Reviews important facts and findings from the research on the causes and consequences of teenage childbearing. Describes those parents on welfare and their life circumstances that facilitate or impede their success as young parents and ways of mitigating the adverse consequences of early childbearing for the young mothers and their children. (AA)

Provides an overview of the Wisconsin child support system. Explores policy and program implications of the child support revision process and makes recommendations for improving revision. Advocates expressing child support orders as a percentage of the noncustodial parents' income to keep the orders updated automatically and replace the need for…

Considers the effects of internal and external constituencies on the role of welfare reform in community colleges. Describes how Modesto Junior College (California) built partnerships with county and state employment, social services, welfare, and other agencies to develop effective job-training programs. (NB)

This report discusses the impact of federal budget cuts, program restructuring, and rescissions in programs crucial to child survival. It summarizes the changes voted in by House committees, including changes in school meal programs; combining the Child and Adult Care Food Program with the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program; removing…

New studies demonstrate that many teen marriages are more resilient than had previously been believed; current policies promote single parenthood for teen mothers in the face of very little systemic information about young fathers and their potential for being providers, husbands, or parents. Marriage is a feasible option for many pregnant…

Identifies reasons (institutional racism, poverty, cultural differences, professional bias) for the overrepresentation of minority group children and poor children in the child protective system. Analyzes issues of race and class in child welfare. Discusses implications for social work practice and policy. Contains 60 references. (Author/SAS)

Discusses community colleges and welfare-to-work programs from a rural perspective, specifically in Illinois. Examines the barriers to rural welfare recipients in terms of job placement, benefits of collaborative efforts, and importance of education and training. (Contains 11 references.) (AUTH/NB)

Focuses on the development and implementation of a customer service call center training program, implemented by Metropolitan Community Colleges (Missouri) to assist welfare recipients overcome the obstacles facing them in the workplace. Discusses components of the program, and its effects on both the consumer and the corporate community. (AUTH/NB)

A study was conducted to determine what was happening in literacy programs as a result of the major welfare reform law passed in 1996, and whether basic skills instruction was part of the solution. A nationwide search for exemplary programs that are using basic skills instruction as a fundamental component of assisting welfare recipients in moving…

This report defines policy and practices for child care assistance for welfare recipients in New York, and explores ways in which the state could use the newly enacted federal welfare reform legislation to create opportunities for children of welfare recipients. The six sections of the report are based on a survey of child care policies and…

This research review suggests that welfare reform policy should recognize the differences between rural and urban poor families. The rural poor are more likely to be employed, married, and non-Hispanic white. Rural-urban labor market differences are also likely to influence the effects of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity…

To inform policymakers as they deliberate over the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reauthorization, this guide reviews what states have done with the flexibility afforded them by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The first section examines how states have shaped their welfare reform strategies…

Despite the profession's historic commitment to poor people, little advanced social work practice is reported in work-enhancement programs. Outlines employment-related needs among poor people in the context of economic and policy change. Discusses successful work programs. (Author/JDM)

Summarizes Children's Defense Fund report: 84 of the 100 poorest counties for children are in the South; 79 of those are rural. Discusses racial differences in child poverty; child hunger; lack of health insurance; harsh state welfare policies; the working poor; lower southern educational levels; estimated costs of child poverty; and needs for…

The Opportunities Program is a collaboration between the Illinois state welfare program and the City Colleges of Chicago to educate/train welfare recipients in short-term programs. A review of the research identified these effective student retention strategies: student support, high quality instruction, and remediation. A review of research on…