In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded pilot grants to 10 States--California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington--to test innovative strategies for providing employment and training services through Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP…

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded pilot grants to 10 States--California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington--to test innovative strategies for providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T). As part of the pilots, all grantees…

A record number of people are depending on federally financed food assistance. Food-stamp use increased from an average monthly caseload of 17 million in 2000 to 44 million people in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Web site. Last year, one in six people--almost 50 million Americans, or 15 percent of the population--received…

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, previously "food stamps"), is the nation's largest federal entitlement nutritional assistance program which assists individuals and households living below the federal poverty level in order to reduce the amount of money they spend on food. With the conversion of food stamps coupons to…

This report summarizes the final impact results for the national Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project. This project tested, using a random assignment design, the effectiveness of numerous programs intended to promote steady work and career advancement. All the programs targeted current and former welfare recipients and other low-wage…

Using data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS), an ongoing investigation of a panel of low-income minority children growing up in an inner city, this study investigated whether retention is associated with participation in postsecondary education and public aid receipt. The study sample included 1,367 participants whose data were available…

This study examines whether and how select individual characteristics moderate the relationship between neighborhood disorder and a sense of personal control. Our findings show that neighborhood disorder is associated with a decreased sense of control. However, regression analyses including interaction terms of neighborhood disorder and some…

Research completed since the 1980s has yielded substantial knowledge about how to help welfare recipients and other low-income individuals prepare for and find jobs. Many participants in these successful job preparation and placement programs, however, ended up in unstable, low-paying jobs, and little was known about how to effectively help them…

This study's objective was to examine whether five child health-promoting behaviors by caregivers would be associated with caregivers' assessments of their children's health as "excellent," controlling for an array of risk factors for adverse health outcomes. The study used the third and fourth waves of the Illinois Families Study-Child…

This Chapin Hall report describes findings on the extent of system involvement among Illinois youth released from correctional facilities, tracking a population of youth under age 18 in Illinois following their release. Using administrative records, researchers develop profiles of reentry experiences across the many systems that serve youth and…

Used cluster analysis of survey data for 506 respondents to create a taxonomy of welfare leavers in Illinois based on their self-reported well-being after leaving welfare. Used classification tree analysis to identify factors associated with different types of leavers. Findings highlight the existence of many marginally successful leavers who…

Although most of the substantial increase in states' child care spending between 1997 and 1999 is expended through child care subsidy programs or by contracts with child care resource and referral agencies, little research has focused on how the child care subsidy program operates, who is served, and what services are offered. This report is one…

The recent overhaul of the federal welfare system gives states new flexibility to set child care policies, develop child care programs, and fund new initiatives. The Child Care Action Campaign (CCAC) conducted an audioconference on July 31, 1997, to examine key elements of new state plans and to take a close look at how one state, Illinois, made…

This report helps state and local decision makers understand the range of services ordinarily needed and provided in alcohol and drug treatment programs serving women and families receiving welfare and how those services support the goals of welfare reform. The model programs profiled here tend to the needs of women on welfare and their families…

This issue provides information on recent publications and resources on outcomes for teenagers in families receiving or transitioning off the welfare rolls and in innovative youth development programs for those and other at-risk youth. Thirteen publications are listed for additional information. A list of 17 Web sites for more information is…