January 27, 2025 • 27 mins
More than 84 thousand children live in poverty in Connecticut, and 122 thousand in near poverty. In this episode, we talk about a new program that has expanded into Connecticut that gives unconditional cash to expecting moms or new mothers. It takes them from pregnancy to prosperity and helps them invest in their baby's future. The program is aimed at stopping child poverty.
Laura Clancy, Executive Director of the Bridge Project, explains the program's mission to provide unconditional cash to low-income pregnant women for the first 1,000 days of their baby's life. She says giving the unconditional cash to spend the money as they want to, can empower the moms. She says the program can also improve babies social, emotional and mental development, and long-term well-being. The program, funded by philanthropists offers a prenatal stipend of $1,125 and monthly stipends of $750 for 15 months and $375 for 21 months. Clancy highlights the program's success in reducing stress, improving health outcomes, and supporting financial security. The Bridge Project has received over 2,000 applications for 500 slots in Connecticut but continues to accept more applications. They have filled 150 of the slots already and are hoping to expand into rural areas of the state.
For more information or to apply for The Bridge Project please go to bridgeproject.org
For more information or to apply for benefits go to ctpaidleave.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nancy Barrow (00:01):
Hello Connecticut, and welcome to The Paid Leave
Podcast. The title basicallysays it all. I'm Nancy Barrow,
and I will be delving into thisnew state program and how it can
help you and your family. Thispodcast will give you
information you should knowabout Connecticut Paid Leave and
maybe just a little bit more.
Connecticut Paid Leave bringspeace of mind to your home,
(00:22):
family and workplace. Welcome toThe Paid Leave Podcast.
One in six or almost 16% ofchildren in Connecticut are food
insecure. More than 84,000children live in poverty in
Connecticut, and 122,000 in nearpoverty. Laura Clancy is the
Executive Director of the BridgeProject, and we'll be talking
(00:45):
about what the Bridge Project isdoing in the state of
Connecticut. And welcome to ThePaid Leave Podcast, Laura.
Laura Clancy (00:52):
Thanks so much for having me.
Nancy Barrow (00:53):
So excited to have you here, and before we get into
the heavy lifting of everything,tell me about your personal
journey and how you became theExecutive Director of the Bridge
Project.
Laura Clancy (01:04):
I've spent my whole career in the nonprofit
sector, and feel so lucky everyday that you know, I've always
loved my work and I've alwaysloved the people that I work
with and for. I actually spentfive years early in my career in
education reform in Connecticut,so I've spent a lot of time in
New Haven, Bridgeport andHartford in particular, and have
(01:26):
been working in economicmobility for a long time, and
was not looking for a new job.
And when somebody told me aboutthe idea of giving low income
pregnant women unconditionalcash for the first 1000 days of
their baby's life, I could notstop thinking about it, because
it was such a simple, powerfulintervention that benefited both
mom and the baby anddemonstrated trust, demonstrated
(01:48):
that people know what they'redoing and can make great
decisions. And if there's onegroup of human beings on this
planet that is hardwired to makegreat decisions for themselves
and their children. It's newmoms. So I got really excited
about the mission of the BridgeProject, and we've been on a
huge roller coaster ride for thepast few months, including our
(02:13):
expansion statewide intoConnecticut.
Nancy Barrow (02:16):
Yeah. How exciting is that? So let's talk about the
Bridge Project.
Laura Clancy (02:21):
We are the largest, consistent
unconditional cash program formoms and babies in the US. We
essentially, over the the first1000 days of a baby's life, give
moms a stipend every two weeks,starting with a prenatal
stipend, which is larger, tohelp moms with expenses like
(02:42):
buying a car seat, buying astroller, buying a crib. We all
know that babies cost a lot ofmoney, and we also know that
that for many families, when themom gives birth is the time when
they're making the least amountof money they'll ever make in
their working lives. One of theamazing things about being in
Connecticut, though, is thereare incredible offerings, like
(03:05):
Connecticut paid leave, like thelike the maternity care bundle
from Husky, like the baby bonds,which I'd love to talk more
about later, but a variety ofsupports that moms can choose to
draw on. So essentially, what wedo is we spend time recruiting
moms who'd be eligible for theprogram. We enter them into a
(03:26):
lottery to select who receivesthe cash, and they receive a
prenatal stipend cash every twoweeks for the first three years
of a baby's life, so that theycan take care of themselves and
they can attach to their babyand feel less stressed. Overall,
there's a very powerful evidencebase in health care, in the
(03:48):
foster care system and thehousing system, that suggests
that unconditional cash for lowincome pregnant moms and their
babies has a variety of positiveeffects. It helps moms
transition if they aren't inpermanent housing, it helps them
transition into permanenthousing. It reduces stress
overall in the household. Itimproves health outcomes for
(04:10):
moms and babies. It means thatmoms are able to make pre and
postnatal appointments morereadily. It increases their
level of financial security andtheir ability to withstand
financial emergencies, and formany of our moms, they're
actually able to pursue postsecondary education while they
are while they have a younginfant, because they know that
(04:31):
when they go back to work, theywant a job that has better
working conditions, betteropportunities for advancement,
better pay, because when youbecome A parent, you have to
think in a very different wayabout your work and your
relationship to work, and manyof our moms use this time to
upgrade their own opportunitiesat work, which is extremely
(04:53):
exciting. So overall,unconditional cash is a very
flexible, efficient way to. Helpmoms have the resources that
they need to meet their needsand their baby's needs during
these critical early years.
Nancy Barrow (05:06):
And Laura, how long has it been in Connecticut?
It's pretty new, right?
Laura Clancy (05:10):
It's very new.
It's basically been sinceNovember, and we spent six and
that was when the applicationopened up. The application is
still live, and moms are welcometo apply. We spent six months
before November talking toConnecticut's WIC clinics,
healthcare organizations,community based organizations,
to make sure they understoodwhat the program was, how to
(05:32):
share the opportunity with momsin Connecticut and get their
feedback, as well as make surethat we knew who we could refer
moms to, and they asked us, hey,I need help with diapers. Is
there a community basedorganization I can go to, or how
can I get to a WIC clinic tosign up for WIC So moms could
take advantage of all theincredible resources that the
(05:52):
state of Connecticut offers.
Nancy Barrow (05:55):
It's really interesting. How do they find
out about the program and howcan they apply?
Laura Clancy (06:00):
Typically, our moms tell us they find out
because a friend texted them or,you know, somebody sent them a
WhatsApp message, or they're ona mom's group that told them
about it. We also are reallygrateful to WIC clinics and to
healthcare organizations andcommunity based organizations.
We actually talked to, we hadmeetings one on one on one with
(06:20):
260 organizations across thestate of Connecticut before we
launched. So I don't I feel likewe probably hit everybody, but
our eligibility criteria areintentionally very, very simple
and very straightforward. Youhave to be 18 years or older.
You have to be 23 weeks or morein the pregnancy, you can reside
(06:42):
anywhere in the state ofConnecticut. You have to have an
annual household income of44,000 or less. And if you apply
and are selected, you receive anupfront, one time prenatal
stipend of $1,125 again, that'sprimarily designed to help
offset the cost of things likebuying a crib, a car seat, a
(07:03):
stroller, you get 750 a monthfor the first 15 months of the
program, and then that stepsdown to $375 a month for the
final 21 months of the program.
So we don't really have a hardtime recruiting moms. Once you
hear the idea of unconditionalcash, most people really do see
it as winning the lottery, andwe certainly feel like we won
(07:23):
the lottery and getting to workwith the amazing moms, and I'm
happy to talk more about whatwe've heard from moms in
Connecticut, but we've receivedover 2000 applications already
that are all fully qualified forthe 500 slots we have in the
program, and more coming inevery day.
Nancy Barrow (07:40):
Will that grow at all, or will it stay at 500?
Laura Clancy (07:43):
So right now, we have funding for 500 slots, and
that's supporting 500 moms forthree years. If we are able to
identify additional support,either philanthropic funds or
government funds, we'd love togrow that number in the program,
in part because we havequalified applications that we
could just pull right into theprogram. But right now, the
(08:04):
funding that we've secured isfor 500 loans.
Nancy Barrow (08:07):
And the funding that you secured is that from
the government, or how, how doyou get that money?
Laura Clancy (08:13):
So we are really lucky to have a handful of
philanthropists who really careabout the state of Connecticut
and helping babies across theentire state. So we have two
individual philanthropists whoprovided much of the funding.
One, the is Mike Triplett. Asecond is an organization called
(08:35):
Bird by Bird outreach, and theHartford Foundation for Public
Giving also has provided supportfor moms in Hartford, which has
been really exciting. So it'sit's really a small handful of
very visionary donors who caredeeply about the state of
Connecticut and really love theidea of being able to offer
(08:56):
program like this to all momsacross the entire state.
Nancy Barrow (08:59):
And tell me what you've heard about from the
moms.
Laura Clancy (09:02):
So we're a national program. We're in six
states, and we can't playfavorites, but we love our
Connecticut moms. One of themost interesting things that
I've seen with our moms inConnecticut is they go after
resources. And what I mean is,for example, let's say that you
get into the program and you'reyou're a Connecticut Mom, will
(09:24):
reach out to you and say, Hey,we want to do a call with you to
onboard you into the program andtalk about other resources you
can take advantage of inConnecticut. When can you hop on
a call? And it's like, we get atext back right away. And
they're like, can we talk rightnow? They are ready to go. They
are very, very organized, whichwe love, makes our jobs easier,
but I think also reflects thefact that our moms in
(09:46):
Connecticut understand thatConnecticut has a variety of
really amazing offerings,including paid leave. And I'll
talk about paid leave and someof the other things that we've
talked to Connecticut momsabout, we do ,with all of our
moms who get into the program acall with a trained social
worker on our staff, and one ofour big priorities is to make
(10:07):
sure that they fully understandall of the resources that they
can bring to bear on theirpregnancy and the postnatal
period. Paid leave is right atthe top of the list, and we do
spend time with moms, makingsure they understand how broad
the coverage is in Connecticut,because there are a lot of
misconceptions about types ofworkers that are included or
(10:27):
excluded. And you know, thepeople who have architected paid
leave in Connecticut haveintentionally and in a very
visionary way, made it veryinclusive and very broad. And we
want to make sure that all ofour moms understand if they are
included in paid leave for thestate.
Nancy Barrow (10:43):
Well, thank you, Laura, we appreciate that it's
true. It is true. True. We'revery proud of the fact.
Laura Clancy (10:49):
I mean, I would say the biggest misconception is
about domestic workers and theircoverage within the program. So
we're delighted to be able totalk one on one with our moms
about that. We also talk to themabout the Husky maternity doula
bundle, which is coming onlineright now, so making sure moms
know that they may have anopportunity to if they are on
husky, to get a doula, which isan incredibly powerful resource.
(11:14):
We talk a lot about Baby Bondswith our moms, which is
something extremely unique aboutConnecticut. Connecticut is the
only state in the country thathas a statewide baby bond
program for everybody in husky.
And we were excited to openBridge in Connecticut, in part
because Connecticut is the isthis is the only state in
Connecticut where we'restatewide. So the pairing of
(11:35):
short term income through theBridge Project with long term
wealth building with baby bondsis an extremely powerful
combination. And what our momshave told us is, Wow, I feel so
seen and heard. I'm so excitedfor what's what's going to
happen with my baby, which wejust love. And then finally, we
(11:56):
talk a lot with our moms aboutfamily Bridge Home Visiting,
which is also a really powerfulopportunity to receive home
visits, primarily in thepostnatal period. That again, if
you're a mom, to have thisconstellation of supports that
are genuinely trying to set youup for success as a mom is
extremely affirming, and ourmoms are very excited to hear
(12:20):
about all of those offerings. Sothere is also something I think
really special about being ableto get on the phone with a mom
and say, Listen, we know we'regiving you this cash, but let me
make sure that you are connectedto all these other incredible
resources that you can andshould be taken advantage of.
Nancy Barrow (12:38):
That's what I was wondering. If you actually share
these, these resources with yourmoms, because, you know, and
Connecticut Paid Leave is one ofthose resources.
Laura Clancy (12:46):
We do. And it's, it's like a bonanza. And I think
even Foodshare,one thing we hearfrom Yes, yes. And I would say,
for a mom to hear about all ofthese different things that are
set up for them and to help themand their baby it is, it is a
deeply positive and affirmingfeeling that they have about
being in Connecticut. I'd alsoadd for baby bonds in
(13:10):
particular, one of the reasonswhy I think it's so visionary to
have it as a statewide program,and why it's such a nice one two
punch with the bridge project isthere's really nice medical
evidence to suggest that babieswhose moms receive unconditional
cash and have lower instances ofwhat are called adverse
(13:33):
childhood events and have don'texperience poverty as acutely in
those critical Early years ofdevelopment, are more likely
when they're older, to stay inschool, pursue post secondary
education, retain employmentstatus, like they are more
likely to be employed as adultsin higher paying jobs, which I
(13:55):
don't think anyone would besurprised to hear. That if you
can lift child children out ofpoverty, even if for a period of
time in early childhood, thatyou see positive long term
effects. But to me, the reallypowerful connection with baby
bonds is if you can set childrenup for longer term educational
success when they're babies, andthen when they're 18, say, Wow,
(14:18):
here's this baby bond that youcan use towards college, right?
I mean, how, how amazing is thatto feel like the state of
Connecticut is investing in youin both the short term and the
long term. So, so we've been,it's, it's pretty magical to be
on the phone with moms andmaking sure that they understand
the full breadth of resourcesthat are available to them.
Nancy Barrow (14:39):
Yeah and the fact that we at Connecticut Paid
Leave can help with 12 weeks ofincome replacement so a mom can
bond with her baby, and we knowthat the bonding specifically,
really leads to a reduction ofpostpartum for the mother,
that's right, and if she has allthese resources, and also if. If
(15:00):
the baby is is going todefinitely have a better
outcome. We know that when a momstays home with the baby longer,
if she can stay home longer,that it definitely helps with
the development of the baby.
Laura Clancy (15:13):
That's right, and it also helps Mom, right? It
reduces her stress levels. Itreduces incidents of postpartum
depression and anxiety, and it'snot. I don't think it's that
surprising to hear, but a paperrecently came out that said that
one of the most effective waysto alleviate postpartum
depression specifically was notonly paid leave, but also having
(15:36):
unconditional cash. Sobasically, mom is just not as
stressed about money. Let's behonest. It's just expensive to
live in America right now.
Nancy Barrow (15:44):
And Connecticut is no different, right, right,
right.
Laura Clancy (15:47):
But like, let's do what we can to reduce the stress
levels of new moms, because atthe end of the day, babies will
benefit, moms will benefit, andour community will benefit as
well.
Nancy Barrow (15:58):
Mental health and poverty. What do you think of
those two, that intersectionthere? Because we also give
income replacement for thatspecifically. And like we say,
postpartum depression is, is areal serious health condition.
Laura Clancy (16:12):
It absolutely is.
And I'll add to that, I think weoften don't talk enough about
postpartum anxiety as well. Andone pediatrician once told me,
one of the reasons why we don'ttalk about postpartum anxiety as
much as we talk about postpartumdepression is postpartum anxiety
is in some weird way, seen asbeing beneficial for the baby,
right? Mom's checking a lot onbaby, mom's making sure baby's
(16:34):
breathing. Mom's worried aboutif the clothing that the baby's
wearing is too heavy or toolate, and so we don't worry
about it as much, but at the endof the day, in the same way that
paid leave is framed, we have tobe thinking more about maternal
health, and we have to bethinking about the long term
health of babies. So, you know,I'm so glad that we're in a very
(16:57):
different place than we wereeven five years ago in talking
about maternal mental health.
And there's so many funders,government stakeholders who have
prioritized this, not just inConnecticut, but nationally. And
there, you know at the end ofthe day, you're more likely to
develop almost any mental healthcondition you can name, if
(17:19):
you're feeling extremelystressed, and financial stress
is particularly cute for peoplewith low incomes, which is part
of why there's a nice evidencebase around benefits like paid
leave and like unconditionalcash having a significant
positive impact on mom's mentalhealth.
Nancy Barrow (17:37):
Yeah, and I think one of the great things, I
think, is the flexibility ofpaid leave, because you can take
it all in one block if youreally need it, right, if it's
an acute anxiety or depression,but you can also take it
intermittently or reducedschedule from work so they don't
have to lose their job whenthey're having these issues, and
(17:58):
they can leave if they need togo see a therapist, or if
they're going to a supportgroup, or something like that,
at least, it gives them theflexibility.
Laura Clancy (18:06):
That's right, one of the most powerful things a
mom has ever said to us. So wewere talking to a mom who had
gone back to work, and shetypically worked three overtime
shifts a week, which, you know,even without a small income,
that's that's a lot of time, isfull time job, plus three
overtime shifts. And we askedher what she was using her
(18:27):
unconditional cash for, and shesaid, honestly, part of it is,
I'm only doing one overtimeshift a week, because that's two
more days a night a week that Ican put my baby to bed at night.
And I wouldn't trade that forthe world. And any benefit that
has the flexibility like youjust described around the
intermittent leave to let peoplemake choices about what they
(18:51):
need and their families need, Ithink, will not only have a
short term positive impact, butwill also just make people make
sure people feel like they'rebeing treated with dignity, that
they can make good choice, theright choices for themselves and
their family. So I'm a big fanof the flexibility of paid
leaving that way.
Nancy Barrow (19:09):
Yeah I think dignity is key right, especially
like with the dignity thatyou're giving them this
unconditional cash, there's adignity to that right that
you're trusting them they'regoing to spend this wisely, and
they know how to spend itwisely.
Laura Clancy (19:22):
Well, it's funny, someone asked me the other day,
how do moms spend the cash, andwe actually did a big, very
detailed study of this for someof our earlier moms. And how
moms spend our unconditionalcash is so boring, I mean that
in the most positive waypossible, right? They're
spending it on diapers. They'respending it on formula. If they
(19:44):
WIC runs out at the end of themonth, they're spending it on
the power bill. They're spendingit sometimes on childcare, if
the kid is a little bit older,and so it's, you know, after a
while we're like, Yeah, this isso predictable. We know how moms
are spending this. They'respending an exact. The way that
their baby needs and also in away that reflects the other
resources that are available intheir community. So for example,
(20:07):
there are some amazing diaperbanks across the state of
Connecticut. If you live in acommunity with a diaper bank,
our social workers are going totell mom, hey, do you know that
this incredible diaper bankexists in your community, and
you can take advantage of thisso you don't have to spend your
unconditional cash on diapers,and you can spend it on other
really critical expenses foryour family. So that's another
(20:28):
thing that's great about theflexibility of cash is that it
reflects the diversity ofresources that are already
available in communities inConnecticut, and enables moms to
maximize those resources andalso maximize their use of the
unconditional cash. One of theone of the things that we've
been really excited about that'sunique to Connecticut is
(20:49):
sometimes people have amisconception about Connecticut,
that they're that poverty isvery concentrated in which, you
know, overall it still is inBridgeport, New Haven and
Hartford, but there's alsopoverty in every single county.
There are babies born intopoverty and in every single
county in Connecticut. And sowe've been really excited to see
(21:12):
if and when the program is alittle bit different within
Connecticut, in the more urbanareas of the state versus more
rural areas of the state, and sofar, we haven't actually seen a
lot of differences. The momsare, like I said, very on top of
things, very organized, veryresourceful and and we're
excited to see to take thoselessons and apply them to other
(21:36):
more urban and more ruralsettings that we're rolling the
program out into. So forexample, we're opening in the
Appalachian regions of Ohio,West Virginia and Kentucky next
month, and we've already learneda ton from all of the work we've
been doing in more rural areasof Connecticut that we're going
to apply to the program'soperations in the Appalachian
region.
Nancy Barrow (21:56):
Have any of the moms said, I don't believe this
is true. What's the catch?
Laura Clancy (22:00):
Yeah, it's actually one of the biggest
problems we have, is peoplelike, it was a bigger problem
when we first started up, andit's less of an issue now. And
it's part of why having partnerslike with clinics in Connecticut
community based organizations isreally helpful, because they
legitimize it, right? But wedefinitely hear it more when
someone gets like, a messagefrom their cousin over WhatsApp.
(22:24):
You should apply for this. Ifyou hear it from a healthcare
provider, it usually is a
Nancy Barrow (22:29):
little more legitimate. Yeah, I can imagine
that some people might be like,This is too good to be true,
because it sounds like that. Itreally does sound almost too
good to be true. It's fantasticthat this exists in Connecticut.
Laura Clancy (22:42):
Well, I really appreciate you saying that. I'd
also say, though, you know,we're spending around $20,000
per mom over the course of thethree years of the program. We
spend way more than that onother benefit programs.
Nancy Barrow (22:56):
What are your hopes for the Bridge and what
are you hoping to accomplish.
Laura Clancy (23:01):
Well, first I'll say, in Connecticut, I'm really,
really excited for that we'veonboarded about 150 of the 500
moms. We'd love to keep gettingapplications in, especially from
the more rural areas of thestate. We're going to be
onboarding moms over the nextfew months, until we're fully
full at the 500 mom mark, andwhat I'm hoping for all of them
(23:26):
is that their families are ableto flourish, not because of the
because of the support, thatthey're able to spend more time
strengthening their families.
They're able to attach moresecurely to their infants, that
they find more peace, lessstress, better physical health,
better mental health forthemselves, that they're able to
re enter the workforce from aposition of strength, and that
(23:51):
they're able to build afoundation for a longer term
financial security for theirfamilies. So that's my first
wish. Is for the Connecticutmoms that are in our program
that they have everything thatthey want for themselves and
their families. My second wishis we've really felt so welcomed
in the state of Connecticut.
(24:14):
We've met with members ofgovernment, Lamont senior team,
we've met with many of theagency heads, and we've gotten
such a warm reception, and we'reexcited for the possibility of
continuing to expand the programwithin Connecticut. And that
could be through privatesupport. It could be through
public support. I think there'sa variety of different options,
(24:35):
but one thing we found in all ofour sites is that once we go
somewhere, people are like, Oh,this is great. We love this
program. How can we? How can we,how can we support that? And we
have two public privatepartnerships in place right now,
one with the city of New Yorkand the New York City Council,
the other with the City Councilin Milwaukee. So my hope is that
(24:57):
we can continue to grow withinthe state of. Etiquette, and
then third, that we can continueto change the narrative around
low income moms and what theywhat they need, and that we can
inspire others to think aboutways that unconditional cash can
effectively provide support tolow income moms and their babies
(25:20):
in a way that promotes dignityand also promotes efficiency.
Because at the end of the day, Ithink moms know what their
families need, and sometimesthey just need some support to
get there.
Nancy Barrow (25:30):
Is there a website that new moms, who might be
listening can say, hey, I wouldlike to apply for this.
Laura Clancy (25:37):
There sure is, there sure is. So our website is
bridgeproject.org and if you goto bridge and you can there's a
button that says apply. And ifyou go to
bridgeproject.org/apply you'llliterally see one of the first
thing you'll see is a buttonthat says, we are now accepting
applications in Connecticut. Andwe really do welcome additional
(25:59):
applications, especially if youare in more rural parts of the
state, we have reserved spotsfor counties outside of the more
urban ones, because we just wantto make sure that we have great
statewide spread. So we've beenreally grateful to our partners
for getting the word out, butwould really welcome additional
applications.
Nancy Barrow (26:18):
Thank you. Laura Clancy, the executive director
of the Bridge Project inConnecticut. Thank you for being
on The Paid Leave Podcast. Itwas a real pleasure speaking
with you.
Laura Clancy (26:27):
Oh, likewise.
Thanks so much Nancy.
Nancy Barrow (26:29):
For more information about the Bridge
Project, please go to thewebsite at bridgeproject.org
For information or to apply forbenefits, please go to
ctpaidleave.org. This has beenanother edition of The Paid
Leave Podcast. Please like andsubscribe so you'll be notified
about new podcasts that becomeavailable. Connecticut Paid
(26:49):
leave is a public act with apersonal purpose. I'm Nancy
Barrow, and thanks forlistening.
Hello Connecticut, and welcome to The Paid Leave
Podcast. The title basicallysays it all. I'm Nancy Barrow,
and I will be delving into thisnew state program and how it can
help you and your family. Thispodcast will give you
information you should knowabout Connecticut Paid Leave and
maybe just a little bit more.
Connecticut Paid Leave bringspeace of mind to your home,
(00:22):
family and workplace. Welcome toThe Paid Leave Podcast.
One in six or almost 16% ofchildren in Connecticut are food
insecure. More than 84,000children live in poverty in
Connecticut, and 122,000 in nearpoverty. Laura Clancy is the
Executive Director of the BridgeProject, and we'll be talking
(00:45):
about what the Bridge Project isdoing in the state of
Connecticut. And welcome to ThePaid Leave Podcast, Laura.
Laura Clancy (00:52):
Thanks so much for having me.
Nancy Barrow (00:53):
So excited to have you here, and before we get into
the heavy lifting of everything,tell me about your personal
journey and how you became theExecutive Director of the Bridge
Project.
Laura Clancy (01:04):
I've spent my whole career in the nonprofit
sector, and feel so lucky everyday that you know, I've always
loved my work and I've alwaysloved the people that I work
with and for. I actually spentfive years early in my career in
education reform in Connecticut,so I've spent a lot of time in
New Haven, Bridgeport andHartford in particular, and have
(01:26):
been working in economicmobility for a long time, and
was not looking for a new job.
And when somebody told me aboutthe idea of giving low income
pregnant women unconditionalcash for the first 1000 days of
their baby's life, I could notstop thinking about it, because
it was such a simple, powerfulintervention that benefited both
mom and the baby anddemonstrated trust, demonstrated
(01:48):
that people know what they'redoing and can make great
decisions. And if there's onegroup of human beings on this
planet that is hardwired to makegreat decisions for themselves
and their children. It's newmoms. So I got really excited
about the mission of the BridgeProject, and we've been on a
huge roller coaster ride for thepast few months, including our
(02:13):
expansion statewide intoConnecticut.
Nancy Barrow (02:16):
Yeah. How exciting is that? So let's talk about the
Bridge Project.
Laura Clancy (02:21):
We are the largest, consistent
unconditional cash program formoms and babies in the US. We
essentially, over the the first1000 days of a baby's life, give
moms a stipend every two weeks,starting with a prenatal
stipend, which is larger, tohelp moms with expenses like
(02:42):
buying a car seat, buying astroller, buying a crib. We all
know that babies cost a lot ofmoney, and we also know that
that for many families, when themom gives birth is the time when
they're making the least amountof money they'll ever make in
their working lives. One of theamazing things about being in
Connecticut, though, is thereare incredible offerings, like
(03:05):
Connecticut paid leave, like thelike the maternity care bundle
from Husky, like the baby bonds,which I'd love to talk more
about later, but a variety ofsupports that moms can choose to
draw on. So essentially, what wedo is we spend time recruiting
moms who'd be eligible for theprogram. We enter them into a
(03:26):
lottery to select who receivesthe cash, and they receive a
prenatal stipend cash every twoweeks for the first three years
of a baby's life, so that theycan take care of themselves and
they can attach to their babyand feel less stressed. Overall,
there's a very powerful evidencebase in health care, in the
(03:48):
foster care system and thehousing system, that suggests
that unconditional cash for lowincome pregnant moms and their
babies has a variety of positiveeffects. It helps moms
transition if they aren't inpermanent housing, it helps them
transition into permanenthousing. It reduces stress
overall in the household. Itimproves health outcomes for
(04:10):
moms and babies. It means thatmoms are able to make pre and
postnatal appointments morereadily. It increases their
level of financial security andtheir ability to withstand
financial emergencies, and formany of our moms, they're
actually able to pursue postsecondary education while they
are while they have a younginfant, because they know that
(04:31):
when they go back to work, theywant a job that has better
working conditions, betteropportunities for advancement,
better pay, because when youbecome A parent, you have to
think in a very different wayabout your work and your
relationship to work, and manyof our moms use this time to
upgrade their own opportunitiesat work, which is extremely
(04:53):
exciting. So overall,unconditional cash is a very
flexible, efficient way to. Helpmoms have the resources that
they need to meet their needsand their baby's needs during
these critical early years.
Nancy Barrow (05:06):
And Laura, how long has it been in Connecticut?
It's pretty new, right?
Laura Clancy (05:10):
It's very new.
It's basically been sinceNovember, and we spent six and
that was when the applicationopened up. The application is
still live, and moms are welcometo apply. We spent six months
before November talking toConnecticut's WIC clinics,
healthcare organizations,community based organizations,
to make sure they understoodwhat the program was, how to
(05:32):
share the opportunity with momsin Connecticut and get their
feedback, as well as make surethat we knew who we could refer
moms to, and they asked us, hey,I need help with diapers. Is
there a community basedorganization I can go to, or how
can I get to a WIC clinic tosign up for WIC So moms could
take advantage of all theincredible resources that the
(05:52):
state of Connecticut offers.
Nancy Barrow (05:55):
It's really interesting. How do they find
out about the program and howcan they apply?
Laura Clancy (06:00):
Typically, our moms tell us they find out
because a friend texted them or,you know, somebody sent them a
WhatsApp message, or they're ona mom's group that told them
about it. We also are reallygrateful to WIC clinics and to
healthcare organizations andcommunity based organizations.
We actually talked to, we hadmeetings one on one on one with
(06:20):
260 organizations across thestate of Connecticut before we
launched. So I don't I feel likewe probably hit everybody, but
our eligibility criteria areintentionally very, very simple
and very straightforward. Youhave to be 18 years or older.
You have to be 23 weeks or morein the pregnancy, you can reside
(06:42):
anywhere in the state ofConnecticut. You have to have an
annual household income of44,000 or less. And if you apply
and are selected, you receive anupfront, one time prenatal
stipend of $1,125 again, that'sprimarily designed to help
offset the cost of things likebuying a crib, a car seat, a
(07:03):
stroller, you get 750 a monthfor the first 15 months of the
program, and then that stepsdown to $375 a month for the
final 21 months of the program.
So we don't really have a hardtime recruiting moms. Once you
hear the idea of unconditionalcash, most people really do see
it as winning the lottery, andwe certainly feel like we won
(07:23):
the lottery and getting to workwith the amazing moms, and I'm
happy to talk more about whatwe've heard from moms in
Connecticut, but we've receivedover 2000 applications already
that are all fully qualified forthe 500 slots we have in the
program, and more coming inevery day.
Nancy Barrow (07:40):
Will that grow at all, or will it stay at 500?
Laura Clancy (07:43):
So right now, we have funding for 500 slots, and
that's supporting 500 moms forthree years. If we are able to
identify additional support,either philanthropic funds or
government funds, we'd love togrow that number in the program,
in part because we havequalified applications that we
could just pull right into theprogram. But right now, the
(08:04):
funding that we've secured isfor 500 loans.
Nancy Barrow (08:07):
And the funding that you secured is that from
the government, or how, how doyou get that money?
Laura Clancy (08:13):
So we are really lucky to have a handful of
philanthropists who really careabout the state of Connecticut
and helping babies across theentire state. So we have two
individual philanthropists whoprovided much of the funding.
One, the is Mike Triplett. Asecond is an organization called
(08:35):
Bird by Bird outreach, and theHartford Foundation for Public
Giving also has provided supportfor moms in Hartford, which has
been really exciting. So it'sit's really a small handful of
very visionary donors who caredeeply about the state of
Connecticut and really love theidea of being able to offer
(08:56):
program like this to all momsacross the entire state.
Nancy Barrow (08:59):
And tell me what you've heard about from the
moms.
Laura Clancy (09:02):
So we're a national program. We're in six
states, and we can't playfavorites, but we love our
Connecticut moms. One of themost interesting things that
I've seen with our moms inConnecticut is they go after
resources. And what I mean is,for example, let's say that you
get into the program and you'reyou're a Connecticut Mom, will
(09:24):
reach out to you and say, Hey,we want to do a call with you to
onboard you into the program andtalk about other resources you
can take advantage of inConnecticut. When can you hop on
a call? And it's like, we get atext back right away. And
they're like, can we talk rightnow? They are ready to go. They
are very, very organized, whichwe love, makes our jobs easier,
but I think also reflects thefact that our moms in
(09:46):
Connecticut understand thatConnecticut has a variety of
really amazing offerings,including paid leave. And I'll
talk about paid leave and someof the other things that we've
talked to Connecticut momsabout, we do ,with all of our
moms who get into the program acall with a trained social
worker on our staff, and one ofour big priorities is to make
(10:07):
sure that they fully understandall of the resources that they
can bring to bear on theirpregnancy and the postnatal
period. Paid leave is right atthe top of the list, and we do
spend time with moms, makingsure they understand how broad
the coverage is in Connecticut,because there are a lot of
misconceptions about types ofworkers that are included or
(10:27):
excluded. And you know, thepeople who have architected paid
leave in Connecticut haveintentionally and in a very
visionary way, made it veryinclusive and very broad. And we
want to make sure that all ofour moms understand if they are
included in paid leave for thestate.
Nancy Barrow (10:43):
Well, thank you, Laura, we appreciate that it's
true. It is true. True. We'revery proud of the fact.
Laura Clancy (10:49):
I mean, I would say the biggest misconception is
about domestic workers and theircoverage within the program. So
we're delighted to be able totalk one on one with our moms
about that. We also talk to themabout the Husky maternity doula
bundle, which is coming onlineright now, so making sure moms
know that they may have anopportunity to if they are on
husky, to get a doula, which isan incredibly powerful resource.
(11:14):
We talk a lot about Baby Bondswith our moms, which is
something extremely unique aboutConnecticut. Connecticut is the
only state in the country thathas a statewide baby bond
program for everybody in husky.
And we were excited to openBridge in Connecticut, in part
because Connecticut is the isthis is the only state in
Connecticut where we'restatewide. So the pairing of
(11:35):
short term income through theBridge Project with long term
wealth building with baby bondsis an extremely powerful
combination. And what our momshave told us is, Wow, I feel so
seen and heard. I'm so excitedfor what's what's going to
happen with my baby, which wejust love. And then finally, we
(11:56):
talk a lot with our moms aboutfamily Bridge Home Visiting,
which is also a really powerfulopportunity to receive home
visits, primarily in thepostnatal period. That again, if
you're a mom, to have thisconstellation of supports that
are genuinely trying to set youup for success as a mom is
extremely affirming, and ourmoms are very excited to hear
(12:20):
about all of those offerings. Sothere is also something I think
really special about being ableto get on the phone with a mom
and say, Listen, we know we'regiving you this cash, but let me
make sure that you are connectedto all these other incredible
resources that you can andshould be taken advantage of.
Nancy Barrow (12:38):
That's what I was wondering. If you actually share
these, these resources with yourmoms, because, you know, and
Connecticut Paid Leave is one ofthose resources.
Laura Clancy (12:46):
We do. And it's, it's like a bonanza. And I think
even Foodshare,one thing we hearfrom Yes, yes. And I would say,
for a mom to hear about all ofthese different things that are
set up for them and to help themand their baby it is, it is a
deeply positive and affirmingfeeling that they have about
being in Connecticut. I'd alsoadd for baby bonds in
(13:10):
particular, one of the reasonswhy I think it's so visionary to
have it as a statewide program,and why it's such a nice one two
punch with the bridge project isthere's really nice medical
evidence to suggest that babieswhose moms receive unconditional
cash and have lower instances ofwhat are called adverse
(13:33):
childhood events and have don'texperience poverty as acutely in
those critical Early years ofdevelopment, are more likely
when they're older, to stay inschool, pursue post secondary
education, retain employmentstatus, like they are more
likely to be employed as adultsin higher paying jobs, which I
(13:55):
don't think anyone would besurprised to hear. That if you
can lift child children out ofpoverty, even if for a period of
time in early childhood, thatyou see positive long term
effects. But to me, the reallypowerful connection with baby
bonds is if you can set childrenup for longer term educational
success when they're babies, andthen when they're 18, say, Wow,
(14:18):
here's this baby bond that youcan use towards college, right?
I mean, how, how amazing is thatto feel like the state of
Connecticut is investing in youin both the short term and the
long term. So, so we've been,it's, it's pretty magical to be
on the phone with moms andmaking sure that they understand
the full breadth of resourcesthat are available to them.
Nancy Barrow (14:39):
Yeah and the fact that we at Connecticut Paid
Leave can help with 12 weeks ofincome replacement so a mom can
bond with her baby, and we knowthat the bonding specifically,
really leads to a reduction ofpostpartum for the mother,
that's right, and if she has allthese resources, and also if. If
(15:00):
the baby is is going todefinitely have a better
outcome. We know that when a momstays home with the baby longer,
if she can stay home longer,that it definitely helps with
the development of the baby.
Laura Clancy (15:13):
That's right, and it also helps Mom, right? It
reduces her stress levels. Itreduces incidents of postpartum
depression and anxiety, and it'snot. I don't think it's that
surprising to hear, but a paperrecently came out that said that
one of the most effective waysto alleviate postpartum
depression specifically was notonly paid leave, but also having
(15:36):
unconditional cash. Sobasically, mom is just not as
stressed about money. Let's behonest. It's just expensive to
live in America right now.
Nancy Barrow (15:44):
And Connecticut is no different, right, right,
right.
Laura Clancy (15:47):
But like, let's do what we can to reduce the stress
levels of new moms, because atthe end of the day, babies will
benefit, moms will benefit, andour community will benefit as
well.
Nancy Barrow (15:58):
Mental health and poverty. What do you think of
those two, that intersectionthere? Because we also give
income replacement for thatspecifically. And like we say,
postpartum depression is, is areal serious health condition.
Laura Clancy (16:12):
It absolutely is.
And I'll add to that, I think weoften don't talk enough about
postpartum anxiety as well. Andone pediatrician once told me,
one of the reasons why we don'ttalk about postpartum anxiety as
much as we talk about postpartumdepression is postpartum anxiety
is in some weird way, seen asbeing beneficial for the baby,
right? Mom's checking a lot onbaby, mom's making sure baby's
(16:34):
breathing. Mom's worried aboutif the clothing that the baby's
wearing is too heavy or toolate, and so we don't worry
about it as much, but at the endof the day, in the same way that
paid leave is framed, we have tobe thinking more about maternal
health, and we have to bethinking about the long term
health of babies. So, you know,I'm so glad that we're in a very
(16:57):
different place than we wereeven five years ago in talking
about maternal mental health.
And there's so many funders,government stakeholders who have
prioritized this, not just inConnecticut, but nationally. And
there, you know at the end ofthe day, you're more likely to
develop almost any mental healthcondition you can name, if
(17:19):
you're feeling extremelystressed, and financial stress
is particularly cute for peoplewith low incomes, which is part
of why there's a nice evidencebase around benefits like paid
leave and like unconditionalcash having a significant
positive impact on mom's mentalhealth.
Nancy Barrow (17:37):
Yeah, and I think one of the great things, I
think, is the flexibility ofpaid leave, because you can take
it all in one block if youreally need it, right, if it's
an acute anxiety or depression,but you can also take it
intermittently or reducedschedule from work so they don't
have to lose their job whenthey're having these issues, and
(17:58):
they can leave if they need togo see a therapist, or if
they're going to a supportgroup, or something like that,
at least, it gives them theflexibility.
Laura Clancy (18:06):
That's right, one of the most powerful things a
mom has ever said to us. So wewere talking to a mom who had
gone back to work, and shetypically worked three overtime
shifts a week, which, you know,even without a small income,
that's that's a lot of time, isfull time job, plus three
overtime shifts. And we askedher what she was using her
(18:27):
unconditional cash for, and shesaid, honestly, part of it is,
I'm only doing one overtimeshift a week, because that's two
more days a night a week that Ican put my baby to bed at night.
And I wouldn't trade that forthe world. And any benefit that
has the flexibility like youjust described around the
intermittent leave to let peoplemake choices about what they
(18:51):
need and their families need, Ithink, will not only have a
short term positive impact, butwill also just make people make
sure people feel like they'rebeing treated with dignity, that
they can make good choice, theright choices for themselves and
their family. So I'm a big fanof the flexibility of paid
leaving that way.
Nancy Barrow (19:09):
Yeah I think dignity is key right, especially
like with the dignity thatyou're giving them this
unconditional cash, there's adignity to that right that
you're trusting them they'regoing to spend this wisely, and
they know how to spend itwisely.
Laura Clancy (19:22):
Well, it's funny, someone asked me the other day,
how do moms spend the cash, andwe actually did a big, very
detailed study of this for someof our earlier moms. And how
moms spend our unconditionalcash is so boring, I mean that
in the most positive waypossible, right? They're
spending it on diapers. They'respending it on formula. If they
(19:44):
WIC runs out at the end of themonth, they're spending it on
the power bill. They're spendingit sometimes on childcare, if
the kid is a little bit older,and so it's, you know, after a
while we're like, Yeah, this isso predictable. We know how moms
are spending this. They'respending an exact. The way that
their baby needs and also in away that reflects the other
resources that are available intheir community. So for example,
(20:07):
there are some amazing diaperbanks across the state of
Connecticut. If you live in acommunity with a diaper bank,
our social workers are going totell mom, hey, do you know that
this incredible diaper bankexists in your community, and
you can take advantage of thisso you don't have to spend your
unconditional cash on diapers,and you can spend it on other
really critical expenses foryour family. So that's another
(20:28):
thing that's great about theflexibility of cash is that it
reflects the diversity ofresources that are already
available in communities inConnecticut, and enables moms to
maximize those resources andalso maximize their use of the
unconditional cash. One of theone of the things that we've
been really excited about that'sunique to Connecticut is
(20:49):
sometimes people have amisconception about Connecticut,
that they're that poverty isvery concentrated in which, you
know, overall it still is inBridgeport, New Haven and
Hartford, but there's alsopoverty in every single county.
There are babies born intopoverty and in every single
county in Connecticut. And sowe've been really excited to see
(21:12):
if and when the program is alittle bit different within
Connecticut, in the more urbanareas of the state versus more
rural areas of the state, and sofar, we haven't actually seen a
lot of differences. The momsare, like I said, very on top of
things, very organized, veryresourceful and and we're
excited to see to take thoselessons and apply them to other
(21:36):
more urban and more ruralsettings that we're rolling the
program out into. So forexample, we're opening in the
Appalachian regions of Ohio,West Virginia and Kentucky next
month, and we've already learneda ton from all of the work we've
been doing in more rural areasof Connecticut that we're going
to apply to the program'soperations in the Appalachian
region.
Nancy Barrow (21:56):
Have any of the moms said, I don't believe this
is true. What's the catch?
Laura Clancy (22:00):
Yeah, it's actually one of the biggest
problems we have, is peoplelike, it was a bigger problem
when we first started up, andit's less of an issue now. And
it's part of why having partnerslike with clinics in Connecticut
community based organizations isreally helpful, because they
legitimize it, right? But wedefinitely hear it more when
someone gets like, a messagefrom their cousin over WhatsApp.
(22:24):
You should apply for this. Ifyou hear it from a healthcare
provider, it usually is a
Nancy Barrow (22:29):
little more legitimate. Yeah, I can imagine
that some people might be like,This is too good to be true,
because it sounds like that. Itreally does sound almost too
good to be true. It's fantasticthat this exists in Connecticut.
Laura Clancy (22:42):
Well, I really appreciate you saying that. I'd
also say, though, you know,we're spending around $20,000
per mom over the course of thethree years of the program. We
spend way more than that onother benefit programs.
Nancy Barrow (22:56):
What are your hopes for the Bridge and what
are you hoping to accomplish.
Laura Clancy (23:01):
Well, first I'll say, in Connecticut, I'm really,
really excited for that we'veonboarded about 150 of the 500
moms. We'd love to keep gettingapplications in, especially from
the more rural areas of thestate. We're going to be
onboarding moms over the nextfew months, until we're fully
full at the 500 mom mark, andwhat I'm hoping for all of them
(23:26):
is that their families are ableto flourish, not because of the
because of the support, thatthey're able to spend more time
strengthening their families.
They're able to attach moresecurely to their infants, that
they find more peace, lessstress, better physical health,
better mental health forthemselves, that they're able to
re enter the workforce from aposition of strength, and that
(23:51):
they're able to build afoundation for a longer term
financial security for theirfamilies. So that's my first
wish. Is for the Connecticutmoms that are in our program
that they have everything thatthey want for themselves and
their families. My second wishis we've really felt so welcomed
in the state of Connecticut.
(24:14):
We've met with members ofgovernment, Lamont senior team,
we've met with many of theagency heads, and we've gotten
such a warm reception, and we'reexcited for the possibility of
continuing to expand the programwithin Connecticut. And that
could be through privatesupport. It could be through
public support. I think there'sa variety of different options,
(24:35):
but one thing we found in all ofour sites is that once we go
somewhere, people are like, Oh,this is great. We love this
program. How can we? How can we,how can we support that? And we
have two public privatepartnerships in place right now,
one with the city of New Yorkand the New York City Council,
the other with the City Councilin Milwaukee. So my hope is that
(24:57):
we can continue to grow withinthe state of. Etiquette, and
then third, that we can continueto change the narrative around
low income moms and what theywhat they need, and that we can
inspire others to think aboutways that unconditional cash can
effectively provide support tolow income moms and their babies
(25:20):
in a way that promotes dignityand also promotes efficiency.
Because at the end of the day, Ithink moms know what their
families need, and sometimesthey just need some support to
get there.
Nancy Barrow (25:30):
Is there a website that new moms, who might be
listening can say, hey, I wouldlike to apply for this.
Laura Clancy (25:37):
There sure is, there sure is. So our website is
bridgeproject.org and if you goto bridge and you can there's a
button that says apply. And ifyou go to
bridgeproject.org/apply you'llliterally see one of the first
thing you'll see is a buttonthat says, we are now accepting
applications in Connecticut. Andwe really do welcome additional
(25:59):
applications, especially if youare in more rural parts of the
state, we have reserved spotsfor counties outside of the more
urban ones, because we just wantto make sure that we have great
statewide spread. So we've beenreally grateful to our partners
for getting the word out, butwould really welcome additional
applications.
Nancy Barrow (26:18):
Thank you. Laura Clancy, the executive director
of the Bridge Project inConnecticut. Thank you for being
on The Paid Leave Podcast. Itwas a real pleasure speaking
with you.
Laura Clancy (26:27):
Oh, likewise.
Thanks so much Nancy.
Nancy Barrow (26:29):
For more information about the Bridge
Project, please go to thewebsite at bridgeproject.org
For information or to apply forbenefits, please go to
ctpaidleave.org. This has beenanother edition of The Paid
Leave Podcast. Please like andsubscribe so you'll be notified
about new podcasts that becomeavailable. Connecticut Paid
(26:49):
leave is a public act with apersonal purpose. I'm Nancy
Barrow, and thanks forlistening.
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