In Wise County, Virginia, the If I Had a Hammer Housing Construction and Rehabilitation Program teaches the construction trades to local men and women receiving county housing assistance, while rehabilitating local housing. Trainees work for minimum wage, attend classes eight hours per week without pay, and receive support services and high school…

In 1996, rural children had higher poverty and just-over poverty rates than urban children. Compared to rural white children, rural minority children had less-educated parents and were more likely to live in poverty, in families with a single parent or without an earner, and in families dependent on social-welfare programs. (Author/SV)

Uses a causal model to understand the direct and mediated effects of neighborhood disadvantage and family structure on youth expectations. Demonstrates that the employment expectations of adolescents are significantly lower in both nonintact and welfare homes in comparison to youth in other households. Discusses implications for social policy in…

Discusses the history of welfare reform and the different approaches used in several states. Describes multiple models that have emerged in community colleges, including short-term training programs, open entry/exit programs or alternative entry dates, classes offered at unconventional times, company-specific programs, case-management strategies,…

Discusses issues for child welfare workers seeking to preserve the relationship between incarcerated parents and their children in the wake of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997; the Act advocates swift separation of parent and child and placement of children for adoption. Discusses this public policy, suggesting strategies for permanency…

Describes the results from a family-based case management demonstration program which served families in North Carolina during the period of 1990 to 1993. The model from the program was based on the family investment initiative strategy developed by the George Washington University Center for Policy Studies. Implications of the results for social…

Study utilizes a longitudinal data set from Sweden to test hypotheses on the inheritance of welfare benefit recipiency as indicated by reliance on means-tested social assistance. A clear intergenerational effect was observed. Effect reflects a combination of social assistance in the family of origin, children's school adjustment, and parental…

Discusses the value of administrative data to child welfare researchers. Considers issues in using client records--confidentiality, selection of data, historical data, sampling reliability, replication of findings, and access to data--that can be resolved in standardized ways. Notes other problematic issues, such as greater distance from subject,…

This paper utilizes a rich longitudinal data set--the Women's Employment Study (WES)--to investigate whether obesity, which is common among women of low socioeconomic status, is a barrier to employment and earnings for current and former welfare recipients. We find that former welfare recipients who are both White and morbidly obese have been less…

A study of the effect of state and federal welfare reforms over the period 1990-2000 on health insurance coverage and healthcare utilization by single women aged between 20-45 is presented. It is observed that Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program of 1990s with…

Welfare programs changed dramatically in 1996. Caseloads dropped by more than 9 million recipients over an eight-year period, and millions entered the labor market in the wake of these changes. Since the start of the "welfare revolution," research has emerged to document the new ways former welfare recipients are using federal…

This ethnographic study examines the educational experiences of 10 women who are both social service recipients and higher education students. Study participants view higher education in a variety of ways that include both instrumental and transformational purposes. By situating participants' experiences in the larger economic and social context…

Guided by the conceptual frameworks of social support appraisal mechanisms and cultural variant perspectives, the reported experiences of 23 Black grandmothers parenting grandchildren who receive cash assistance under the current welfare program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), were used to integrate macro- and micro-level…

The number of poor elderly Blacks and the cost of health care are increasing. Even with Medicare there are out of pocket expenses for those who are least able to pay. Since racial bias may be a factor in triage, the best approach to reducing medical costs is prevention. (VM)

Analyzes the utilization of public assistance in the United States by immigrants and natives. Findings include the following: (1) despite higher poverty rates, immigrants had only minimally higher recipiency rates than natives; (2) immigrants were generally less likely than natives to receive assistance. (FMW)