How Ontario County Reduced Working Poverty by Facing It

While roughly one in three households across the six-county Rochester and Finger Lakes region cannot afford basic necessities despite being employed, Ontario County has achieved a measurable reduction in working poverty. By deploying federal pandemic relief funds into a workplace program that shifts how employers support financially struggling staff, the county reduced ALICE households by 976 and poverty-level households by 333, offering a data-backed model for communities worldwide grappling with the working poor.

What does the data reveal about working poverty in the Finger Lakes region?

Newly released data from United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes paints a stark picture of financial hardship across the six-county region. Approximately one third of working households cannot afford housing, food, childcare and transportation, even with employment income. Jamie Saunders, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes, presented the findings at a press conference on June 25, 2026, emphasizing that families are under real pressure.

However, Ontario County stands out as an exception. The county recorded a meaningful reduction in financially struggling households even as its population grew, a trend that Saunders attributed directly to deliberate policy choices and community engagement rather than economic luck.

You cannot fix what you are not willing to face.

What is the ALICE framework and why does it matter?

ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These households earn above the federal poverty line, which sits at $33,000 annually for a family of four and $15,960 for an individual, yet they still cannot cover basic living costs. A family earning $33,100 per year, for example, is not counted as living in poverty by federal standards but remains financially unstable.

The ALICE report, published through United for ALICE, a national partnership of local United Way organizations, provides a ground-level assessment of how working families are actually faring. It captures a segment of the population that traditional poverty metrics overlook, making it a critical tool for policymakers seeking accurate data on economic vulnerability.

How did Ontario County achieve a reduction in working poverty?

Ontario County pursued two main strategies: sustained investment in workforce development and the deployment of over $4.3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to launch the ALICE at Work program across 19 local employers.

Ontario County Administrator Chris DeBolt confirmed that county leadership and the Board of Supervisors relied heavily on what the ALICE data revealed. The county directed resources toward a network of dedicated nonprofits that help families access necessities, while simultaneously bringing employers into the conversation about financial hardship.

The ALICE at Work program operates on a simple premise: help employers rethink poverty and support employees who are struggling financially. This can lead to concrete changes such as adjusted pay structures or modified work schedules. Ontario County is the first in the region to implement the program, now in its second year.

It gives us the ability as a community to have a different conversation about what poverty looks like, what poverty means and more importantly, what poverty feels like.

The numbers behind the shift

Since the introduction of ALICE at Work, Ontario County recorded the following changes:

• ALICE households fell from 14,097 to 13,121, a reduction of 976 households
• Households in poverty fell from 4,875 to 4,542, a reduction of 333 households

DeBolt emphasized that closing these gaps requires a coalition, praising staff, the Board of Supervisors, the United Way and nonprofit partners for their combined efforts to move the data in a positive direction.

How are employers responding to the ALICE at Work program?

UR Medicine Thompson Health, the county's largest employer, was among the first to engage with the poverty data. Michael F. Stapleton Jr., president and CEO of the health system, noted that while Canandaigua is known as the Chosen Spot, the data revealed it is the chosen spot for a chosen few.

The health system responded by launching programs that allow employees to work and attend school part time to advance their careers, with a stipend covering salary and tuition. Stapleton described the initiative as wildly successful and committed to expanding those opportunities.

In total, 19 organizations participated, ranging from banks and financial services companies to educational institutions such as Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva. This cross-sector participation signals a broader shift in how the local business community views its role in addressing economic insecurity.

What challenges remain for working families?

Despite the progress in Ontario County, approximately 12,000 households remain at the ALICE level or in poverty within the county alone. Across the broader region, families in neighboring counties showed increases in poverty and continued to lose economic ground.

Saunders stressed that the issue remains complex and precarious for families across the region. Continued advocacy, education and partnerships are necessary to sustain and expand the gains observed in Ontario County.

No county, no community has solved this.

What can other regions learn from Ontario County's approach?

The Ontario County case offers several transferable lessons for policymakers and civic leaders globally. First, accurate data that captures the full scope of economic vulnerability, including those above the federal poverty line, is essential for effective intervention. Second, engaging employers directly as partners in anti-poverty efforts, rather than relying solely on government programs, creates structural changes in wages and workplace conditions. Third, public funding can serve as a catalyst for private sector engagement, as demonstrated by the use of American Rescue Plan Act dollars to launch the employer program.

For economies navigating similar challenges with the working poor, the model suggests that honest, data-informed conversations about poverty, combined with targeted employer engagement, can produce measurable outcomes even within a short timeframe.

Is the ALICE model applicable outside the United States?

While the ALICE framework was developed for the American context, its core methodology, measuring the real cost of basic necessities against actual household income rather than relying solely on federal poverty thresholds, has relevance for any economy with a significant segment of working poor. Adapting the threshold calculations to local cost-of-living data would be necessary, but the structural approach of identifying and quantifying the gap between employment income and survival costs is universally applicable.

Can employer-led programs sustainably reduce working poverty?

Employer-led programs like ALICE at Work can reduce working poverty when they result in structural changes such as higher wages, schedule flexibility and career advancement pathways. However, they address only part of the equation. Broader systemic factors including housing costs, childcare availability and transportation infrastructure also determine whether working households can achieve financial stability. Ontario County's results suggest employer engagement is necessary but not sufficient on its own.

Where to find the full ALICE report?

Details on the ALICE report and methodology are available at