Why are poor people poor?

[Pages:13]Why are poor people poor?

Poverty in the United State is the result of systemic wealth inequality and racial disparity. The top 1% of Americans owns more wealth than the bottom 90% (Kristof, 2014). The middle class used to be the vehicle out of poverty. Yet, with rising income inequality, the middle class is rapidly shrinking, and increasingly being squeezed out of economic opportunities. The result is the widening of the poverty gap where middle and lower-class families are often one paycheck or a health crisis away from poverty, and even homelessness.

In Denver, a city of 700,000 residents, we are increasingly becoming a city for the rich, while exploiting the labor of the poor. For example, 76% of downtown's 23,000 residents are white, wealthy and single (Rubino, 2018). Their average household income is $120,000, nearly double the median income of Denver residents overall (Rubino, 2018). This concentration of wealth in the city's center is not simply the result of "market forces" as our current city leaders contend (Murray, 2017). Rather, market forces are shaped by governmental policies that perpetuate wealth inequality. The government shapes the "free market," including minimum wages, taxes, public spending, and regulations on business (Reich, 2013).

Downtown has been the focus of the city's development, planning, and economic resources to the detriment of economically disadvantaged Denver residents. For example, the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP), a pro-development organization has worked closely with the current administration to build "an economically powerful center city." According to DDP vice president of economic development, "Downtown really is the heart of the community, and the heart of the local economy...This year, we are pleased to be able to report that downtown is performing exceptionally well." Indeed, but to the detriment of struggling families who can't make ends meet. Stagnant wages have not kept pace with cost of living in Denver, which further pushes people into poverty.

As a Black Latina born to teenage parents, I grew up in communities labeled as poor. Like many women, especially African American women, I have faced many barriers to economic mobility, including crushing student loan debt after earning four degrees, including a law degree and doctorate in education. As a former single parent on public assistance, I experienced the brutality of poverty as a child while living in public housing projects. As a mother who sometimes worked more than one job to support my children, I know the importance of a livable wage, and have been fighting for pay increases for over 20 years as a community organizer.

The pillars of my campaign are equity, fairness and justice. One priority is equity for workers and being able to afford to live in the city where they work. If we intend to reverse the trend of poverty and displacement of working-class people from their neighborhoods, then we must support workers with the resources they need to both live and work in this city. Failing to do so

results in a modern form of redlining, where working people are pushed out of the city, while their labor is exploited by those at the top of the economic and political ladder.

A second priority is supporting a livable wage as a starting point for supporting the basic needs of working families, with a commitment to regular increases to keep pace with the rising cost of living in Denver. With the ever-rising cost of living in Denver, working people and their families depend on essential benefits, fair pay, and safe working conditions historically fought for by unions.

Even with these hard won gains, however, the fight continues as workers' rights have been steadily eroded by those who have put their political ambitions and corporate interests over the needs of workers and their families. Unlike the current administration, I support unions and rights of their members to collectively bargain. Union jobs, including apprenticeships, fueled the growth of the middle class by providing a pathway out of poverty.

Poor people are poor due to the combined effects of concentrated wealth favoring the top income earners, intergenerational oppression and ongoing systemic barriers to opportunity for individuals and communities experiencing poverty. Further, poverty is not merely economic hardship; poverty impacts life chances and quality-of-life outcomes. In fact, being born in the wrong zip code--meaning areas of high concentrations of poverty or wealth disparity, lack of access to fresh food, green spaces and healthcare--can result in a shortened lifespan, especially in communities of color (Young, 2017),

Due to wealth inequality, the cycle of poverty starts at birth in our health systems, is perpetuated in our educational systems and in the workforce, returns to our health systems as we age, and then begins again in the next generation, which is cut off from the transfer of wealth and social capital that their more well-off peers have access to. In the United States, communities of color are more likely to be poor because of our country's long history of and institutional support for racism and slavery. As a result, communities of color are more likely to face barriers to economic and social opportunity.

If we want to change the numbers of people in poverty, we need those in (economic and social) power to have the political will to dismantle barriers by investing in communities of color, in passing policies to ensure equity, and transforming the systems and institutions that perpetuate poverty. This includes access to adequate health care (reproductive and beyond), equity in education in all neighborhoods, free college, affordable and accessible transportation, policies to stop modern-day redlining, and much more. I will work to dismantle the systems that keep poor people poor.

Colorado is #3 in the nation for homeless families. Why has homelessness increased exponentially in the metro area? What specifically do you plan to do about it?

Homelessness is a systemic breakdown, not an individual failing. Letting "market forces" rule the day with minimal oversight has led us to the crisis we're in today in Denver. As an example, the rapidly rising rents in Denver (+79% in less than a decade) form one part of this breakdown: When the percentage of income required to pay rent is between 22-32% in a community, then rates of homelessness rise. The current median percentage of income that goes toward rent in Denver is at least 30%, and is presumably much higher for those making well below the median income.

The cascading effects of our affordability crisis (caused in part by incomes lagging behind housing costs, low housing inventory at affordable price points, influx of new Colorado residents over the past two decades) are devastating for those earning the lowest wages or who are otherwise members of our most vulnerable communities. Strengthening tenant protections, ensuring livable wages and stable jobs for workers, and effectively managing affordable housing programs can help prevent homelessness for those affected by these economic causes of it.

But what to do for those who are currently unhoused? This is one of the most polarizing issues in Denver. While I do believe that we have a crisis that impacts the well-being of residents, local businesses and public spaces, I do not agree with the city's solution to it. Criminalizing poverty has never worked to address deeply rooted social problems. If anything, punishing the poor pushes people farther into the shadows by creating more fear and stigmatization.

Families, low-wage workers, and people with mental illness comprise the majority of the our unhoused neighbors. They deserve compassion, not criminalization.

Instead of buying into the false choice of criminalization versus lawlessness, we must implement innovative and evidence-based solutions that have worked in other cities. The path to ending homelessness must be led by a coherent, comprehensive, and consistent strategy that leverages public and private resources to provide multiple pathways to proper shelter, temporary housing, permanent supportive housing, treatment services, and long-term affordable housing in mixed-income communities for those experiencing homelessness. It must also include education and outreach to housed residents and to business owners for resources and best practices in how to engage with and support those experiencing homelessness so that they are equipped with alternatives to involving law enforcement in situations that are better handled by other supportive organizations.

My 20 years of executive nonprofit management experience, including 8 years of working in Denver's jails, has prepared me to move our city in a more humane direction to address risk factors for homelessness including poverty, mental illness and addiction. My academic background, including a law degree and doctorate in education, will guide me in developing solutions that are grounded in evidence, not the politics of fear.

By working together, Denver can be a model for how residents, service providers, business owners and city leaders can create housing for all and improve community well-being. A great city isn't just measured by its wealth, but how it cares for those in need. As Mahatma Gandhi famously stated: "The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members."

The time has come to reject polarizing policies that divide neighbors. Instead, by working together, we can create more compassionate approaches to ending the homelessness crisis while recognizing the humanity in us all.

Our jails are overcrowded, what specifically will you do about it?

My academic, nonprofit, and community activism has focused in large part on criminal justice reform. For 8 years, I oversaw the city's re-entry program, which included education, vocational training, and treatment services to help formerly incarcerated people successfully transition back into their communities. In fact, my doctorate in education focused on jail reforms and improving educational opportunities for adult incarcerated learners. For the past 20 years, I have worked on reducing mass incarceration that is rooted in the legacy of slavery.

There is growing recognition that the "revolving door" to and from jail (and prisons) must be closed. The last ten years of my work justice reform work has focused on supporting effective educational strategies to safely manage justice populations, reduce recidivism, and mitigate the systemic and individual costs of incarceration.

Jails face multiple internal barriers to effective reentry implementation for many reasons (e.g., Belknap, Lynch, & DeHart, 2016). First, logistically it is a challenge for jail administrators to deliver educational services in a locked facility where safety and security take priority. Interruptions due to court appearances, reclassifications, disciplinary infractions, work crew assignments, etc. often impact incarcerated students' learning progression.

Second, many jails do not have adequate budgets allocated for educational services. Administrators often lack time, teaching materials and staff resources to effectively prepare adult incarcerated learners for the reentry process. Third, space is always at a premium in jails, so allocating and scheduling adequate space is a constant challenge (e.g., Lurigio, 2016).

Fourth, some jail staff are resistant to the idea of educating "criminals" who are in jail to be punished. Therefore, culture change has been an ongoing challenge to communicate the value of correctional education. Effective educational programming is not only beneficial for inmates, but also for staff by occupying inmates' time with productive activities, thereby creating a more manageable and potentially less violent jail environment.

Finally, the most daunting challenge is societal since jail populations reflect breakdowns in not only the lives of individuals, but within communities, educational systems and governments (e.g., Belknap et al. 2016; Middlemass, 2017). Incarceration interrupts life cycles by the loss of physical, intellectual and psychological freedoms that reverberates throughout society. The root causes of repeated incarcerations often involve a lifetime of barriers for individuals related to generational poverty, substandard educational systems, trauma exposure, untreated mental illness and inadequate housing. Therefore, a holistic approach is needed to address the needs of incarcerated people for their successful transition back into their communities.

I believe we must take a multi-pronged institutional approach to overcrowding in our jails. First, we must work to fix the city's public safety system and law enforcement, where people are incarcerated for low-level crimes. The city must hire staff who have experience running the public safety system for a city of Denver's size, as well as implement evidence-based and proven strategies for crime reduction.

We must put in place a community-led model, where law enforcement works closely with the community to respond to the issues, and has training on bias and de-escalation strategies. Such partnerships reduce numbers of arrests by responding head-on to the racism and bias in law enforcement, while making them partners in change.

Second, I would continue to implement the programs I have worked hard to create in my own career--educational, mental health and vocational programs--for incarcerated individuals. Third, I have long supported decriminalization of drug possession and would support policies to do this--with as few barriers for people currently incarcerated as possible.

Finally, as an academic who would take an evidence-based approach to addressing some of our city's most intractable social issues, I will always look the the research, data, and other models that are working to reduce our jail population.

Why do you think that African Americans are overrepresented in the jail and prison populations? And what specifically will you do about it?

African Americans are overrepresented in our jail and prison populations because of systems and laws that perpetuate a long history of racism against communities of color in this country. According to a 2017 report by the ACLU-Colorado, nearly 1 in 28 African American men was in jail. Whites are underrepresented in the incarcerated population in Colorado, while Latino, Black and Native Americans are overrepresented. For example, African Americans make up less than 5% of the population of Colorado, but make up 17% of the incarcerated population.

The over-reliance on jails as a criminal justice response to larger social, economic and public health issues has pushed jail populations throughout the country to unprecedented levels. In a startling report, the Vera Institute of Justice identified the "misuse of jails" as having detrimental and lasting impacts on individuals, and destabilizing effects on vulnerable communities (Subramanian, Delaney, Roberts, Fishman, & McGarry, 2015).

Further, the destabilizing effects can be immediate considering that even a few days in jail can have devastating impacts such as a higher likelihood of conviction, more severe sentences, increased criminal behavior, reduced economic opportunities, and poorer health outcomes (Subramanian, et al., 2015). In other words, attempting to increase public safety by locking up more people for longer periods of time is pushing people deeper into the criminal justice system at staggering costs to individuals and to society at large (Lowenkamp, VanNostrand, & Holsinger, 2013).

These destabilizing effects of incarceration at the community level are experienced most profoundly in communities of color and must be viewed within a larger socio-economic and political context that fuels the expansion of the prison industrial complex (e.g., Alexander, 2012; Middlemass, 2017; Richie, 2012). Although African Americans and Latinos collectively make up 30% of the general population, they comprise 51% of the jail population (Subramanian, Delaney, Roberts, Fishman, & McGarry, 2015).

Incarceration compounds the systemic disadvantages experienced by these marginalized group, depletes the brain-trust within communities of color, and contributes to the cycle of poverty in their neighborhoods. Further, punitive policing and surveillance practices, such as "stop and frisk" tend to focus on targeting young men of color (Subramanian, et. al., 2015). Despite similar rates of drug use, in comparison to their White counterparts, Black men tend to be arrested at higher rates for drug crimes (Subramanian, et. al., 2015). Therefore, the collateral consequences of criminalizing youth of color early and often through frequent and continuing contacts with law enforcement leads many to the front door of American jails. The community inevitably bears the high costs of incarceration including higher rates of unemployment, crime, and criminal justice debt (Subramanian, et. al., 2015).

If jail administrators are sincerely interested in reducing the destabilizing effects of mass incarceration, the expansion of education opportunities is an important part of any jail population reduction strategy. Considering that jail populations are rising nationally, and that more people cycle through jails than prisons, 12 million versus 2.3 million annual admissions respectively (Subramanian, Delaney, Roberts, Fishman, McGarry, 2015), it is imperative that effective

educational strategies are identified to help safely manage justice populations, reduce recidivism and mitigate the systemic and individual costs of incarceration.

Given my background, including 8 years of working within Denver's jails, I know there are policies I can implement as mayor to reverse these numbers. First, I will prioritize recidivism reduction to reduce overcrowding by reallocating resources from the top-heavy Public Safety Department, and shift those resources directly into services and stronger independent oversight.

Second, I will implement independent budget management oversight to stop the blank-checks written for facility cost overruns, excessive force settlements and sky-high overtime costs. Third, I will invest in the officers who have been forced to work overtime in often unsafe conditions due to high attrition rates and escalating violent conditions resulting from overcrowding in the downtown jail.

Fourth, I will invest in programming by creating reentry and rehabilitative services unit with experienced staff skilled in delivering evidence-based treatment, housing and educational services, and ensure that the type of classes offered align with the overarching goal of recidivism reduction (Macknzie, 2008). Fifth, I support bail reform so that poor defendants aren't stuck in jail simply because they can't pay bond, as well as the elimination of fees that contribute to a cycle of criminal justice debt.

Finally, I will reorganize and hire staff to run the city's public safety system who use research and evidence-based policies and programs to reduce incarceration, and have track records in effective jail management practices and recidivism reduction. Currently, the Denver Sheriff Department is being run by mayoral appointees with no experience effectively running a large urban jail. Under my administration, I will bring together key stakeholders, including incarcerated people, deputy sheriff's, community people and public officials, as I did when creating the city's first reentry program.

How can the Denver Mayor affect the outcomes of DPS students?

The office of the Mayor in Denver sets the tone for the city, and the values held by the administration necessarily influence the work the city does with the school district. When the current city administration took office, they supported the Denver Public School Board's plan to privatize public education through the expansion of charter schools. As a result, punitive legislation was enacted to push out veteran teachers and replace them with less-experienced, uncredentialed teachers who were recruited at lower pay. At the same time, the trades were being phased out in favor of pushing students toward a one-size-fits-all model of obtaining college degrees.

Children of color are actually the majority in Denver, and in Denver's public schools. They must be a priority for our city and our schools. I believe we can help DPS students of color by

responding to the growing costs of living in our city, both for their families and for their teachers. Because of these growing costs, many of Denver's low-income families--especially families of color--are being displaced. In turn, displacement impacts enrollment in our schools in lowerincome neighborhoods, resulting in negative impacts on school budgets.

Furthermore, the choice model in Denver Public Schools, where parents with means are more likely to move their kids out of neighborhood schools, is impacting our schools. We need to work together to stop displacement, to support neighborhood schools, to focus on equity so that all Denver kids excel. That is what will be best for our state - a workforce that comes out of an educational system that supports all children and their access to success.

As previously stated, wealth inequality perpetuates poverty, which impacts a child's life chances. Our educational resources are not equally distributed across our city. According to a report by the city, while poverty rates continue to decline in Denver, African American and Native American children's poverty has levels have increased. As mayor, I would invest city resources to address these inequities including support of community programs and non-profits. My administration will work with and support programs and non-profits that are implementing community-based models and with data to show they work that support and help our schools and students.

Finally, I will also reevaluate the use of policing resources in our public schools. The prison industrial complex often begins within the educational system by funneling children of color into the juvenile justice system working in tandem with public schools where there is a higher likelihood of a law enforcement presence to enforce "zero tolerance" policies (Subramanian, et. al., 2015). I will reevaluate the use of school resource officers and balance the need for more caseworkers and mental health resources in schools.

Black-owned businesses lag behind in overall annual revenues. What can be done to eliminate the parities between black-owned businesses and their counterparts?

Black-owned businesses in Denver face myriad challenges, including displacement due to gentrification. This is particularly true in a neighborhood like Five Points, which had historically been the center of black businesses in Denver. Redevelopment under the current administration has not effectively preserved existing black-owned businesses, nor has it effectively created opportunities for new black-owned businesses to survive and thrive in the redeveloped neighborhoods. As part of my vision for community-led development, I would include existing business owners from the beginning of the planning process, as well as identify opportunities for new black-owned business development in completed projects.

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