Page 22 - BusinessWest July 7, 2025

“That’s an important part of this,
this connection to employers,” she said.
“We’re really connected to training and
working with employers to advance
them to a living wage job, or a family-
sustaining wage job, so when they lose
benefits, they’ll be in a better position
at the end of the two years.”
The final step is a $10,000 asset-
building payment, awarded after
two years to support life-changing
investments, such as moving to a
better home or purchasing reliable
transportation.
“We see that as a transformational
investment for families,” Joyce told
BusinessWest. “It’s an active invest-
“To create economic opportunity, we
must remove obstacles for people as they
work to earn a livable wage by making
sure that we do not strip away public
benefits too rapidly.”
ANNE KANDILIS
ment in families.”
When the pilot program was
announced in 2022, Laura Sylvester,
Y o u r A l l- S e r v i c e C o n t r a c t o r
Public Policy manager at the Food
Bank of Western Massachusetts, noted
that many households who receive
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emergency food at member food
pantries and meal sites are directly
impacted by the cliff effect. “Fear of
losing benefits prevents people from
advancing in their careers, keeping
them trapped in a cycle of poverty. It is
a major cause of food insecurity and
economic instability.”
That’s why supporters of this pro-
gram hope it will be a meaningful first
step toward addressing the cliff effect
on a much broader scale in Massa-
chusetts, including through legislative
solutions.
To that end, Springfield WORKS is
also part of Beyond the Cliff, a national
coalition with organizations in 12 other
states, that grapples with legislative
and policy solutions to the cliff effect.
Models that have been discussed
include benefit policy changes — like
more gradual benefit reductions,
increased income eligibility, and tax
credits — as well as greater employer
engagement on this issue, more
robust workforce development pro-
grams, and addressing systemic bar-
riers like lack of transportation, child-
care, and healthcare.
Looking Ahead
Anne Kandilis, director of Spring-
field WORKS, called the pilot “a
tremendous victory for workers and
families throughout the Common-
wealth” when it was announced. “To
create economic opportunity, we must
remove obstacles for people as they
work to earn a livable wage by making
sure that we do not strip away public
benefits too rapidly.”
Joyce noted that, as the pilot is
expanded to 100 participants — again,
in the Springfield, Worcester, and
Boston areas — the idea is to study
outcomes that will inform policy and
system solutions to the cliff going
forward.
“The end goal is to eliminate the
cliff effect and make policies so that
families are not on a poverty track,”
she told BusinessWest. “We’re not
looking to drop people into a benefit
state, but support them as they move
into family-sustaining jobs.”
Bedsides United Way Pioneer Val-
ley, Worcester Community Action
Council, and Women’s Money Mat-
ters, other supporting partners with
the program include the Food Bank
of Western Massachusetts, Massachu-
setts Economic Pathways Coalition,
Baystate Health, Boston Medical Cen-
ter, the Massachusetts Department of
Transitional Assistance, Boston Foun-
dation, Ceres Foundation, JP Morgan
Chase, Massachusetts Community
Health and Healthy Aging Funds,
MassMutual Foundation, UpTogether,
and a number of legislative advocates,
including state Sen. Adam Gomez
and state Reps. Pat Duffy and Carlos
Gonzalez.
Cliff
Continued on page 44 >>
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