This issue of WIN (Welfare Information Network) Issue Notes focuses on helping low-income mothers with criminal records achieve self-sufficiency. Section 1 offers background. Section 2 answers these policy questions: why states might want to focus on serving low-income mothers with criminal records; how states can encourage employers to hire ex-offenders; how eligibility restrictions on certain public benefits affect a state's ability to meet the basic needs of some low-income mothers with criminal records; and how states can help mothers reunite with their children prior to and following their release from prison. Section 3 summarizes research findings on background information on inmates/parents in state and federal correctional facilities and initiatives to help ex-offenders with reentry. Section 4 describes innovative practices and contact information for programs in Colorado, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, New York, and Texas. Seven resource contacts and 15 publications are listed. (YLB)