2026 Equal Justice Conference

In July 2025, H.R. 1 was passed, making major changes to the SNAP and Medicaid programs. While many people will lose access to SNAP and Medicaid as part of these changes, many more will continue to be eligible but struggle to prove it to their State Agency. This session will discuss appeal rights in both programs and ways this work can be done by existing staff or with pro bono assistance.

Using interim results from a new randomized control trial and final results from already-completed randomized studies, we’ll investigate two distinct topics: when does full representation matter and does record-clearing make a difference? Reviewing prior research, we’ll uncover when an evidence base exits, and when it doesn’t. We’ll discuss operationalizing evidence-based triage and relevant research in progress. We’ll close with discussion of the broader and interconnected contexts of these distinct topics and hypotheses for change, while also hearing from the audience.

In this energetic and interactive session, participants will use civil justice project examples to collaboratively design an effective and meaningful evaluation plan. By the end, participants will be able to formulate evaluation questions and design a basic evaluation matrix. Participants will leave with practical tools to guide their next evaluation project. They will also understand the internal and relational benefits (and joys!) of evaluation for their organizations and their communities, beyond just meeting funder requirements.

In the United States women of all races and ages are dying at the highest rate in the developed world and the crisis is most severe for Black women and birthing people who are 3-4 times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than their white counterparts across all income and education levels. The racial disparities in our US maternal mortality rates are clearly captured in international, national, and state data. Yet, new federal actions threaten our ability to capture and report this data and ultimately provide justice amidst this healthcare crisis. This presentation will define the maternal health crisis through data, provide updates on new attitudes towards collecting data showing racial disparities, and provide participants with advocacy strategies to support pregnant populations and ensure access to this crucial data.