About

Income+ is a project of the Center for Income and Stability at PRA, the team behind the SOAR model. Income+ carries that work forward, weaving income, benefits, employment, and health coverage into coordinated support for lasting stability.

Income+ is a project of the Center for Income and Stability at Policy Research Associates, Inc. (PRA).

The Center for Income and Stability is the successor to the SOAR Technical Assistance Center, which served for nearly two decades as the national hub for helping people experiencing homelessness access disability benefits and health coverage. The SOAR TA Center supported a network of practitioners in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, trained more than 21,000 case workers, and helped more than 109,000 people apply for SSI and SSDI benefits.

When federal funding for the SOAR TA Center ended in 2025, communities lost their central source of training and support at the very moment that Medicaid changes, new work requirements, and housing instability made that support most needed. The Center for Income and Stability restores that expertise and reimagines it for a harder landscape, helping states, communities, organizations, and providers weave together access to income, benefits, and health coverage.

PRA is not building from scratch. As the organization that created and operated the SOAR model, PRA brings established relationships with Social Security Administration field offices, state behavioral health agencies, and community providers, along with deep research and technical assistance experience. Income+ is how that work reaches practitioners today, through courses, tools, and resources grounded in what actually helps people stay stable.

Key Staff

Kristin Lupfer, M.S.W.
: Vice President

Kristin Lupfer, M.S.W., is Vice President for Housing and Income Supports at Policy Research Associates and Director of SAMHSA's PATH Data Exchange. She led the SAMHSA SOAR Technical Assistance Center for 16 years, growing it into a nationwide initiative operating in all 50 states, and is regularly cited in national media on federal disability policy. She leads Income+ in helping communities move beyond single-program solutions toward woven networks of support that sustain housing, health, and long-term stability.

Michelle Espinosa-Clark, MPA
: Senior Project Associate

Michelle Espinosa-Clark, MPA, is a Senior Project Associate at Policy Research Associates, where she provides training and technical assistance to behavioral health, criminal justice, court, and community partners nationwide. A certified SOAR specialist and Sequential Intercept Model facilitator, she specializes in cross-system collaboration, court-based diversion, reentry, and trauma-informed system change, and delivers bilingual training and technical assistance in Spanish. For Income+, she helps communities weave earned income, health coverage, and coordinated supports into one approach for eligible individuals with behavioral health conditions.

Alisha Fletcher, MA
: Project Associate

Alisha Fletcher, MA, is a Project Associate at Policy Research Associates, where she helps states and communities strengthen behavioral health systems and spread best practices for people who are homeless. She facilitates Homeless Response Systems Mappings, guiding communities to map their services landscape, identify gaps, and plan action toward shared goals, and she previously supported SAMHSA's SOAR Technical Assistance Center and Tulsa's Continuum of Care. A citizen of Cherokee Nation, she brings a community-level view to Income+, showing how earned income, health coverage, and housing supports can be woven together.

Our Partners