A Michigan study of children's agencies found that very few had any former youth in care either in leadership or board roles. The author, himself a product of the child welfare system, suggests that quality services will require perspectives of these former consumers of care. Exciting new practices have emerged in the field of youth development…

By studying recipients of aid under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare scheme, the effect of time limits of welfare schemes on forward looking recipients is assessed using a discrete-choice dynamic programming framework model. The policy simulations for the preferred specification of utility reveal that two year time limits…

The conventional way to measure program impacts is to compute the average treatment effect; that is, the difference between a treatment group that received some intervention and a control group that did not. Recently, scholars have recognized that looking only at the average treatment effect may obscure impacts that accrue to subgroups. In an…

This article provides a brief overview of CASAWORKS for Families (CWF), an innovative intervention designed to help substance-abusing parenting women on welfare. CWF was developed in response to the passage of welfare reform legislation in 1996. Factors that provided a background and context for the development of CWF are considered. The…

During the 1990s, the federal government promised low-income families that work would pay. Parents moved into jobs in response to new welfare rules requiring work, tax credits and other work supports that boosted take-home pay. Unfortunately, the record shows that low-income families have not progressed much. Many do not bring home enough to cover…

Winnipeg Boys and Girls Clubs Inc. is a private, voluntary, non-profit, human service group which provides disadvantaged children and youth of diverse social and cultural backgrounds with a safe and challenging environment and the experiences to acquire the skills which will enable them to become responsible and participating adults. Special…

This report is based upon a 1985-86 survey conducted by the Dull Knife Memorial College Indian Child Welfare Project. A series of workshops were conducted throughout Montana to acquaint providers of services for abused and neglected Indian children with the requirements of and issues associated with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.…

This document profiles 150 Federal benefit programs that provide cash on noncash assistance to persons demonstrating need or who qualify for benefits as a result of either contributions made by them or on their behalf or military service. These programs spent more than $400 billion in Federal tax dollars in fiscal year 1983, excluding…

The administration recently announced a broad overhaul of the welfare system called the program for better jobs and income. This proposed plan would consolidate three major components of the current welfare system and provide, for the first time, a nationwide minimum federal cash payment for all the poor. In this paper the existing welfare system…

This simulation involves students in a critique and analysis of the social welfare response to social problems. Students are divided into welfare administrators and disadvantaged groups and asked to role play typical interactions between these two social categories of people. (Author/RM)

The concept of social exclusion has been widely debated in Europe, though there has been little discussion of its application to children. This paper examines what is meant by exclusion of children, considering the choice of reference group, the geographical dimensions of exclusion, and the issue of who is responsible for any exclusion of…

This report from a 1996 Child Care Action Campaign national audioconference concerns approaches taken by Wisconsin and Minnesota in designing and implementing federally funded child care subsidy systems. Wisconsin Works phases out Aid to Families with Dependent Children cash assistance and redirects funds into job training, child care, and health…

This report presents data from 1999 surveys of people living in Chicago shelters and warming centers for families with children. The surveys asked about the impacts of welfare reform on respondents' lives. Researchers also surveyed housing and food assistance agencies, shelters, and other social service agencies. Of 481 families surveyed, 44…

This book provides new estimates of the private costs and public effects of childhood disabilities among welfare recipients. Based on over 2,000 interviews conducted between 1992-96 with household heads in 3 California counties, the estimates cover direct expenditures by families and indirect costs from employment reductions. The study finds that…

Michigan is a leader in state efforts to gain more autonomy over social service programs. Many changes, including those made to the child care and child welfare systems, were part of the governor's blueprint for reform, To Strengthen Michigan Families. This report begins with a profile of Michigan's demographic, economic, and political conditions,…