housing by city housing trust funds is $6.00. The highest leverage reported
was $14.00 for individual trust funds.244
§ In King County, Washington, the county government collaborated with Bellevue,
Kirkland, Redmond, and other cities in King County to create a regional HTF to
address a growing housing affordability crisis driven by strong regional economic
growth and widening wealth and income gaps. Each participating jurisdiction
contributes funds to the HTF and all members receive an equitable distribution of
HTF resources. The partnership draws on a range of financing mechanisms and
revenue sources, include general funds, federal Community Development Block
242 All In Cities Toolkit.
243 https://housingtrustfundproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/HTF_Survey-Report-2016-final.pdf.
244 https://housingtrustfundproject.org/housing-trust-funds/city-housing-trust-funds/
184
Grant funds, payments by developers, loan repayments, earned interest, fee waivers,
infrastructure improvements, and contributions of land. Since 1993, member cities
have committed more than $42 million to the creation or maintenance of 3,000 units
of affordable housing.245
§ In 2007, Workforce Housing Trust Funds were established in Albuquerque, New
Mexico to provide dedicated funds for the preservation and production of affordable
housing. Eligible developments must set aside 30 percent of units for low-income
households. In its first four years of operation, the fund supported the development
of 11 affordable housing projects that added 402 units to the city’s affordable
housing inventory. The Workforce Housing Trust Fund is funded by bonds approved
by Albuquerque voters; as of 2015, it had received more than $32 million over four
approved bond cycles.246
§ The Topeka City Council established an Affordable Housing Trust Fund with a
unanimous 9-0 vote on July 23, 2019. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is
intended to increase the supply and quality of housing options affordable to Topeka
families whose budgets are less than $43,950 a year for a household of two. The
purpose of Topeka Housing Trust Fund is to encourage and support the acquisition,
rehabilitation, and development of affordable rental and ownership homes,
emergency shelter, and supportive services. Topeka JUMP, a grassroots organization
of 50 members, plans to pursue both public and private funding sources, with a goal
of at least $1 million dollars a year. “With at least $1 million dollars in the Trust Fund,
we could see the number of families able to secure a decent place to live that is
within their budget double each year,” said Carol Babcock of Topeka JUMP.247
§ Lawrence was previously the only city in Kansas with an operational housing fund. In
November 2017, voters in Lawrence approved reallocating 1/20th of a penny of city
sales tax to an affordable housing trust fund, which is estimated to generate a million
dollars annually through 2027.248
The Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas provides
a “Community Toolbox,”249 including poignant and fact-filled videos, a resource that the
city might use to help everyone in the community understand why safe, affordable
housing matters.
245 http://www.archhousing.org/.
246 http://www.cabq.gov/family/income-eligible-services/housing-services-programs/about-housing-services.
247 See Topeka, KS Housing Trust Fund Project.
248 https://housingtrustfundproject.org/city-of-topeka-kansas-establishes-an-affordable-housing-trust-fund/.
249 https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/physical-social-environment/affordable-housing/main.
185
8. Create a “Housing & Student School Life” Study Group
Dubuque should create a “Housing & Student School Life” Study Group that includes
teachers, Home Connectors, School Principals and parents to address the relationship of
housing changes to a child’s well-being and performance in school. Families in poverty
move locally for a combination of reasons, including unacceptable situations; failures to
make rent payments resulting in eviction; loss of job; and otherwise moving in with
relatives and friends for economic reasons. Most of these moves occur throughout
downtown Dubuque. Issues needing study, suggested by the Home Connector Focus
Group, include why people who are poor move at the rate they do within the school
district; the eviction rates within the areas served by the five Title 1 schools; transient
moves of students, by school; enrollment and turnover in pre-school; the distance
traveled to such programs, and the extent to which these figures are affected by
affordable housing; and the impact of housing moves on children’s development.
9. Pursue Rapid Re-Housing
Rapid re-housing (RRH) is the provision of short-term rental assistance and services to
help individuals and families quickly exit homelessness. RRH components include:
§ Housing identification – Programs recruit landlords to provide housing for RRH
participants and help households find and secure rental housing.
§ Rent and move–in assistance – Assistance provided to help cover move-in costs
and deposits as well as ongoing rent and/or utility payments.
§ Rapid re-housing case management and services – Programs connect participants
to community-based resources that can help them maintain housing stability; for
example, by addressing psycho-social challenges and finding ways to increase
their incomes.250
10. More Aggressive Testing for Fair Housing
As a result of residents reporting that they perceive potential bias and/or discrimination
in public and private housing practices, the City has recently engaged in a small pilot
that should remain a priority providing an external and independent fair housing testing
program to identify the problems members of protected classes face when seeking
housing in Dubuque.
250 Center for Evidence Based Solutions to Homelessness. Rapid Rehousing. http://www.evidenceonhomelessness.com/topic/rapid-
re-housing/
186
3.7 CHILD CARE, EARLY LEARNING AND YOUTH
Overview
Childhood poverty affects over one in five children under the age of eighteen years in
the City of Dubuque. Of those children, one-third are under the age of five years. These
numbers are low estimates because they are based on the Official Poverty Measure
upon which a family of four subsists on an annual income of less than $25,100 or $2,092
per month.
We’ve recommended early in this report that families need an income up to twice this
amount to remain above poverty. Thus, it is more likely that at least one in four children
in the City of Dubuque is experiencing poverty. Unfortunately, the American Community
Survey census data does not provide age breakdowns among children at the higher
rates of 150 to 200 percent poverty at the city level.
Nevertheless, either estimate of the poverty rate among children in Dubuque is
profound. As it is for the nation: 16.2 percent of children under eighteen years lives
below the federal poverty level in the United States (2018).251 Many of them live in a
household with one parent in the labor force indicating that they don’t make enough to
rise above poverty.
251 https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2019/12/05/who-was-poor-in-the-u-s-in-2018/ Who is Poor in 2018? Brookings
Institute.
187
The following table shows the population of Dubuque County according to children’s
ages.
Table 34: County of Dubuque Children’s Ages 2019
Age Range Number of
Children
Percentage of
Population
Children ages 0 to 5 7,343 7.6%
Children ages 6-9 4,783 4.9%
Children ages 10-12 3,764 3.9%
Source: Iowa Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR & R) citing Woods & Poole Population
Estimates as of Dec 31,2019.
The table above shows county figures. Within the City of Dubuque there are nearly 2,600
children under 18 years of age below the federal poverty level.
The harmful effects of childhood poverty are widely researched and reported, leading
experts to claim that childhood poverty is arguably the most pressing public health
problem facing America, today. Poverty relegates children to a life filled with daily
stressors of food insecurity, shame in being poor, seeing parents struggle under the day-
to-day stress of making ends meet and transient living as a result of moving from one
home, neighborhood and school to the next.252 The apartments their parents can afford
are often rife with poor living conditions that place children’s health at risk, asthma being
one of them.
In Jeff Madrick’s recent book, “Invisible Americans: The Tragic Cost of Childhood
Poverty,” he captures the points previously made: “Poor children move far more often
than do the non-poor, and evidence shows that frequent moving is damaging. Housing
instability damages educational performance and health affects children’s ability to
focus, and, of course, reduces days in school.”253 The frequent degree of moving due to
evictions and high rent burden along with its harmful effects on children was further
substantiated in our conversations with School Home Connectors and elementary school
principals.
There is a growing body of evidence that living in poverty is, in itself, an adverse
childhood experience generating the cumulative exposure of stress to behave as a toxin
in the developing brain of a child. It can actually change a child’s neural architecture. As
252 Michelle Hughes, Whitney Tucker, Poverty as an Adverse Childhood Experience, North Carolina Medical Journal Mar 2018, 79 (2)
124-126; https://www.ncmedicaljournal.com/content/79/2/124
253 Jeff Madrick, “Invisible Americans: The Tragic Cost of Childhood Poverty,” New York: Alfred A. Knoff, 2020.
188
Dr. Virginia Rauh, explains in her research with colleagues at the Columbia University
Center for Children’s Health:
“Growing up in a poor home or neighborhood can give rise to toxic stress, which is a
response to adverse experiences. Toxic stress can interact with other toxins like air
pollution with consequences including cognitive deficits and emotional disorders,
which in turn, help perpetuate disadvantage.254
Dr. Virginia Rauh
Columbia University Center for Children’s Health
Yet, despite these troubling findings, “a child exposed to these (stressors) is not
predetermined to have a difficult life and should never be treated as such.”255 As Rauh
further explains, “the brain is a very adaptable organ,” and with responsive parenting,
high-quality childcare and learning environments each act to buffer against adverse
experiences.256 For an excellent short video on building children’s brains see the link
below in the footnotes.257
Focus on Child Care and Early Learning
In the spirit of nurturing the resiliency of children and reversing the toxic effects of
poverty, child advocates, non-profit organizations, the Dubuque Community School
District, and the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque among others throughout
the Dubuque community have initiated programs to address the needs of children
experiencing poverty and their families. They have also been active in advocating for
change in policies and practices at the governmental and private sector that
inadvertently cause undue hardships to children and their families. Several of these
initiatives will be reviewed in this section and in Promising Practices.
In our sessions with people experiencing poverty, two major themes emerged: the
demand for affordable quality child care for young children and the need for full-time
254 Rauh, Virginia, “Unequal Stress: How Poverty is Toxic for Children’s Brains.” https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/public-health-
now/news/unequal-stress-how-poverty-toxic-children%E2%80%99s-brains
255 Mary Bassett, NYC Health Commissioner, Ibid.
256 Rauh, Ibid
257 Brain Builders Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmVWOe1ky8s&feature=emb_logo
189
K-4 programs. For a review of children’s needs during elementary school years, see the
section of Education section this report.
Access and Availability to Child Care
In Dubuque, many families, especially women head of households, struggle to find
affordable quality early childhood education programs and child care, and it poses a
particular challenge for low-income families and communities of color.
Due to the high costs of care, many are forced to rely on family and friends for that care
while they seek a job that often pays below a living wage. When students are old
enough to go to school, a quarter are not reading at third-grade proficiency – a crucial
indicator for future success.258
Families of young children experience what experts call “The Parent Trap,” referring to
the dual responsibility between keeping a roof over your family’s head and caring for
young children. Families with children under the age of five years have fewer financial
resources than households without children, even after controlling for differences in age,
partnership status, education, and race.
Young families have lower credit scores, less past earnings, and lower earning power.
Single parent households and people of color are disproportionality impacted by
unaffordable, low-quality, and inaccessible child care. Cost and access to quality child
care is a barrier to employment and subsequent self-sufficiency as parents of young
children need child care if they are going to work outside of the home.
The lack of affordable quality child care not only prevents families from attaining self-
sufficiency, but the enormous expense is also driving families into poverty. A study by
the University of New Hampshire found that one-third of families who pay for child care
for their young children fall into poverty as a result of child care expenses. The study also
found that among families with young children who pay for child care, that those with
three or more children, those headed by a single parent, those with black or Hispanic
household heads, and those headed by someone with less than a high school degree or
258 Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, “Every Child Reads,” website posting. Visited October 10, 2020.
190
by someone who does not work full time are most often thrown into poverty by child
care expenses.259
Access to quality affordable child care affects a parent’s decision as to whether they
should enter or leave the workforce. This is most true for those living in low income
neighborhoods. The data below illustrates that there are shortages throughout
Dubuque but that low-income tracts (1 and 5) with the highest concentration of poverty
and percentage of minority residents have less access to child care.
Table 35: City of Dubuque Early Childhood Provider, Demographic Snapshot260
Census Tract 1 7.01 7.02 3 4 5 6
Licensed Providers 3 1 4 2 3 3 4
Family child care homes 0 1 1 2 2 3 2
Total child care capacity 56 5 464 24 70 32 224
Total Population 3014 3747 2899 1981 3941 3727 3169
Population under 5 182 175 175 93 259 373 $206
Median family income $12,760 $48,185 $47,978 $50,694 $44,013 $31,985 $61,985
Percent of children w/all
parents in workforce
47% 64% 76% 65% 75% 78% 89%
Maternal labor
participation
55% 83% 78% 84% 83% 77% 89%
Percent non-Hispanic,
white
58% 84% 85% 88% 94% 74% 86%
Percent non-Hispanic,
Black/African American
20% 7% 3% 7% 1% 12% 8%
Percent Hispanic/Latino 9% 6% 3% 3% 1% 10% 1%
Children per licensed
slot
325 35 0.38 3.88 3.7 11.66 0.9
2
259Mattingly, Marybeth J. and Wimer, Christopher T. Child Care Expenses Push Many Families Into Poverty. University of New
Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy.
260 Source: Center for American Progress, Child Care Deserts by Geographic Location, 2020.
191
Not having access to quality affordable child care is a barrier to self-sufficiency for
families and for women. In Iowa, 80 percent of mothers of young children participate in
the labor force while nearly a quarter of Iowans live in child care deserts.261 Women are
the majority of Dubuque residents at over 51 percent of the population, and make up a
greater share of the community’s poor: 17.7 percent to 14.7 percent male.
According to data from the American Community Survey (2017), families with a female
householder and no spouse present make up 69.3 percent of households with one or
more people under 18 years of age.262
Of the 68 child care centers in Dubuque, 41percent are licensed centers/preschools,
44% are child development homes, and 16 percent are child care homes/ homes
accepting child care assistance (not registered). Sixty-two percent of vacancies are at
licensed centers/preschools, 34 percent of vacancies at child development homes, and
4 percent in unregistered child care homes.263 Of the 5,753 total spaces listed with
Community Child Care Resource and Referral, a total of 4,260 are DHS licensed
centers/preschools, 740 are Department of Education operated preschools, 628 are
registered child development homes, and 125 are unregistered child care homes.264
The Cost of Child Care
In addition to access and availability, cost is also a significant barrier. In 2016, Project
HOPE, an initiative of the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque (CFGD),
conducted a needs assessment that took a focused look at needs and barriers to
economic opportunity in Dubuque. One of the areas of focus was child care.
The Community Needs Assessment: Child
Care found that cost and availability of child
care had a significant impact on employment
status with nearly half (48.8%) of low-income
respondents turning down a job because
they couldn’t afford child care and 43 percent
did so, because they couldn’t find affordable,
quality child care.265
261https://child caredeserts.org/?state=IA
262Households and Families. Source: ACS 2017 5-Year Estimates, Census Bureau. Table SS1101.
263Iowa Child Care Resource & Referral, Dubuque County
264Iowa Child Care Resource & Referral, Dubuque County July 2020.
265 https://www.dbqfoundation.org/sites/default/files/inline/files/3_investmentcase_2018.06.05_0.pdf
192
The survey further reveals, as shown by the side-graph, that low-income families have
had to turn down jobs at twice the rate of middle income families and seven times
greater than high-income families.
Child care is the greatest expense for many parents with young children, ahead of
housing and food. Respondents to the Community Needs Assessment Survey reported
cost as a barrier for all income levels with 80.7% of low-income, 67.1% of middle-
income, and 51.4% of high-income participants reporting child care being too
expensive.
According to the Community Needs Assessment, infant care at a licensed center costs
approximately $8,975 per year, which is $1,136 (12.7%) more per year on average than
in-state tuition for a four-year public college in the state of Iowa.
2662017 American Community Survey: S1901: INCOME IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS (IN 2017 INFLATION-ADJUSTED DOLLARS)
267https://www.dbqfoundation.org/sites/default/files/inline/files/3_investmentcase_2018.06.05_0.pdf
percent of the income of someone making minimum wage.267
whole, child care costs make up 23 percent of the median household income and 89
old. Among these families, 21 percent make less than $34,999 a year.266 In Iowa as a
these families have children under the age of 18 of which 26.8 percent are under 6 years
burden is even higher. There are 14,239 families in Dubuque, approximately 11,638 of
infant care is spending 15% of their income on child care. For low-income families, this
The median family income in Dubuque is $58,602, which means a family paying for
193
A family earning the median income with an infant in child care would pay 10% of their
income before taxes if their child was in a registered home, and 14% of their income
before taxes if their child was in a licensed center. Below are self-reported rates by
providers to the Dubuque County to Community Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR
& R).268
Table 36: Comparison of Child Care Rates Between Homes and Centers
Dubuque County
COVID-19 has and will continue to exacerbate the problem of finding quality affordable
child care but it will also impact the current worker shortage as workers begin to weigh
whether taking a low paying job is worth taking the risk to their health and their family’s.
Some experts believe that without adequate federal support, child care slots are at risk
of disappearing and centers at risk of closing permanently. According to the Center for
American Progress, 51% of Iowa’s child care supply could be lost, amounting to 78,013
slots. Prior to COVID-19, there were 1.56 children for every child care slot: post-COVID,
this demand is predicted to increase to 3.18 children per slot.269
A report by students at the MIT Sloan School of Business on “Child Care Access in
Greater Dubuque” cited the urgency of child care with the state of Iowa’s labor shortage
and recommended engaging employers in developing onsite child care solutions that
would lead to high ROIs (up to 16-18% annual returns for quality ECE programs),
representing a cost-effective strategy. The report recommended:
§ Building a coalition to drive action on child care.
§ Identifying high-impact opportunities for expanding child care supply and
affordability.
268 Community Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R).
269https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/news/2020/04/24/483817/coronavirus-pandemic-lead-permanent-
loss-nearly-4-5-million-child-care-
slots/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosatwork&stream=business6
Infant (0-12
mo.)
Toddler
(13-23
mo.)
2 Years
3 Years
4-5
Years
Before
/After
School
FT
School-
Aged
Homes $147 $145 $144 $143 $143 $66 $143
Centers $204 $204 $193 $188 $182 $80 $177
194
§ Tailoring interventions to specific communities.
§ Engaging employers through educating them on options for employer-led
solutions and making the “business case”, such as offering a Dependent Care
Spending Assistance Plan (DCAP), providing vouchers or reimbursements for
employees, and reserving spots for employees at child care centers near their
worksite.
§ Coordinating advocacy efforts among employers, government, and the public,
including advocacy for cliff-effect legislation reform calling for an increase in
eligibility to 200% of the poverty line and gradual withdrawal of assistance.
§ Galvanizing resources for investments in key interventions by identifying
available funding mechanisms, establishing a fund for investment in child care,
or facilitating innovative partnerships, such as an employer leadership table.270
Engaging the business community in child care efforts will continue to be an integral
strategy for broadening access and increasing affordability. These recommendations
should be heeded in a multi-pronged approach to driving action on early childhood
education and care, alongside work from the Building Community Child Care Solutions
(BCCCS) initiative through the Iowa Women’s Foundation and partners. When it is once
again safe to gather, the Iowa Business & Child Care Coalition will be formally launched
with the goal of improving businesses’ access to resources and incentives to invest in
company-supported child care.271
Early Learning
One in four third-grade students (26%) in Dubuque are not reading at grade level – an
essential predictor for graduation rates, earnings, and well-being. Nearly three-quarters
(74%) of students who are reading behind the proficiency level at the end of third grade
do not graduate from high school.272 As one can imagine, children from under-
resourced households are disproportionately impacted.
With the impact of COVID-related learning loss and disparities in educational delivery
due to the digital divide, strengthening literacy for this age group is of greater
importance for long-term outcomes. Preschool and kindergarten enrollment have
270“Child Care Access in Greater Dubuque, Iowa,” Student Interns from the MIT Sloan School of Management, June 2018.
271https://www.thegazette.com/subject/opinion/guest-columnist/for-essential-workers-nothing-is-more-essential-than-child-care-
20200402
272https://www.dbqfoundation.org/initiatives/grade-level-
reading#:~:text=In%20Dubuque%2C%2026%25%20of%20third,not%20reading%20at%20grade%20level.&text=Studies%20show%20t
hat%2074%25%20of,income%20households%20are%20disproportionately%20affected.
195
substantially declined, and many families lack broadband or device access necessary for
remote learning. Pandemic-related learning loss is particularly important and, according
to the Education Commission of the State’s, is likely to disproportionately affect young
students and those from low-income families.273
Every Child Reads, previously the Dubuque campaign for Grade-Level Reading, was
established by Every Child/Every Promise, the Community Foundation of Greater
Dubuque and the Dubuque Community School District in 2012 to strengthen outcomes
by addressing three critical areas: summer learning, school readiness, and attendance.
Each of these are part of a larger strategy to ensure that students were on track to read
at grade level by third grade. Since its first days, the Dubuque Community School
District has been a key partner in this effort of which the Community Foundation of
Greater Dubuque serves as the backbone agency. The school district was a charter
member of this effort and has been a significant and continual contributor since the
beginning.
The Summer Academy
As part of the initiative, an inaugural summer program was held with district school and
reading curriculum staff helping guide the format and content. Initially, a partnership
program, schools also hosted afternoon wrap-around programming and daycare
services for participating services. In its early years, the program was supported by a
combination of district and community foundation funding sources. Throughout its
evolution, outside partners have assisted in funding various components of the Summer
Academy program including meals and transportation.
City resources, including AmeriCorps members and leisure services staff, provide much of
the programming and extended-day services in the afternoon. The program has proven
very successful with students showing marked increases in reading proficiency as a result
of attending the program. While the Summer Academy looked significantly different in
the summer of 2020 due to COVID-19, the district invested approximately $120,000 to
fund the program which includes both a state grant and district funds to support costs
that exceed the grant amount. The district also provides the space for the City of
Dubuque Leisure Services Department to provide wrap-around services to students
needing them.
273https://ednote.ecs.org/improving-early-learning-outcomes-during-unprecedented-
times/?utm_source=ECS+Subscribers&utm_campaign=de22a6e19e-
Ed_Note_Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1a2b00b930-de22a6e19e-53611203
196
Another community partner, the Northeast Iowa Community College along with the school
district have partnered to enhance the pathway to a secondary education in early
childhood.274
As the Dubuque community collectively addresses early learning and care, the efforts of
Every Child Reads will continue to play a significant role. Thus, while Dubuque faces
considerable obstacles related to early learning and child care, there are many groups
taking action, informed by an understanding of the needs facing the region.
Enhancing Instruction Through Co-Teaching
Through a model of co-teaching, in which multiple teachers serve a single classroom, the
district has intensified instructional support for students at its Title I elementary schools.
While the amount of co-teaching varies based on the individual’s needs, goals and
decisions of the school leadership, the majority of these students (particularly in lower grade
levels) experience co-teaching at some point throughout their school day. Some classrooms
are co taught for an entire day. This model has increased student support, especially in
reading and math, and serves to significantly lower the student to teacher ratio in these
schools.
Our research findings on quality child care and early learning were consistent with what we
heard from the community.
Community Engagement: What We Heard You Say
Women in our focus groups expressed that trying to track down affordable, safe and
good quality child care where they’d feel comfortable leaving their children hinders
them from even looking for work. Low-income and homeless women in our focus
groups shared experiences of extremely long wait times to get their children into
daycare.
We also heard that some higher paying jobs – including factory jobs – are inaccessible
to mothers who are not able to work long or late hours. Focus group participants
revealed that without consistent child care, it’s very difficult to get a job, in the first
place.
Some focus group participants had experiences upon which employers were not
understanding of them missing work at all – even in verified emergencies – due to
274https://www.dbqfoundation.org/initiatives/grade-level-
reading#:~:text=In%20Dubuque%2C%2026%25%20of%20third,not%20reading%20at%20grade%20level.&text=Studies%20show%20that%
2074%25%20of,income%20households%20are%20disproportionately%20affected.
197
lack of child care, and as a result were fired. Further, high-quality child care programs
that do exist, often do not meet the needs of low-income families, because these
programs typically cannot accommodate the evening, weekend, or variable hours
demanded of many parents working in low-wage jobs.
Our conversations with immigrants echoed these comments. Child care is
particularly challenging for immigrants who do not have family/people they trust in
Dubuque that they can safely leave their children with: “It’s really hard to keep a job if
you are a single mother with no family to trust to leave your kids with.”
Some participants that we spoke to shared that there are child care options available
that people may not know about and do not take advantage of, including child care
offered at Northeast Iowa Community College. This echoes a larger theme of citizens
lacking awareness of all of the resources and services available to them and
struggling to make sense of a multi-layered social services landscape. This subject is
discussed in more depth in our “Access” section of this report.
Focus groups and key informant interviews with community members reinforced
what the data tells us: for women experiencing homelessness and low-income
women and families in Dubuque, child care costs are a significant barrier to securing
a living wage job and gaining economic prosperity.
Quotes from Focus Group Participants
“Nursery school is only for a half day and for only four days a week. No one wants to hire you
during such limited hours and without a car, I can’t drop my child off, get to work and then
get back to pick my child up in such a short time slot.”
“You can’t win. I can’t accept a job unless I have child care but I can’t apply for child care
unless I have a job.”
“The DHS (Department of Human Services) only covers day care for one job. I’m working two
to make ends meet and the Family Investment Program only covers child care for your first
child.”
“I started off with a temp agency, but it didn’t work out. They’d call you in with crazy short
notice and there was no way that I could find child care or take public transit that fast to take
the assignment.”
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Promising Practices
1. Promote Employer Child Care Assistance
A previous recommendation in the Economic Insecurity section suggests that the City
award “Living Wage Certificates” to businesses providing a living wage and robust
benefits: under this framework, Employer Child Care Assistance would be cited as a
criteria for a business to earn a Living Wage Certificate. Further, child care strategies
proposed from the MIT student report discussed earlier in this section involving
employers and focusing on advocacy, should be adopted and prioritized. Child care in
Dubuque can also be strengthened by promoting flex-time and remote work from home,
and offering emergency child care vouchers that would allow parents to work while
children are sick, rather than having to take the day off and forego wages.
2. Advocate for Full-Time Four-Year-Old Preschool
The state of Iowa’s “universal” preschool program for four and five-year olds currently
funds preschool at a half-time rate.275 These limited hours present tremendous obstacles
for low-income families and especially for single parents who must find other child care
options for the remaining hours if they want to take advantage of work opportunities. For
example, preschool may be offered from 7:55 to 10:45 am, or from noon to 2:55 pm.
Neither window allows many working hours to take place, especially factoring in
transporting to and from the child care center and then work. For preschool offerings to
be truly effective in Dubuque and the state of Iowa, families need full-time preschool and
so do the children for their development. For maximum effectiveness, Dubuque’s local
and regional advocacy efforts should prioritize full-time preschool at the state level.
3. Create Task Force on Child Care Deserts & the Child Care Worker Shortage
The Office of Shared Prosperity should encourage and/or help facilitate such a task
force. The Child Care Coalition would be an excellent partner in pursuing this effort.
Child care demand and quality can be better addressed with a deeper understanding of
the issue from a data lens. Particularly, the City of Dubuque would benefit from more
specific information on the challenges and needs of families in Census Tracts 1 and 5.
With a stronger understanding of the challenges facing families in these areas, a Task
Force on Child Care Deserts may prove extremely beneficial in improving access, quality,
and affordability for families. The Task Force’s focus would be on increasing the number
275https://www.thegazette.com/IowaIdeas/stories/education/with-odd-hours-and-limited-spots-who-really-has-access-to-iowas-universal-
preschool-program-20201008
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of child care slots and number of skilled child care workers to meet Dubuque families’
demand for quality care. The Task Force would explore with child care providers ways in
which to support and incentivize a high quality child care workforce in Dubuque. Three
essential partners in this effort are the non-profit Dubuque County Early Childhood (DCEC)
and Child Care Resource and Referral of Northeast Iowa along with the Child Care Coalition that
meets monthly addressing childhood issues and opportunities among a wide-array of agencies
and programs serving the needs of children and their families.
4. Support “Every Child Reads” Efforts to Unify Community Action Around Early
Care and Education
Early learning and child care is best addressed through a collective impact model
applied across all city programs and stakeholders. Such an approach may identify grade-
level reading proficiency as a unifying goal across a myriad of organizations and
programs amidst the landscape of early care and education. As previously described,
“Every Child Reads” collaborative sponsored by the Community Foundation of Greater
Dubuque is doing valuable work on addressing early childhood literacy and the City
would do well to continue its support and build upon this progress.
The campaign’s Summer Academy increased reading proficiency levels by 12 percent in
one school year and collaboration between early education and secondary success is
well underway. Early literacy is among the most essential predictors for later success and
is of particular importance as COVID-19 contributes towards significant learning loss
affecting students’ long-term outcomes, with these burdens falling disproportionately on
students from low-income households and families of color.
Early learning efforts should be approached from an equity lens with a distinct eye on
outcomes for these students. “Every Child Reads” using a collective impact process,
provides a solid infrastructure for efforts dedicated towards early learning. For an
impactful video on the power of the national Every Child Reads program also featuring
the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, click here.
Among other existing state resources and principles that can inform a collective impact
framework facilitated by the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque Every Child
Reads initiative are the Iowa Early Learning Standards and Early Childhood Iowa’s focus
on the first 2,000 days (the time between birth and the first day of kindergarten). 276
276https://iowaccrr.org/resources/files/BGP/53%20Center%20Handbook.pdf
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5. Facilitate launching a “Safe Learning Environment” Program
The nonprofit “Partnership with Children” works within schools to provide trauma-
informed counseling for children and families living with toxic stress. The organization
also partners with parents to encourage them to reinforce its work at home. “The
antidote to toxic stress—nurturing relationships and consistent feelings of safety—works
if it’s in all the child’s environments,” said Executive Director Margaret Crotty.277
Their full-time staff work in NYC public schools to create trauma-informed, safe and
supportive environments. The consistent availability of our social workers for day-to-day
guidance, crisis intervention, and mentoring is critical to help students access care and
feel anchored to their school. Knowing that there is always an adult there who cares
about them, knows their story, and helps them make sound choices makes a profound
difference in their health and their lives. The group works in partnership with the
schools and raises funds through a wide range of foundations and individual donors.
This could serve as a model to also use student interns in the fields of child
development, social work and psychology.
6. Hold a Youth Summit to Address Young People’s Prosperity
We also heard from key informant interviews and focus groups as to the need for more
integrated collaboration among the multiple stakeholders providing programs to
teenagers in high school and during the first year of college and/or technical school. All
felt these are very vulnerable years, especially for youth experiencing poverty within their
households and for those that go onto post-secondary school who remain in poverty.
Mentoring programs are seen as critical, as are programs that foster soft-skills to gain
employment along with having access to career preparation through paid work that
allows youth to learn in the classroom and in the field. All of these experiences bode well
if the youth are also given a “bear hug” of wrap-around services and mentoring
opportunities offered by all sectors of the community.
The Office of Shared Prosperity could generate seed money for such a summit that
would involve young people in the planning and hosting. One feature of the summit
would be to present an annual update on the needs of young people told through data
and identifiable outcomes that can be quantified to measure ongoing progress. The
mission of the summit in convening a wide-array of stakeholders involved with youth
throughout Dubuque – along with them – would be to learn, analyze, enhance, celebrate
and create innovative ways that prevent this vulnerable group from falling through the
cracks, so they too, can prosper.
277 https://partnershipwithchildren.org
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A. PROMISING PRACTICES INVENTORY
B. SERVICE PROVIDER SURVEY
C. FOCUS GROUP INFOGRAPHICS
A P P E N D I X
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Promising Practice Inventory
Dubuque Community Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan
INFRASTRUCTURE
1. Measuring Poverty
Several different measures of poverty were reviewed:
A. The Official Poverty Measure (OPM) or Federal Poverty Level (FPL) at 100 percent significantly
underestimates poverty. In 2018 this means a family of four is considered poor if their annual income
is less than $25,100. Using this formula means that 16% of residents in the City of Dubuque lives in
poverty.
B. Most experts agree that between 150% - 200% of the OPM represents a more reflective level of
poverty. We recommend that the City adopt a poverty level within this range and encourage choosing
the highest level at 200% of poverty. In this instance 32% would be considered in poverty (Family of
Four survives on $4,183 per month). If 150% is chosen, it means that 24% are in poverty based on
$3,138 per month for a family of four.
C. The United Way has created a Household Survival Budget (ALICE) that includes those in poverty and
the Working Poor who are often considered a paycheck away from poverty. This measure is based on
Dubuque county census data (not the city) and in the latest data available from the ALICE project,
cites that a family of four requires $4,887 per month to remain above poverty.
2. Office of Shared Prosperity
A proposed Office of Shared Prosperity would be dedicated to pursuing an equitable and prosperous
community for all and could be structured as follows:
A. Leadership and Staff: The office would be staffed by a Director with outstanding skills in facilitating,
problem-solving and collaborating with diverse organizations. Office staff will demonstrate strong
Appendix A
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analytical, collaborative and project management skills and a deep understanding of poverty and
barriers to racial equity.
B. Areas of Engagement: In implementing the Equitable Prosperity Plan, the Office of Shared Prosperity
will focus on: Economic Equity and Jobs, Racial Equity, Affordable and Safe Housing, Early Childhood
& Youth, Transportation, Physical and Brain Health, Food Insecurity, Education & Skills Training, and
Justice.
C. Citizen Advisory Council: The Citizen Council is designed to garner citizen input on City initiatives, and
to provide guidance, an authentic voice, and insights to the OSP’s work. The majority of the Council
will have experienced poverty within the last 3 years or currently.
D. Anchor Collaborative: This collaborative will consist of higher education institutions, medical centers
and business that employ large numbers of Dubuquers and purchase significant amounts of goods
and service. The Anchor Collaborative leverages its employment, buying and investing resources to
stimulate an equitable economy by building wealth in disinvested and marginalized communities.
E. Grants Collaborative and Internship Labs: The Grants Collaborative pools resources among
nonprofits, City Planning, the Community Foundation & Anchor Institutions to identify state and
national funding to assist people in poverty, with the OSP’s assistance in writing and processing
proposals. Internship Labs for college and graduate students will assist in the work of the OSP.
F. Data Collaborative: This collaborative includes partners like the Community Action Program (HACAP),
the Community Foundation, School District, medical centers, nonprofits, and City Departments that
collect data of under-served populations. The goal is to integrate City-wide data and conduct deep
dive analyses to uncover trends and disparities and adopt metrics and indices to measure progress
and set benchmarks.
3. Access to Benefits
The following practices are recommended to support Dubuque residents in accessing services and resources
that assure a path out of poverty.
A. Develop a centralized Benefit Screening program that provides live assistance in identifying services
and resources an individual/family can qualify for given their circumstances and then guide them
through the eligibility process to secure those services. Trained Benefit Advisors guide people
through the process of gaining access to services based on their needs and income and coach them
through the eligibility and paperwork maze to ensure they gain access. HACAP is poised to take on
the role of developing this program with facilitative support from the proposed City of Dubuque
Office of Shared Prosperity, with the Carnegie-Stout Library playing a key role as well in assisting
patrons with the platform, offering free scanning of documents, and providing technology access and
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client support. The City may also convene a “Social Services Access” Task Force of providers to
develop strategies to better coordinate and collaborate.
B. Subsidize internet access in low-income neighborhoods and develop a digital equity plan. The plan
would set performance targets, establish strategies, collect data, and plan coordinated activities
across multiple agencies, including those responsible for information technologies, digital service
providers, economic development policymakers and business, schools and teachers, social services,
health care, and others. The goal of the plan would be to assure that all citizens have access to
highspeed internet service within their local communities, the devices that enable them to use the
internet and the knowledge and skills to navigate it.
Further, the OSP may convene a Digital Equity Work Group that includes the current Broadband
Expansion Initiative members and additionally include the Human Rights Commission, the United
School District of Dubuque, the Carnegie-Stout Library, Dubuque Community Schools, Hawkeye Area
Community Action Program, IT staff from the City and subject matter experts along with local
advocacy groups and non-profits that represent people experiencing poverty.
ECONOMIC SECURITY
1. Living Wage Certificate
A. The City of Dubuque can use local data to identify an equitable living wage for the City and facilitate
discussions with business leaders to find ways to encourage and support businesses who voluntarily
embrace living wage practices and principles.
B. Office of Shared Prosperity can assist in developing other benchmarks beyond the living wage to
award the certificate, for example, recognizing companies that provide child care benefits, and other
family-friendly policies.
C. The Mayor’s Office of Richmond, Virginia launched a voluntary living wage certification program
awarded to businesses that provide their workers with a living wage, as determined by the City. Those
businesses receive a certificate from the City, which can be publicly displayed, and encourages people
to support businesses that pay a living wage.
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2. Create a Financial Empowerment Collaborative
A. Project HOPE would be a likely facilitator to work with the Anchor Collaborative cited under the
Infrastructure section of this report to explore social enterprise opportunities among the anchor entities
of “meds and eds” institutions and major employers both in the public (City, County Government,
School District) and private sector.
B. The goal is to identify ways in which local individuals, groups, and communities can become
entrepreneurs servicing their goods and services procurement needs.
C. The Collaborative could also explore additional insights that groups have studied in Dubuque as to the
Future of Work. Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning along with other digital
technologies are predicted to displace thousands of workers during this decade.
3. Wealth Building Through Home Ownership
A. Collaborate with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), a nonprofit,
community advocacy and homeownership organization that promotes home ownership by counseling
working people and empowering even those with poor credit to purchase a home or modify a
predatory loan with favorable terms.
B. NACA is expanding its offices nationwide and, while they do not currently have a presence in Iowa,
Dubuque should consider reaching out to them to provide their services as a way to increase home
ownership rates, particularly among Dubuque’s marginalized and under-resourced populations.
C. Dubuque residents may also be able to take advantage of some of the organization’s services without a
full partnership, for example, NACA’s Homebuyer Workshops.
4. Banking and Financial Equity
A. Restart Dubuque’s local Bank On partnership, which became inactive and ceased to operate without
full support.
B. In redeveloping the program, train peer counselors to reach out to people experiencing poverty and to
the Black community to yield a more successful result in getting Dubuque residents banked.
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5. “Fair Chance Pledge” and Ban the Box | Mentoring
A. Implement a “Ban the Box” ordinance that prohibits job applications that require applicants to check
“the box” if they have been convicted of a felony – and effectively excluding them from further
consideration.
B. Promote the “Fair Chance Pledge”, wherein companies take a pledge to make ongoing commitments
to achieve the goals of promoting opportunity for all, eliminating barriers to reentry into society, and
providing meaningful opportunities to succeed for formerly incarcerated individuals. With our without
accompanying mandates, the City can encourage employers to voluntarily make the pledge and
increase access to employment opportunities for people who have been involved in the justice system
by committing to: delaying criminal history questions until later in the hiring process after the
evaluation of qualifications so history can be considered on a case-by-case basis; training human
resources staff on making fair and reasoned decisions regarding applicants with criminal records;
making internship and job training available to some individuals with criminal records; using reliable
background check providers to help ensure fairness and accuracy; and hosting a Fair Chance and
Opportunity Job Fair.
C. Build on, learn from, and support community-based organizations providing valuable mentoring and
training programs, including NICC and the Fountain of Youth.
6. Buffer the Impact of the Cliff Effect | Advocate for Change in Rules & Regulations
A. Leverage online tools to provide guidance to benefit recipients, following the lead of groups doing
similar work across the U.S. With support from The Boston Foundation and in partnership with Project
Hope and Code for Boston, a group of volunteer coders is using Center for Social Policy research to
create an online tool to help social services caseworkers and families understand and navigate how
increases in earnings could affect their benefits. The City of Dubuque should follow the development of
this tool, and when available, work with these organizations to leverage this resource to help low-
income Dubuquers and local organizations that serve them make informed decisions for their families.
This tool should also serve to inform legislators about the need for reform.
B. Form a Cliff Effect Working Group to advocate for reform that would assess gaps and hardships caused
the Cliff Effect and identify ways to fill the gaps locally until larger reforms are instituted. The group will
identify ways to ameliorate the impacts and advocate for changes.
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7. Fees and Fines Equity and Relief
A. Emulate the work of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in directing the Office of the Treasurer and
Tax Collector to create a Fines and Fees Task Force to study the impact of fines and fees and make
recommendations.
B. The recommendations in the report led to successful reforms that can serve as models for other cities,
including: the repeal of all locally controlled fees charged to people leaving jail, as well as a range of
other costs such as fees for jailhouse phone calls, allowing low-income individuals to establish payment
plans for paying off motor vehicle tickets, San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency tickets, and in some
cases to erase their debt through community service, abolishing locally-imposed criminal justice
administrative fees and waiving criminal justice administrative fee debt for low-income San Franciscans,
and conducting an analysis of revenue from fines, fees, tickets and financial penalties.
TRANSPORTATION
1. Business Collaboration for Subsidized Transportation for Employees
Future transportation strategies in the City of Dubuque must engage businesses in developing solutions for
transporting employees and strengthening workforce participation.
A. The City should encourage businesses to collaborate to offer subsidized Uber/Lyft rides to
employees who work shifts that don’t have access to public transportation to and from work. This
strategy has worked well for the long-term care industry, which needs to provide transit for workers
between cities and the suburbs. Businesses can also share expenses and purchase blocks of time.
B. Any new service offerings must be accompanied by robust outreach efforts to ensure that employees
are aware of the available resources and able to utilize them, and that, even with the subsidy,
employees with low incomes aren’t too cost-burdened to take advantage of them.
2. Conduct a Study on the Two-Mile Radius & Impact on School Attendance
A. The City should conduct a transportation-use study to analyze the impact on attendance among
children walking to school and should track the rate of attendance related to four variables:
inclement weather, age, child(ren) under 4 years in the home, and single mother head of household.
B. This use study also should include meeting with School Home Connectors, school leaders, teachers
and parents to fully understand the transportation needs of low-income children.
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3. Subsidize Car Repair Insurance
A. Offer vehicle repair insurance that provides affordable protection for used cars, enabling workers to
maintain employment when they may otherwise be unable to without a car.
B. Examples include programs like CarShield.
4. A Comprehensive Approach to Transportation for all Dubuquers
Dubuque should continue to enhance its service to community residents through:
A. Reductions in bus fares and monthly transit passes to increase options for transit riders. The City can
also examine the results of the free fixed-route Jule bus rides that have been offered to riders in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
B. Review additional ways to make mass transit cheaper and more convenient, like family discounts, off-
peak fare cuts, and unlimited multiple hour passes. The federal Transit Check program permits
employers to provide tax free monthly transit benefits to help offset the cost of commuting to work
using mass transit. Transit Checks would be easier to use with the introduction of unlimited monthly
and weekly passes.
C. Undertake a comprehensive assessment of all transportation services to identify under-served
neighborhoods and to allocate services so that all parts of the city can access transit options that can
get them to other parts of the city – as well as major nearby employment and educational centers –
more simply and rapidly.
D. Explore offering private van and jitney service to provide flexible and customer-directed service
options. This includes innovations such as a “request a stop” program that allows passengers to be
dropped off closer to their destination than the regularly scheduled stop might permit; use of smaller
vehicles, with more flexible routes; and a dispatching system that allows these smaller vehicles to
pick up and drop off passengers where it is most convenient for the passenger. Today’s technology
makes it much simpler to operate such a system – as Uber and Lyft do. Municipalities can do the
same, and some, in fact, do. Through the proposed analysis of Dubuquers’ transportation needs –
which may include some or all of these options – create a complete network of solutions that meet
these needs.
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EDUCATION & SKILLS TRAINING
1. Promote/Co-Sponsor “Trauma-Centered Care” Training for City Staff
A. Design programs and agencies with trauma-informed mindsets and strategies that will enable
communities to thrive in both school and employment settings.
B. Promote and/or co-sponsor poverty-induced “Trauma-Centered Care” training for City
Department agencies serving low-income populations, community providers, and employers.
Programming should include an increased focus on multicultural competence to equip City staff
and teachers to more effectively serve diverse Dubuquers.
C. Coordinate these efforts in tandem with trauma-informed training to teachers by the Community
School District of Dubuque. The Community Foundation has received a $50,000 grant to support
social-emotional and trauma-informed learning with St. Mark Youth Enrichment and the Dubuque
Dream Center through its Every Child Reads initiative and children’s brain health working group.
2. Create a City-Wide Prosperity Coordinating Council
A. Service areas across Dubuque cannot be siloed and, instead, must be integrated to understand
and serve the “whole person,” embedded in their family and community.
B. The City of Dubuque should create a city-wide “Prosperity Coordinating Council” to identify
opportunities for deeper levels of holistic integration among planning agencies, human service
agencies, schools and health care providers. Each of these sectors, in large part, work along
parallel tracks while clients try to juggle services among them.
C. Meaningful family engagement, discussed in-depth in the “What We Heard” section for this topic,
should be an organizing principle for understanding these intersections.
3. Co-Sponsor Career-Oriented Programming for Youth
A. The City should co-sponsor Career Camps for middle school students, “Earn and Learn Projects”
and On the Job work simulations for high-school students, especially through hands-on and
experiential opportunities.
B. These efforts could be explored through a higher education-aligned partnership with NICC, which
has a proven track record of delivering effective career and skill training and achieved by tapping
workforce funding and summer recreation funding sources.
4. Enhance Mentoring Programs for Those Returning from Incarceration
A. One-to-one mentoring is an invaluable resource for those with histories of incarceration. The
Fountain of Youth is well-positioned to tailor On the Job mentoring programs for employers in the
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PHYSICAL & BRAIN HEALTH
1. Establish a Community Health Worker Network
A. The proposed Office of Shared Prosperity should encourage the continued development and
expansion of health care providers and nonprofits in hiring and deploying “Community Health
Workers” (CHWs).
B. These front-line, culturally competent, public health workers serve as a bridge between under-served
communities and healthcare systems. Ideally, these workers share ethnicity, language,
socioeconomic status, and life experiences as do the people they serve. CHWs are a way to address
shortages of health care workers. According to the CDC, “they can help people reduce risk factors
for disease, manage chronic conditions, connect with local resources, and access the healthcare
system.”
C. Among interventions that CHWs can assist with are screenings, health education and prevention
work, first aid and blood pressure, outreach, enrollment, and information, serving as members of
care delivery teams, and serving as community organizers.
D. Cultural competence must be an essential part of CHW training, and deliberate efforts be made to
train CHWs from Black, Marshallese, and Hispanic communities.
E. Dubuque may gain inspiration from the Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo, which works
with individuals and organizations to empower communities in improving their health. The network
community, so that employees will be mentored and coached – as well as their supervisors – on
the unique needs of a formerly incarcerated person adjusting to community and work-life.
5. Enhance Funding for & Build Upon Successful Strategies of Local Youth Programs
A. A number of organizations in Dubuque are already succeeding at serving families and meeting the
needs of local children and youth: these efforts are invaluable and must continue to be supported
and built upon.
B. These groups already doing the work in the field and understanding what children and families
need include the Multicultural Family Center (MFC), Dream Center, St. Mark Youth Enrichment,
HEART (Housing Education and Rehabilitation Training) and the Every Child Reads Collaborative,
among others.
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trains “frontline workers”— community health workers, housing organizers, parent facilitators, patient
advocates, street outreach workers, and peer counselors—on how to best engage residents and
community-based organizations to define their own challenges, identify strengths and opportunities,
and work toward change.
2. Holistically Integrate & Coordinate Services Across Agencies
City of Dubuque needs holistic integration of services and assessments to align and cohere the fragmented
and largely siloed social services ecosystem. Schools, Health Care Centers and social services agencies
would do well to work more closely together in addressing brain and physical health conditions in the
community.
A. The City might consider enlisting teachers who are on the front lines of working with children and
their families every day, along with Home Liaisons from the school district and the Dream Center, to
advise on work groups and planning sessions to create methods of integration and coordination.
B. Greater coordination will also result in improved efficiency through stronger data sharing and
reduced duplicative actions amongst agencies.
3. Identify “Naturally Occurring” Educators to Provide Health Education
A. Identify those who are already leaders and connectors in their community to provide meaningful
health education to residents. These resident leaders share characteristics with their communities
and are trusted figures that resonate with community members receiving the health education.
B. One example of this is the award-winning “Shape Up Your Colon” project for Black and Latinx
barbers that teaches barbers how to approach their clients about the importance of colon cancer
screenings. Similar strategies have been employed engaging “naturally occurring” leaders that are
hairdressers or members of church groups.
4. Use Data on Health Outcomes to Target Investments
A. The proposed Office of Shared Prosperity’s Data Collaborative would facilitate ways in which the
multiple health care providers and social service agencies that collect health data on persons
experiencing poverty could collect and analyze data to measure the collective impact of health
programs. This would be in concert with the County Health Department’s annual health assessment
but with more data at the census tract level for residents of the City.
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B. The goal is to build data capacity to assess health outcomes by race, income level, and
neighborhood in order to more effectively target investments to the communities most in need of
services. This data can inform city and county officials and local decisionmakers on which
communities experience the worst health outcomes, and accordingly inform their distribution of
resources, funding, and allocation of staff time toward healthy interventions in these neighborhoods.
C. One example of a data-informed approach for targeting local investments is the Neighborhoods of
Focus Initiative (PDF) in Lansing, Michigan, which conducts asset-based community development
modeling to select neighborhoods that can reserve targeted investments and then jump to the top of
the list for funding when new city resources become available. Leveraging data to elicit a greater
understanding of health disparities will empower the City to more equitably meet the health needs of
Dubuque residents.
D. Policylink provides ten design principles for powering health equity action steps with online data
tools that could also be helpful in drilling down health data to neighborhoods.
5. Build Off of Successful Efforts in the Community | Brain Health
A. Successful efforts to build off of include the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque’s convening
of a Mental Health Stakeholder group, whose work in 2019-20 expanded to include a Children’s
Brain Health Working Group to address the specific support needed for children, including for
trauma-informed care. The group’s accomplishments include: completing a resource guide for brain
health services in Dubuque, expanding the availability of a Mobile Crisis Unit, Wraparound Program,
Mental Health First Aid Training with local law enforcement improving the 211 process for those with
brain health issues, and the ongoing development of an Access Center for Dubuque County.
B. Learn from Crescent Community Health Center’s culturally-competent community health
programming designed for target audiences, which has demonstrated success in building trust and
educating the Marshallese community on important topics like proper use of the Emergency
Department and monthly community diabetic education classes. Assuring culturally-specific and
holistic approaches could be a standard benchmark required of agencies when applying for City
funds as well as evidence of collaborative engagement.
C. All health efforts should be approached from a trauma-informed framework, with the understanding
that many people serving people living in poverty, including physicians, nurses, teachers, social
workers, employers and service providers should be equipped with training on what it means to
work with those living with trauma as a result of poverty and racism.
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RACIAL EQUITY
1. Racial Equity Index
A. Create a community “Racial Equity Index” that’s developed collaboratively with stakeholders who are
impacted by past and current inequities and those charged with programs, policies and services to
remedy it. The City has already begun this type of work within each department of City government
and it has been set as a priority by City Administration and City Council in response to sessions held
with Black Lives Matter leaders earlier this year (NAACP, Switching Places, Dream Center, Black Men
Coalition, Fountain of Youth, Multicultural Family Center, Fair Housing including representatives of
the LATINX community).
B. The Racial Equity Index will adopt a similar process as was used in the Inclusive Dubuque initiative in
creating a community equity profile. Focus areas based on the eight determinants of poverty
described throughout this report will be addressed by: using data presented in this report, updating
local data with new 2020 census findings, hosting community dialogues on focus areas, and
developing concrete strategies and benchmarks to create a Racial Equity Index that can be
implemented and measured and embraced by community leaders and advocates.
C. We recommend that the Inclusive Dubuque initiative by the Community Foundation of Greater
Dubuque in spearheading the development of the Racial Equity Index continue to work closely with
the Human Rights Commission given their breadth of experience in this field.
D. The City of Des Moines with their One Economy initiative also provides a robust example of how they
set benchmarks for their “Racial Equity Index” in five crucial areas – all of which have been addressed
in this report: Financial Inclusion, Education, Health and Housing.
E. Another resource that can assist in racial equity planning is the National League of Cities’ Municipal
Action Guide: Advancing Racial Equity in Your City.
2. School Resources Officers
A. It would be beneficial for the City Planning or Human Rights Department or a third-party entity to
spearhead a Work Group of community leaders, youth, school administrators, school counselors,
disability advocates and teachers, law enforcement that includes the Police Chief and SROs to gain a
deeper understanding as to how the role of SROs can best meet safety needs in the schools and
foster positive outcomes from their presence and interactions with students.
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B. See this report for a set of questions that a that a work group convened by the Office of Shared
Prosperity of local leaders, school resource officers, the police department, students, teachers and
parents could explore in developing policy and practice as to the role of School Resource Officers,
including: What is the expulsion rate of students? Did the student with prior encounters with the
SRO? Are there disproportionate numbers of SRO arrests among students of color, low socio-
economic status and with disability? What is the process for a teacher, parent or student to voice a
concern/complaint regarding action taken by a SRO?
C. The goal of the workgroup would be to facilitate the development of a Policy and Practice Paper on
School Resource Officers that collaboratively identifies policy and practices that the Dubuque
Community School District and the City of Dubuque Police Department would embrace.
3. Social Workers on the Police Force
A. Consider a social services unit within the police department that develops strategies to address calls
related to domestic violence, mental illness, child/elder abuse, sexual abuse, substance abuse and
youth and family issues.
B. These units provide crisis intervention in situations requiring immediate assistance, short-term
counseling and referrals, assist with mental health assessments, court advocacy for Orders of
Protection, assistance with death notifications and grief counseling, provide victim/witness support
and follow-up on incidents reported to the police that require further assistance.
C. The social work police unit would work with mental health providers to arrange for over-night
accommodations for individuals with mental and brain health conditions rather than placing them in
jail or holing cells. It would be extremely beneficial for this unit to be diverse and culturally-
competent with a deep understanding of trauma-informed care related to poverty and race.
D. Examples of these units include the Naperville Police Department, which operates such a unit with a
master’s level social worker; The Houston Police Department, which deploys a licensed clinical social
worker or caseworker to ride along with police officers answering emergency calls regarding people
presumed to be experiencing mental health issues; Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response
(STAR), which dispatches a paramedic and social worker to minor 911 calls in a “low-key van,” rather
than an armed car to address mental health and substance use issues; and Eugene, Oregon’s
emergency response system, called CAHOOTS, which sends out a medic and crisis responder with
free service to anyone in a crisis; they handle approximately 20% of local 911 calls and have
estimated $6 million saved in medical services costs for a cost of $2.1 million a year.
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4. Diversion Work Group
A. We recommend that a Diversion Work Group with advocacy groups (e.g. NAACP, Black Men
Coalition, Switching Places, Fair Housing), schools and community organizations active in the Black
community convene with the City Police Department and other representatives of the justice system
to review data and trends upon which policies, practices and procedures may consciously or
inadvertently place Blacks and People of Color in undue jeopardy of entering the justice system and
on track towards prison and a life of poverty.
B. The Work Group will dive deeper into arrest rates among different races and ethnicities, and explore
alternative sentencing opportunities, for example, performing community service activities in lieu of
fines that the individual can ill-afford to pay and to conduct a review of fees, fines, penalties
associated with arrests and adjudication (for example suspending a driver’s license) as described in
the Economic Insecurity section of this report.
5. Keep Talking
A. Continue the hard work of addressing Racial Equity by expanding on such initiatives as “Race in the
Heartland,” and the experiential conversations that have been held with community leaders and
persons experience poverty and racial inequities sponsored by the Fountain of Youth’s “Real Talk”
program.
B. The newly founded “Switching Places” group born from the Black Lives Matter movement has
expressed a deep interest in furthering opportunities of heart-to-heart conversations on race, as has
the Black Men Coalition and the NAACP.
C. The Office of Shared Prosperity with the Library’s “All Community Reads” initiative could begin with
encouraging people to read “So You Want to Talk About Race,” by Ijeoma Oluo. It’s an excellent,
easy-to-read book to get the conversation going with a discussion guide for groups to engage in an
open, authentic dialogue.
D. The City could create incentives (e.g. City Council Resolutions, proclamations, certificates) among
employers, faith-based groups, civic organizations to hold their own book club events and include
watching the “Taking on Poverty” video done for this project to also discuss the stigmatizing of
people experiencing poverty among all races. The Caucus for Community process used to gather
insights on the Equitable Poverty Prevention Plan could easily be adopted to hold such events that
keep the conversation going.
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AFFORDABLE SAFE HOUSING
1. Build on Initiatives identified in the Analysis of Impediments Report
A. The City of Dubuque’s 2019 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, which was also
developed by Public Works LLC, presents a robust list of action steps for the City to consider in
addressing the wide range of impediments outlined in the report.
B. The three most frequent housing-related challenges the EPPP team learned from focus groups
among those experiencing poverty are: high rent-burden given minimum and low-wage salaries;
sub-standard housing; and landlords not accepting or discriminating against those persons using
housing vouchers.
C. The plan identified four goals: 1) advance equity with fair housing advocacy, education, and
enforcement, 2) increase and promote safe, affordable housing, 3) implement local government
policies that encourage equity and decrease disparate impact, 4) increase access to opportunity
and the building of social capital.
2. Enact a Source of Income Ordinance
A. Pass an ordinance if strategies that encourage acceptance of housing vouchers aren’t successful
within six months of the EPPP’s Report release.
B. In terms of “Source of Income” denial of rental applications, one strategy other communities have
used is passing a city ordinance that prohibits rental application denials based on this “source of
income.” In February 2017, the City Council made the decision not to pass a Source of Income
Ordinance and instead, try other strategies. According to both City data and our citizen
engagement findings, this problem persists.
C. At the October 27, 2020 session of the Dubuque Housing Commission, the Housing and
Development Department proposed an initiative to monetarily incent landlords to accept vouchers
by bridging their costs for keeping housing units open for voucher holders. There was not
consensus among commissioners around this approach. To bridge the lack of community
consensus and avoid city ordinance battles, other communities have tried a combination of
approaches. For instance, King County, Washington’s “Landlord Liaison Project,” is a cross-
collaborative effort between the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, King County, and the
City of Seattle. The King County Housing Authority staffs three “Owner Liaisons” who build
relationships with new partners and strengthen existing partnerships with landlords to encourage
participation in the HCV Program. Los Angeles County's Homeless Prevention Initiative funds the
County's Homeless Incentive Program pays holding fees, rental application fees, vacancy loss
claims, and damage claims for voucher holders who have been homeless.
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D. Other promising alternatives to source-of-income ordinances being tested across the country
include: helping tenants pay security deposits or negotiating other arrangements regarding
damages; offering bonuses to landlords for joining the program; and making it easier to complete
administrative steps and communicate with the Public Housing Authority.
E. The City could also provide a hot-line for landlords to call with problems and questions, for fast-
tracking inspections, and to permit paying rent by electronic deposit.
3. Train Resident Housing Inspectors
A. We recommend a citizen-driven approach to revamping inspections in the form of Citizen
Inspectors, modeled after a similar program in D.C.
B. The District of Columbia’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA)’s launched a
Resident Inspectors program as part of its reform initiative in the aftermath of an August 18, 2019
fire that killed a 9-year old boy: Housing inspectors had not followed up quickly enough on
complaints. DCRA decided to take the innovative approach to “hire and train an army of citizen
inspectors who can perform much-needed inspections in their spare time. Think of it as an Uber
app, but for inspections.” The program has created income for people serving as trained,
independent contractors, and streamlined the inspection process.
C. DCRA trains residents to perform housing, illegal construction, and vacant building inspections, and
then pays the trained inspectors whenever they successfully complete an inspection.
D. Trained Resident Inspectors get paid between $30 and $100 per inspection. More than 800 people
have been trained as citizen inspectors; about one-third are women. In the first year of the program,
citizen inspectors have conducted more than 2,500 inspections.
4. Adopt Inclusionary Zoning
A. Inclusionary zoning is a tool used by hundreds of jurisdictions nationwide — it requires developers to
set aside a fraction of newly constructed housing units to be affordable to lower-income households.
Inclusionary zoning can help to reduce racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, which
tend to produce negative impacts for residential health, educational achievement, and economic
mobility.
B. Montgomery County, Maryland, is the oldest example of inclusionary zoning and is widely touted for
dispersing affordable units relatively evenly throughout the jurisdiction. Its moderately priced
dwelling unit program requires that 15 percent of units in new developments of 50 or more dwelling
units be set aside for affordability. The program has produced more than 12,500 units since it
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started in 1974. The county’s inclusionary zoning laws require developers to set aside 12 to 15
percent of new homes at below-market rates and allow the public housing authority to purchase a
portion of these units. As a result, two-thirds of public housing residents in Montgomery County live
in economically diverse, low-poverty neighborhoods.
5. Consider Enacting a “Just Cause” Eviction Ordinance
A. Just cause eviction ordinances are a form of tenant protection designed to prevent arbitrary,
retaliatory, or discriminatory evictions by establishing that landlords can only evict renters for
specific reasons — just causes — such as failure to pay rent.
B. The City of Oakland passed its Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance in 2002. It includes 11 legally
defined "just causes" for eviction In recent years, average rent in Oakland more than doubled due to
the Bay Area housing crisis. Facing unprecedented displacement pressures, voters passed Measure
JJ in 2016 to strengthen the city's just cause protections and expand coverage to about 12,000
more units. The city council is currently considering actions to end fraudulent owner move-in
evictions.
C. In 2017, San Jose enacted the Tenant Protection Ordinance implementing just cause
protections. Amid soaring Silicon Valley rents and a shortage of affordable housing, the city council
required landlords to cite one of a dozen reasons for eviction, distinguishing between "just causes"
based on tenant actions and "no-fault just causes," which require relocation benefits paid to tenants.
6. Create an Eviction Study Group
A. The Eviction Study Group would assess the legal resources renters have when facing eviction and
identify the most frequent circumstances surrounding eviction, and ask – what could have been
done to intervene? For example, national studies show that single back women with children have
highest eviction rates.
B. Questions that the Eviction Study Group may pose and explore include: Are evictions related to
becoming unemployed or facing a health care crisis/illness in the family? Who is monitoring the
impact of COVID-19 on evictions especially when the moratorium is lifted on deferred rental and
mortgage payments.
7. Increase Funding for Legal Representation for Renters Facing Eviction
A. Preventing evictions is a key strategy to equitable poverty prevention. Our understanding is that
Iowa’s Legal Aid already provides representation for some Dubuquers facing eviction. However, the
Dubuque City Council should have the benefit of city-specific research findings and a budget
proposal to assess and increase as necessary the cost of providing legal representation for
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Dubuquers facing eviction. This may come in the form of a pilot proposal or city ordinance. The
proposal-building process can start with data that we have been unable to obtain. Mirroring the
2019 Analysis of Impediments and given the pandemic’s impact, we’ve recommended a tightly
time-limited eviction study to enable the city to access and compile data to inform next steps.
B. In 2017, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito
announced that the city would become the first in the nation to provide legal assistance to all low-
income tenants facing eviction. In 2014, a $62 million pilot program in the city prevented nearly
5,000 evictions resulting in the city’s lowest eviction rate in a decade. To cover the costs of the new
program, the city’s eviction legal aid spending will increase by $93 million, over the course of
five years.
C. The Eviction Defense Collaborative in San Francisco, provides pro bono assistance to tenants facing
legal proceedings brought by their landlords. The San Francisco Tenants Union provides volunteer
advice and support at a regular drop-in clinic, but, like many groups, does not provide legal
representation in court.
D. Boulder, CO, residents recently approved by a nearly-60 percent vote Ballot Issue 2B to ensure legal
representation for all tenants facing eviction in the city. Ballot Issue 2B will also establish a rental
assistance fund and an education process that will notify Boulder renters of their rights.
8. Enhance and/or Repurpose Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Resources
A. HTF’s are funds established by cities, counties, or states to provide dedicated, ongoing public
revenue to support affordable housing. They provide an important source of financing for
affordable housing preservation and development, which may not otherwise be reliably funded in a
city’s budget. HTFs can play a role in comprehensive equitable housing solutions by focusing on
projects that provide for long-term affordability and serve very low-income households, people of
color, and other historically disadvantaged communities, including those in danger of
displacement.
B. The Iowa Legislature created the Local Housing Trust Fund program, and Dubuque is certified
under this legislation. We encourage exploring the outcomes of trust fund use now and
consideration of enhancing and/or repurposing it for use with local residents.
C. The Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas provides a
“Community Toolbox,” including poignant and fact-filled videos, a resource that the city might use
to help everyone in the community understand why safe, affordable housing matters.
9. Create a “Housing & Student School Life” Study Group
A. Dubuque could create a “Housing & Student School Life” Study Group that includes teachers, Home
Connectors, School Principals and parents to address the relationship of housing changes to a
child’s well-being and performance in school.
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B. Issues needing study, suggested by the Home Connector Focus Group, include why people who
are poor move at the rate they do within the school district; the eviction rates within the areas served
by the five Title 1 schools; transient moves of students, by school; enrollment and turnover in pre-
school; the distance traveled to such programs, and the extent to which these figures are affected
by affordable housing; and the impact of housing moves on children’s development.
10. More Aggressive Testing for Fair Housing
A. As a result of residents reporting they perceive potential bias and/or discrimination in public and
private housing practices, the City has recently engaged in a small pilot.
B. This pilot should remain a priority providing an external and independent fair housing testing
program to identify the problems members of protected classes face when seeking housing in
Dubuque.
EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING & CHILD CARE
1. Promote Employer Child Care Assistance
A. Under the framework of the “Living Wage Certificate” discussed extensively in the Economic
Insecurity section of this report, Employer Child Care Assistance would be cited as a criteria for a
business to earn a Living Wage Certificate.
B. Child care strategies proposed from the MIT report discussed earlier in this section involving
employers and focusing on advocacy, should also be adopted and prioritized.
C. Child care in Dubuque can also be strengthened by promoting flex-time and remote work from
home, and offering emergency childcare vouchers that would allow parents to work while children
are sick, rather than having to take the day off and forego wages.
2. Advocate for Full-Time Four-Year-Old Preschool
A. Dubuque should focus local and regional advocacy efforts into full-time preschool at the state level.
The state’s “universal” program four four and five-year olds currently funds preschool at a half-time
rate.
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3. Create a Task Force on Child Care Deserts & the Child Care Worker Shortage
A. This task force should be encouraged and/or facilitated by the Office of Shared Prosperity and would
allow to the City to better address child care demand and quality with a deeper understanding of the
issue from a data lens. The Task Force’s focus would be on increasing the number of child care slots
and number of child care workers to meet Dubuque families’ demand for quality care. The Task
Force would explore with child care providers ways in which to support and incentivize a high quality
child care workforce in Dubuque.
B. Specifically, the City of Dubuque would benefit from more specific information on the challenges and
needs of families in Census Tracts 1 and 5.
C. With a stronger understanding of the challenges facing families in these areas, a City Task Force on
Child Care Deserts may prove extremely beneficial in improving access, quality, and affordability for
families.
4. Support Community Foundation’s “Every Child Reads” Efforts to Unify Community Action Around
Early Care and Education
A. The campaign’s Summer Academy increased reading proficiency levels by 12% in one school year
and collaboration between early education and secondary success is well underway.
B. Early learning efforts should be approached from a specific equity lens, with a distinct eye on
outcomes for these students. “Every Child Reads” provides strong infrastructure for these efforts.
C. For an impactful video on the impact of the national Every Child Reads program also featuring the
Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, click here.
5. Promote the Adoption of a City-Wide Framework for Early Learning
A. Early learning and child care must be addressed through a collective impact model across all City
programs and stakeholders. Such an approach may identify grade-level reading proficiency as a
unifying goal across a crowded – and, at times, chaotic – landscape of early care and education.
B. The Office of Shared Prosperity could facilitate finding and providing seed money to support an
agency/entity to head up a collaborative that would seek out community solutions to address a lack
of school readiness, chronic absence, and summer learning loss, and help parents succeed in their
critical roles as first teacher and best advocates.
C. Among other existing state resources and principles that the City can deploy in developing this
framework are the Iowa Early Learning Standards and Early Childhood Iowa’s focus on the first 2,000
days (the time between birth and the first day of kindergarten).
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6. Annual “Youth Summit” to Address Youth Prosperity
The Office of Shared Prosperity could generate seed money for such a summit that would
involve young people in the planning and hosting. One feature of the summit would be to
present an annual update on the needs of young people told through data and identifiable
outcomes that can be quantified to measure ongoing progress. The mission of the summit in
convening a wide-array of stakeholders involved with youth throughout Dubuque – along with
them – would be to learn, analyze, enhance, celebrate and create innovative ways that prevent
this vulnerable group from falling through the cracks, so they too, can prosper.
7. Facilitate Safe Learning Initiative
The nonprofit “Partnership with Children” works within schools to provide trauma-informed counseling
for children and families living with toxic stress. The organization also partners with parents to
encourage them to reinforce its work at home. “The antidote to toxic stress—nurturing relationships and
consistent feelings of safety—works if it’s in all the child’s environments,” said Executive Director
Margaret Crotty.278
Their full-time staff work in NYC public schools to create trauma-informed, safe and supportive
environments. The consistent availability of our social workers for day-to-day guidance, crisis
intervention, and mentoring is critical to help students access care and feel anchored to their school.
Knowing that there is always an adult there who cares about them, knows their story, and helps them
make sound choices makes a profound difference in their health and their lives. The group works in
partnership with the schools and raises funds through a wide range of foundations and individual
donors. This could serve as a model to also use student interns in the fields of child development,
social work and psychology.
278 https://partnershipwithchildren.org
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City of Dubuque Agency & Service Organizations
Insights On Poverty Survey
Your insights as a local organization providing services to residents experiencing poverty are invaluable to us. The City of Dubuque has
asked the public policy consulting group of Public Works LLC to facilitate the development of a city wide "Equitable Poverty Prevention
Plan" of which this survey is a key component.
Best wishes in all that you do to enhance the quality of life among our citizenry.
YOUR INSIGHTS ON POVERTY
Please respond to these questions in the context of prior to COVID-19. We have a few questions on the pandemic's overall impact
on your services at the end of this survey.
We'd love to learn your insights as to the rationale for your answer:
1.Would you say that poverty has increased, stayed the same or decreased in Dubuque over the past three
years?
Increased
Stayed the Same
Decreased
2. Overall, how large of a challenge do you think poverty is in Dubuque? Would you say it's:
Very Large
Large
Moderate
Minimal
Not sure
1
Appendix B
224
Very High
Degree High Degree
Moderate
Degree Low Degree Not A Factor Unsure
Generational Poverty
Lack of Jobs
Low Wages
Lack of Transportation
Lack of Education/Skills
Training
Impaired Brain Health
(Addictions, Mental
Health Conditions)
Poor Physical Health
Any thoughts you'd like to share re: the above?
3.Below is the first set of common factors that contribute towards poverty. To what degree do you think each
plays in causing and/or sustaining poverty among the people you serve?
Very High
Degree High Degree
Moderate
Degree Low Degree Not A Factor Unsure
Systemic Bias/Racism
Lack of Affordable
Housing
Food Insecurity
Lack of Childcare
Lack of Early Childhood
Education
Living in unsafe
neighborhoods &
housing conditions
Any thoughts you'd like to share re: the above?
4.Below is the second set of common factors that contribute towards poverty. To what degree do you think
each plays in causing and/or sustaining poverty among the people you serve?
2
225
Any thoughts you'd like to share with us on poverty and race?
5.To what degree do you think there's a connection between poverty and race?
High
Moderate
Minimal
Not At All
ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION
6.Which best describes your organization? (Check those that apply)
Non-profit 501 C 3
Non-profit
Faith-based entity
Government agency (County, City, State, Federal)
Civic Organization (e.g. an association, foundation, service club)
For-profit Organization
Private sector business
Educational Entity
Other (please specify):
7.Would you please share your organization's Mission Statement? Or in a few sentences describe what you
do:
8.Do you provide direct services for those experiencing poverty?
Yes
No
Not Sure
3
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9.What are your organization's CORE services? (Services that are most frequently used by clients and/or
consume most of your resources). Check those that apply:
Educational Services
Counseling
Restorative Justice Programs
Brain Health (Mental health conditions)
Financial Assistance
Health Care
Addiction Services and/or Rehabilitation
Emergency Shelter/Women's Shelter
Housing
Food (Pantry, Congregate Meals, Home Delivered Meals)
Workforce Training & Employment
Youth Development Programs
Children Services (Adoption, Counseling, Foster Care)
Child Day Care & After School Care
Transportation
Legal Services
Veteran Support Services
Aging Population Support & Services
Case Management/Information & Referral
Legal Services
Immigrant/Refugee/English Learners Services
Other (please specify)
If more than 5,000, please just enter the number:
10.About how many Unduplicated people did you serve this past year (Jan - Dec 2019)? Please note that
serving one person twice should still only count as one person. If you do not know the answer, skip the
question.
11.About how many staff do you employ?
1-5
6-10
11-20
21-30
31-50
51-75
76-100
101+
4
227
12.Which of the following best reflects your total budget for last year?
Under $50,000
$50,001 - 75,000
$75,001 - 100,000
$100,001 -150,000
$150,001 - 175,000
$175,001 - 200,000
$200,001 - $250,000
$250,001 - $300,000
$300,001 - $500,000
If more than $500,000, please enter the number:
1 -20%21-40%41-60%61-80%81-100%
Public Funds
(government)
Grants (e.g. from United
Way, foundations,
charitable organizations)
Private Donations
(individual, Business
Sector)
Third Party Payment
(Medicaid, Medicare,
Insurance)
Client out-of-pocket
payments
Other (please specify with a percent)
13.About what percent of your budget comes from the following services? If you don't know the answer, skip
the question. However, it would be helpful, if you asked someone in your organization to give you the
answers. Or send them to: lrhodes@public-works.org.
14.About what percent of those that you served the past year are at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty
Level? (FPL in 2020 is $38,625 annual income for family of four). Please give your best guess, if you don't
have actual data available. If you do not know, simply skip this question.
0 100
5
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15.How do most of your clients learn about your organization?
Word of Mouth
Agency/Case Manager Referrals
Advertising/Publicity Campaigns
Brochures Placed in the Community
Online Searches
Community Events (e.g. expos)
Other (please specify)
Strongly Agree Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly Disagree
The hundreds of
organizations serving the
poor in Dubuque
collaborate with each
other.
Services are easy to
access in Dubuque for
people experiencing
poverty.
We have at least three
agencies that we work
closely with in serving
the poor.
We participate in
outreach events that
inform potential clients
about our services.
Too many agencies are
competing for too few
resources.
People needing services
are falling through the
cracks.
Agencies require too
many forms and
eligibility criteria for
clients to navigate.
16.How much do each of the following statements reflect how you feel?
17.Do you have any suggestions on how to enhance collaboration among organizations and offer user-
friendly access to those services?
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229
18.Any thoughts on how to maximize, consolidate and/or leverage resources across agencies serving clients
experiencing poverty?
COVID-19 IMPACT ON POVERTY
19.Since the COVID-19 Pandemic are you seeing new clients that you haven't served before?
Yes
No
Not Sure
20.If you answered yes, could you describe the circumstances and needs of this new population?
Please share the rationale of your answer:
21.Since the COVID-19 Pandemic are you seeing more of your regular clientele?
Yes: A Significant increase.
Yes: A Modest Increase
No: It's About the Same
No: It's less than before
22.To what degree do you see unemployment as the prime reason you are
seeing more clients over the last 3 months?
Very High Degree
High Degree
Moderate Degree
Low Degree
No change from prior to COVID-19
We have no idea
7
230
23. How much do you agree with the following statement?
The pandemic is going to have a very serious impact on those experiencing poverty over the course of the next
12 months.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Unsure
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Any additional thoughts as to why you feel this way?
CONTACT DATA
24.It would be very helpful to know of the organizations that participated in this survey. Please be assured that
your answers are confidential and only shared in the aggregate.
Name
Organization
Title
Address
City
State
ZIP/Postal Code
Email Address
Phone Number
8
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Appendix C
232
233
Dubuque Community
Equitable Poverty
Prevention Plan
Presentation to the
City Council Work Session
January 11, 2021
AGENDA
•Watch “Taking on Poverty”
•Review the Scope of Work of the
Project
•How We Went About Our Work
•Understanding Poverty in Dubuque
•Determinants of Poverty
•Overview
•What We Heard You Say
•Promising Practices to
Consider
•Infrastructure
•What’s Next
Scope of
Work
•Describe the State of Poverty in Dubuque.
•Identify Services and Initiatives to Address
Poverty.
•Gather Community Insights on Experiencing
and Engaging Poverty.
•Identify Promising Practices to Reverse
Poverty.
•Develop “Caucus for Community” Sessions on
Promising Practices.
•Produce the Equitable Poverty Prevention
Plan Report
How We Went About Our Work
State of Poverty
Data analysis, ACS
Census, Lit Review,
studies in Dubuque.
Engagement
Interviews, Surveys,
Focus Groups, Caucuses
= 400 people reached.
Matrix of Agencies
Created inventory of
200+ agencies
serving poor.
Determinants of Poverty
Determinants
Identified and analyzed 8
causes of poverty
impacting Dubuquers.
Promising Practices
National search to
identify 57 best
practices for the City
and community to
consider.
Taking on Poverty
Video & EPPP Report
Produce the Equitable
Poverty Prevention Plan
Report and video.
UNDERSTANDING POVERTY
DEFINING
Poverty in
Dubuque
Most simply, an economic state when one’s income
can’t cover the basic needs of everyday life.
•Situational: Due to a life event (e.g. death, job loss,
poor health, pandemic).
•Generational: two generations experiencing
poverty. No wealth to fall back on or hand down.
•Extreme Poverty: living at 50% below Federal
Poverty Level.
•Concentrated: high numbers of poor living in
neighborhoods. Census tracts 1 and 5 are such
areas in Dubuque.
MEASURING
Poverty in
Dubuque
Official Poverty Measure (OPM) Significantly
Underestimates Poverty Levels
RISING
Poverty in
Dubuque
This shows a 60%
increase over the
last ten years and
the rate continues
to rise.
10% 15% 16%
RACIAL
DISPARITIES
Poverty in
Dubuque
The Black community in
Dubuque is four times as
likely to be poor as their
White neighbors, almost
twice as likely as Blacks
statewide, and two and a
half times as likely to live in
poverty as Blacks
nationwide.
TAKING ON POVERTY:
THE DETERMINANTS
DETERMINANTS
Poverty in
Dubuque
Nearly 60% of
Service Providers
see poverty as a
Very Large or Large
Challenge in Dubuque.
(Pre-COVID-19)
ECONOMIC INSECURITY
Barriers to Building Wealth:
•Wages are low; not considered a “Living Wage.”
•Many poor work part -time jobs. Higher the hourly
wage, less hours offered.
•Lack of banking leads to costly payday lenders.
•Fees & Fines contribute to a spiral of debt.
•Cliff Effect traps workers into low wage jobs.
•“Check the Box” traps released adults from prison from
jobs, housing, loans, education.
Of unemployed
women live in
poverty.
PROMISING PRACTICES
1. City promotes a Living Wage Certificate among employers.
2. Create a Financial Empowerment Collaborative to explore ”Social
Enterprise Opportunities” among Anchor Institutions.
3. Promote Financial Equity practices among banks & Home Ownership.
4. Pass City Ordinance on “Ban the Box” and promote Fair Chance Pledge.
5. Provide “Fees & Fines” relief among persons in poverty.
6. Support mentoring programs to assist poor in getting jobs and Financial
Literacy.
ECONOMIC
INSECURITY
TRANSPORTATION
•A disconnect between those who design the public
transit system and those who use it.
•Bus system considered confusing, routes are too
long, and limited. Not conducive to getting or
keeping a job.
•It’s expensive to get a car and maintain a used car.
•Need to address synchronizing transit with school
schedules and state 2-mile radius code impacting
low-income children.
Of public
transportation
patrons report
annual income of
less than $35,000.
PROMISING PRACTICES
1.Employers consider on-demand ride-share collaboratives for employees
during off-schedule hours.
2.Conduct Study on 2-mile radius impact on attendance among Title 1
elementary schools.
3.Consider consumer-directed ride model for the Jule.
4.Consider family discounts, off-peak fare cuts & Transit Checks.
5.Conduct comprehensive assessment with consumer input in addressing
issues raised by focus groups and interviews.
TRANSPORTATION
EDUCATION & SKILLS TRAINING
•Up to one-third of students in Title 1
elementary schools move during the school
year.
•Impact of poverty on children is high; creates
need for trauma-informed care & teaching.
•Need for family engagement –Home Connector
model very helpful and needed.
•Need for greater access for youth in poverty to
gain access to higher ed and skill training.
Proficiency scores of
children in Title 1
Elementary Schools
lower than district
average by 20
percent.
L
O
W
E
R
PROMISING PRACTICES
1.Create City-Wide “Prosperity Coordinating Council” bringing
together education and the determinants of poverty to
holistically integrate services & delivery.
2.Co-sponsor career-oriented programs for youth.
3.Continue to support & enhance mentoring of persons returning
from incarceration.
4. Continue & enhance funding for youth programs.
5.Support Dubuque Community School District on initiatives that
increase collaboration with teachers, students & families with
community services and City-sponsored programs.
EDUCATION &
SKILLS TRAINING
HEALTH & FOOD INSECURITY
Of County Health
Needs Assessment
survey respondents
say providers don’t
accept Medicaid
(2018).
1.Difficulty finding Medicaid providers for health care is
seen as a major issue.
2.The opioid crisis & other drug addictions are very serious
and accessing services is difficult.
3.Mental and Brain Health services are in great need;
accessing them is difficult.
4.Those in focus groups experiencing poverty report that
mental & brain health highly affected by trauma & stress.
5.In Dubuque County 13% of children are food insecure. A
high proportion of children in Title 1 schools rely on their
free lunch and breakfast as their main meals of the day.
PROMISING PRACTICES
1.Establish “Community Health Network” to encourage more peer -to-
peer health education at neighborhood level.
2.Through the Data Collaborative develop deep data with health care
groups, social services, schools, County Health Department to track
health outcomes.
3.Continue support of Community Brain Health initiatives.
4.Facilitate creation of Food Pantry App for easy access & scheduling,
gather info from consumers.
5.Create jobs along food distribution chain.
HEALTH & FOOD
INSECURITY
RACIAL EQUITY
•Blacks & People of Color on all measures of
prosperity fare significantly worse than whites.
•Blacks incur very high arrest rates for
marijuana possession & disproportionate
suspension rates from high-school.
•Blacks & PoC can’t build wealth: low-paying
jobs, unbanked, pay high interest rates.
•Health disparities high among Blacks & PoC.
In the city, nearly sixty
percent of Blacks (56%)
live in poverty; as do 22%
of Latinx and 38 %
percent of Marshallese
compared to 13 percent
of Whites.
American Community Survey, U.S. Census,
2018
PROMISING PRACTICES
1.Create a Racial Equity Index to identify, track & measure outcomes to
reverse disparities among poverty determinants.
2.The School Resource Officer Committee consider suggestions cited in this
report for further analysis.
3.Create a “Diversion Work Group” with advocacy groups among the Black
community and justice system to analyze arrests & divert youth/adults
from jail.
4.Add a Social Worker to work with and accompany police on calls that are
domestic and/or brain and mental health related.
5.Keep Talking (e.g. Real Talk, Switching Places). Use “All Community Reads”
via library to read, “So You Want to Talk About Race.”
RACIAL EQUITY
HOUSING
•Affordable safe housing is out of reach for most
low-income persons forcing them into subpar
housing.
•The rent burden is high among people in
poverty and only 17% of those eligible for a
federally funded housing voucher in Dubuque
receive one.
•Dubuque has two of the highest concentrated
neighborhoods of people living in poverty in the
state (Tracts 1 and 5). (https://247wallst.com/)
The percent of Housing
Units that do not accept
housing vouchers in city
of Dubuque.
Source: Housing Authority, Email
on Housing Voucher Statistics,
November 5, 2020.
PROMISING PRACTICES
1.Adopt a Source of Income Ordinance for acceptance of Housing Vouchers
among low-income persons.
2.Consider a pilot for training “Resident/Citizen Inspectors” that can support
Housing Inspectors & expand pilot on Testing for Fair Housing.
3.Implement & prioritize the recommendations in the 2019 Proposed Fair
Housing Plan. Pursue Rapid Re-Housing Strategies & Inclusionary Zoning.
4.Enact a Just Cause Eviction Ordinance, create an Eviction Study Group and
increase funding for legal representation of renters facing eviction.
5.Create a “Housing & School Life” Study Group to address relationship of housing
to a child’s well-being & school performance.
HOUSING
CHILDREN & YOUTH
•Living in poverty is considered an Adverse
Childhood Event with lifetime consequences.
•One in four third graders are not reading at grade
level in Dubuque –a strong predictor of not
graduating from high-school.
•The lack of affordable quality child care in
Dubuque is high & prevents employment of
parents.
•Pandemic-related learning loss among low
income families faced with digital divide will
require innovative intervention.
One-third of children
under the age of 5 years
lives below the Official
Poverty Measure in the
city of Dubuque.
PROMISING PRACTICES
1.Business sector is key in offering child care assistance onsite or via
vouchers. Adopt ideas presented in “Child Care Access in Greater Dubuque”
report (Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque).
2. Create a Task Force on Child Care Deserts and Child Care Worker Shortage.
3. Advocate for state-funded full-day Pre-K for four-year-old children.
4. Support “Every Child Reads” efforts to unify community action around early
care and education.
5. Facilitate launching a “Safe Learning Environment” initiative within schools
to provide trauma-informed counseling for students & their families.
6.Hold an annual “Youth Summit” to address young people’s prosperity
(teens and college age group). Collect and analyze data to assess needs &
track outcomes.
CHILDREN & YOUTH
TAKING ON POVERTY: INFRASTRUCTURE
OBSTACLES TO ACCESS
•Over 200 organizations provide services to
low-income persons among 26 categories.
•Each group has its own application &
eligibility requirements.
•Each group has its own data for analysis.
•Focus Groups with those experiencing
poverty report navigating the maze of
service providers as extremely difficult.
Of Providers say
there are “too
many forms to fill
out.”
PROMISING PRACTICES
1. Develop a Benefits Screening Universal Core Application
2. Reimagine the Library as a Point of Friendly Access
3. Subsidize Internet Access in Low-Income Neighborhoods
4. Develop Digital Equity Plan
ACCESS TO
SERVICES
COLLECTIVE IMPACT v. SILOS
•Despite a myriad of programs, reports, and studies on
poverty, it remains on the rise.
•Moving to a Collective Impact Model requires a
convener with backbone organizations addressing
specific areas of poverty that are in sync.
•Objective is to provide strategic coherence,
stakeholder engagement, communications, data
collection and coordination to systemically address
poverty.
•
PROMISING PRACTICE: OFFICE OF SHARED PROSPERITY
Of providers agree
that, “People are
falling through the
cracks.”
FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLE
Taking on poverty and bringing about shared prosperity in the
City of Dubuque is a community “all hands-on deck” endeavor. It
requires every sector –business, financial, education,
philanthropic, faith-based, non-profit, government and advocates
–to address the widespread impact of poverty among us and
reverse its course.
QUESTIONS & COMMENTS
WHAT’S NEXT?