Many Pennsylvanians face chronic unemployment, welfare dependency, and the cycle of poverty. This happens because labor incentives have been overridden by bad policies that keep millions out of the workforce and enact excessive red tape. We can reverse this trend by ending the practice of waiving work requirements on able-bodied Pennsylvanians with no dependents, removing barriers to employment for those seeking a fresh start, and creating a healthcare system without burdensome regulations.

State Budget

Getting Rich Off the Poor: Examining Welfare Abuse

  • June 5, 2012

  Over the past few years, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare conducted a series of audits and uncovered many questionable practices among state contractors. Some providers of welfare…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Getting Rich Off the Poor: Examining Welfare Abuse

Welfare

Taking the Road Less Traveled: Fostering Private Charity Care

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 4, 2012

Our current welfare system is failing our most vulnerable citizens and bankrupting our commonwealth. Despite skyrocketing welfare spending, 15,420 individuals with intellectual disabilities…

Media

Read More: Taking the Road Less Traveled: Fostering Private Charity Care

Taxes & Economy

Nearly One Million Found in Out-of-State Welfare Fraud!

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 30, 2012

The facts are starting to get in the way for critics of welfare reform. By reviewing just three months of non-contiguous out-of-state EBT card transactions (November 2011 to January…

Media

Read More: Nearly One Million Found in Out-of-State Welfare Fraud!

Criminal Justice Reform

How YOU Benefit if Lawmakers Act on Corrections

  • May 29, 2012

Correcting the commonwealth’s criminal justice system is urgent. This is why Gov. Tom Corbett made it clear that he wants to see reform legislation on his desk by June…

Media

Read More: How YOU Benefit if Lawmakers Act on Corrections

Criminal Justice Reform

Gov. Corbett Is Right: Real Corrections Reform, Right Now

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • May 23, 2012

We here at CF are proud to be part, along with Gov. George M. Leader, his family, and many others, of a transpartisan coalition favoring “real corrections reform, right…

Media

Read More: Gov. Corbett Is Right: Real Corrections Reform, Right Now

Criminal Justice Reform

Corrections Coalition, Dynamic Duo Dandy Says Patriot

  • May 22, 2012

Hats off to the Patriot-News Editorial Board for calling for an end to the status quo approach to criminal justice that has failed Pennsylvanians. Today’s editorial highlights the dynamic…

Media

Read More: Corrections Coalition, Dynamic Duo Dandy Says Patriot

Criminal Justice Reform

Commonsense Can Correct Corrections

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • May 22, 2012

Kyle, a convicted burglar sentenced to 1-3 years in Pennsylvania state prison, was granted parole in June 2011, but spent an extra 100 days in jail, not because he failed…

Commentary

Read More: Commonsense Can Correct Corrections

Health Care

New Healthcare Regs Would Cost PA Taxpayers $50 Million

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 15, 2012

A bill on the floor of the state House would circumvent consumer freedom when it comes to prescription drugs. Many employers, including the state, encourage employees to buy less costly…

Media

Read More: New Healthcare Regs Would Cost PA Taxpayers $50 Million

Criminal Justice Reform

Real Corrections Reform, Right Now

  • May 14, 2012

Albert Einstein is said to have remarked that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We the undersigned submit that unfortunately,…

Poll

Read More: Real Corrections Reform, Right Now

Criminal Justice Reform

Correcting Corrections Correctly

  • May 8, 2012

Over the last 30 years, Pennsylvania’s incarceration rate has increased by 500 percent and corrections spending has skyrocketed 1,700 percent. The unprecedented prison population growth at unsustainable costs…

Media

Read More: Correcting Corrections Correctly

Criminal Justice Reform

HOPE for PA Corrections Reform

  • May 4, 2012

Launched in 2004, Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) is an innovative supervision strategy that provides swift, predictable sanctions on substance-abusing probationers. Research shows the program has reduced probationers’ positive…

Media

Read More: HOPE for PA Corrections Reform

Welfare

Fighting Fraud is the Beginning of True Welfare Reform

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 2, 2012

Monday the Pennsylvania House continued its efforts to reform the state’s welfare system by passing HB 1948 out of committee. The legislation, sponsored by Tim Krieger, would establish the…

Media

Read More: Fighting Fraud is the Beginning of True Welfare Reform

State Budget

GAO Sounds the Fiscal Alarm on State Medicaid Costs

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 26, 2012

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has a new report on state and local government finances. Of greatest concern are the expected increases in Medicaid spending and health care for…

Media

Read More: GAO Sounds the Fiscal Alarm on State Medicaid Costs

Criminal Justice Reform

Unprecedented Prison Population Growth

  • April 24, 2012

This is the first installment in a three-part series that will look at Pennsylvania’s correctional system, public policies that have worked in other states, and provide a blueprint to bring…

Media

Read More: Unprecedented Prison Population Growth

Welfare

Why We Are Losing the War on Poverty

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 17, 2012

Michael Tanner, Director of Health and Welfare Studies at the Cato Institute, published a study that cuts to the heart of the poverty problem in the U.S. Tanner writes…

Media

Read More: Why We Are Losing the War on Poverty

Health Care

Medicaid Flexibility: The Key to a Sustainable Safety Net

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 13, 2012

As we inch towards the state budget deadline, welfare spending reductions in Pennsylvania continue to be contentious. The reductions that are proposed concentrate on 20 percent of spending, since…

Media

Read More: Medicaid Flexibility: The Key to a Sustainable Safety Net

Health Care

Medicaid Waivers & the Looming Fiscal Crisis

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 9, 2012

In the waning days of 2008, the state of Rhode Island secured a global waiver for its Medicaid program. The waiver exempted the state from many federal rules and mandates in exchange for a…

Media

Read More: Medicaid Waivers & the Looming Fiscal Crisis

State Budget

Welfare Sec. Alexander Discusses Mending the Safety Net on the BOX

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 5, 2012

On the latest edition of The BOX, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Secretary Gary Alexander takes time to discuss proposed welfare reforms. Despite accusations of wanting to “throw the…

Media

Read More: Welfare Sec. Alexander Discusses Mending the Safety Net on the BOX

State Budget

Human Services Programs Must Deal with Wasteful Spending

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 2, 2012

Last week, you couldn’t swing a dead cat in the state capitol without hitting someone protesting Gov. Corbett’s welfare spending reductions. The governor proposed combining six human service line items, such…

Media

Read More: Human Services Programs Must Deal with Wasteful Spending

Health Care

Not Why I’m Here

  • Charles Mitchell
  • March 30, 2012

“Why am I here?”  That’s an excellent question to ask yourself if you work in Harrisburg.  This week, as I read a piece by Karen Langley in the Pittsburgh…

Media

Read More: Not Why I’m Here

Health Care

Change We Can’t Afford

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 28, 2012

This week, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act celebrated its two-year anniversary before the U.S. Supreme Court. The controversial health care law finds itself in front of the highest…

Commentary

Read More: Change We Can’t Afford