RTI and NC State University Institute for Emerging Issues partnered to analyze the characteristics that increase the likelihood of a single adult being below the Standard and develop potential policy solutions.
The Portland Development Commission uses the Self-Sufficiency Standard as their bar to measure the number of “prosperous households” able to meet their basic needs in Portland, Oregon.
Many states in the Kids Count! Project use the Standard as an indicator of economic well-being or security to determine the well-being of children and how to best invest in them.
In Connecticut, the Self-Sufficiency Standard has been adopted at the state level since 1998. It has been used in planning state-supported job training, placement and employment retention programs, and has been distributed to all state agencies that counsel individuals seeking education, training, or employment.
The United Way of the Bay Area and Y&H Soda Foundation are evaluating the success of their grantees by how effectively they are able to move families toward self-sufficiency, as defined by the Self-Sufficiency Standard.
In Maryland, Healthy Montgomery included the Self-Sufficiency Standard for a family of three as part of their Community Dashboard. Additionally, the United Way of Central Maryland used the Standard as a community indicator in their report The State of Basic Needs in Central Maryland.
In 2012, the United Way of Erie County challenged their community to reduce the number of families who cannot meet their basic needs by 10,000 before the year 2025.
In Virginia, Voices for Virginia’s Children successfully advocated for the state’s TANF Authorization Committee to use the Virginia Self-Sufficiency Standard as a tool for setting eligibility guidelines.
In Portland, Oregan, the City of Portland uses the Self-Sufficiency Standard as one of their core “Measures of Success” in the Portland Plan in which they hope to reach 90% self-sufficiency, mainly through job training.