Our Public Policy Platform
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United Way for Southeastern Michigan believes that collective action can affect change more than any one person working alone. Through advocacy and other public policy efforts, we provide a vehicle for citizens to make a difference. Please view our detailed public policy platform and join us to support the issues that matter to you.
Citizen Mobilization
It’s simple to advocate for the well being of metro Detroiters. Through United Way’s online advocacy tool, you can contact your elected representatives and track legislative issues that are important to you. Click here to sign in or register.
Public Policy Academy
We believe that the more knowledgeable you are about the legislative process, the more you will want to be involved in it. Through the Public Policy Academy, we educate citizens on policy issues facing our region, their potential impact, and how you can influence policy. We offer the Academy to individuals and groups throughout southeastern Michigan, from youth to seniors. To learn more or set up an Academy for your school or group, please contact Rachel Harris at 313-226-9401 or Rachel.Harris@uwsem.org.
Our Platform
At the heart of United Way’s Agenda for Change is the need for lasting solutions. Our public policy team works with legislators and community leaders to advocate for policy shifts that improve the lives of metro Detroiters over the long-term. To learn about other ways to affect change through public policy, contact United Way at 313-226-9486.
Educational Preparedness
 Our position: All children should have access to quality pre-school programs and services and policies need to be established to support every youth’s completed education.
Facts to support our position:
- According to the High Scope Study, for every $1 spent on a child’s well-being in the first five years of life, $17 is saved in remedial/custodial costs later in life.
- The Search Institute has outlined 40 developmental assets critical to educational preparedness. Youth who develop 75 percent of them are six times more likely to succeed in school than those with 10 or fewer.
- Low reading levels are a problem throughout the tri-county. Nearly 8,000 third graders and 16,000 eighth graders did not meet MEAP standards in 2005.
Our strategy:
- Secure the passage of the Education Begins at Home Act at the federal level.
- Support the work of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation
- Support an increase in Head Start funding at the federal level
- Support State Drop-out prevention advocacy efforts
To learn more about all of United Way’s work in Educational Preparedness, click here.
Financial Stability
 Our position: Public institutions must play a key role in educating youth and adults on the basics of personal finances and their relationship to financial well being. Social policies must also shift to include asset development as a key strategy for the reduction of poverty and movement toward financial independence.
Facts to support our position:
- When people have assets, their lives are more stable; their children tend to stay in school, have better self-esteem, and better saving habits as adults. Asset ownership is also tied to reductions in welfare dependence, bankruptcy rates, and incidents of domestic abuse.
- Metro Detroit ranks 6th among U.S. metro areas in the percentage of homes in foreclosure. One contributing factor is that over 36 percent of tri-county households today spend a third of their income on home expenses – up from 24 percent in 1999.
- Individuals must grasp the basics of personal finance to achieve economic goals. More than 30 percent of Michigan households lack a savings account.
Our strategy:
- Promote state policy changes that support asset development and annualize Individual Development Accounts (IDA).
- Support state restoration of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) funding for all local sites.
- Promote education and awareness regarding the State’s structural budget deficit
- Support the federal Saving for Working Families Act.
To learn more about United Way’s other work in Financial Stability, click here.
Basic Needs
 Our position: All people must be able to connect with human services in times of crisis with the greatest possible efficiency. All people have the right to food, clothing, shelter and healthcare. Chronically unemployed individuals and people experiencing recent unemployment must have access to training that prepares them for jobs in the future economy. More of Michigan’s gas tax dollars need to be returned to our state to support our transportation system.
Facts to support our position:
- In March of 2006, Michigan had the second highest unemployment rate in the country. In 2005, roughly 8 percent of suburban residents in Southeast Michigan were unemployed- up from 4 percent in 1999.
- In 2005, approximately 540,000 individuals were living in poverty in the tri-county area
- Since 2001, the number of individuals receiving state food assistance in the tri-county area has grown by 66 percent, which translates into roughly 200,000 individuals.
Our strategy:
- Promote increased federal funding of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program for southeastern Michigan.
- Monitor and support federal and state healthcare legislation and activities including the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
- Advocate for federal earmarks that will allow United Way to help individuals gain access to job training that prepares individuals for the future economy.
- Support increased return of federal and state gas tax dollars for allocation to Michigan’s transportation system.
To learn more about United Way’s other work in Basic Needs, click here.
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