RENEE TIMBERLAKE
BREAKINGDOWN BARRIERS United Way strives to eliminate detrimental benefit cliffs. By Jill Sell
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34 COMMUNITY LEADER | AUGUST 2022
just one part of the United Way of Greater Cleveland’s Social Determinants of Work (SDoW) Initiative, helping workers face employment barriers. “State and federal governments create benefit cliffs and we can’t change that, although it is a long-term goal,” says Renee Timberlake, director of economic mobility for the United Way. “Our approach includes mitigating cliffs so when someone hits one, a bridge can be built for them to get across. Also, we provide employers with alternative practices or policies to better support their employees when change hits them.” United Way of Greater Cleveland and Towards Employment (a workforce development provider in Cleveland) have identified additional SDoW from previously created ones: job flexibility, health care, childcare, transportation, sustained
education, home and community health, broadband access and access to justice. United Way also has a strong commitment to “bring to light and undo systemic, historic inequities associated with SDoW.” Based on recent local discussions, Timberlake says many people are not aware of SDoW but are open to solutions. “Most people who manage and run companies have never experienced being on public assistance or don’t have a social circle of people who have,” Timberlake explains. “So, there is a real class difference between the employees who experience it and managers who haven’t.”
A Win-Win Lessening or eliminating SDoW barriers is a huge, obvious plus for affected employees. But Timberlake says employers
COURTESY UNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND
he case files say it all. One woman who was making $13 an hour received a 20-cent hourly raise from her employer. Her new income total pushed her above the eligibility income for certain federal benefits. The woman lost her SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) federal help. She has six children. Another individual had a job where her pay was raised to $17 an hour. But that $80 more per month meant she lost her $700-a-month housing waiver and child care waiver. She is a single mom with two kids. Benefit cliffs occur when someone earns new or increased income that disqualifies that individual from some or all of the public benefit, creating a net loss of income. Dealing with that concern is
