Binghamton, NY – A series of recommendations aimed at alleviating poverty locally and across the state were presented Tuesday by a group formed out of the region’s anti-poverty initiative. The suggested legislative changes are part of the two-year effort initiated by the State to find ways to help individuals and families living in poverty.

“When the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative began, evaluating current law and developing suggested policy changes was identified as a primary objective,” said members of the local policy team. “We engaged local residents and topic experts to find the biggest barriers to success and came up with potential changes in law that can have an impact over a long period of time. We are sharing these recommendations with elected officials at all levels of government.”

Early in the local anti-poverty initiative’s work, a lack of adequate child care, housing, and transportation were identified as factors that hold many people back from achieving their full potential. The policy team focused on these topics and developed recommendations on the municipal, county, and state levels. Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, who helped secure state budget funding to create the ESPRI program joined the policy team at Tuesday’s announcement.

“Poverty is a deep-seated problem that is going to take a comprehensive approach to address,” Lupardo said. “Some of these topics are already being discussed in Albany, but having everyone moving in the same direction will really help.”

The policy team’s recommendations have been shared with each city, town, county, and state representative in Broome County.