The American dream is built on the idea that the harder you work, the more resources you will have to support your family. Yet, for millions of working Americans who are receiving public benefits, this is simply not the case.
The American dream is built on the idea that the harder you work, the more resources you will have to support your family. Yet, for millions of working Americans who are receiving public benefits, this is simply not the case.
To Combat this issue:
TAEM partners increase family stability and economic advancement through family-centered coaching, benefits cliff focused financial counseling, resource navigation, and accelerated education and training for in-demand jobs.
Alongside these supports, TAEM provides an innovative transitional benefit that mitigates the cliff effect through direct payments to a family’s childcare, housing, healthcare, and food security providers when an individual increases their employment and experiences the cliff effect.
The goal of the transitional benefit is not only to meet family need but highlight the way in which the benefits cliff acts as a disincentive to pursue upward economic mobility and keeps families tethered to systems of low-paying, wage-labor jobs.
The work of TAEM is meant to address the failure of the federal safety net and illustrate how the benefits cliff disincentives upward economic mobility and self-sufficiency. Through this work, we are creating a local proof point for what is possible when the benefits cliff is removed, revisioning the American Dream as a goal that is achievable for all families nationwide.
Martha O’Bryan organized the Tennessee Alliance for Economic Mobility (TAEM) as a public-private collaborative to co-design a new vision for the Tennessee Safety Net that could be scaled statewide and ultimately become a model for the nation. The collaborative includes community-based organizations, faith-based institutions, government agencies, and community and technical colleges in 7 Middle Tennessee counties, and provides direct support to families through the direct program named: Our Chance TN.