Benefits

Public assistance programs provide essential support and income stabilization to low-income families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities, especially during difficult economic times.

Throughout its history, MLRI’s has tackled systemic barriers to accessing benefits. Through its annual Basic Benefits Training series, a collaboration with the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, it has provided technical training to legal aid and social service advocates that help low-income individuals access public benefit programs.

Our public benefits advocates focus on:

• fighting for fair and​ adequately funded​ programs that help low income people meet their basic needs
• advocating for work supports, like child care assistance and job training programs, that help people move out of poverty.
• working to preserve public assistance programs that are critical to the lowest income families and individuals in Massachusetts
• reforming unfair or discriminatory state policies and practices that wrongly deny or deter access to benefits by eligible individuals
• ensuring the voices of poor people are heard in the policy debates that affect their lives