Presents results of a study using national survey data that indicates that maternal employment in families that had previously received welfare does not hurt children's social or cognitive development and may improve their situations. Outcomes were better for those whose mothers earned higher wages. (SLD)

Suggests four criteria (efficiency, return on investment, incentives, and equity) for evaluating and comparing public programs for poor children, and provides an overview of information available on eight large federal programs using these criteria. Positive effects of some programs are noted, and policy recommendations the evidence supports are…

Reviews research from the late 1960s through the present that considers how maternal employment affects children in low-income families. Most studies have indicated that children are not harmed when mothers go to work, but it is noted that the women in these studies entered employment voluntarily. (SLD)

Summarizes efforts by state governments to regulate managed care and examines the various actions that states have initiated to credential managed care plans that desire to provide care for Medicaid beneficiaries. In the long run, organizations other than state regulatory agencies may be better equipped to regulate managed care. (SLD)

Reviews six federally funded in-kind public assistance programs designed to mitigate effects of poverty on children: (1) food stamps; (2) the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children; (3) school nutrition programs; (4) Medicaid; (5) Head Start; and (6) housing assistance. Evidence indicates these programs achieve their…

Examines the financial impact of divorce on children and their families. The preponderance of evidence suggests that women and children experience substantial declines after divorce whereas the relative income of divorced men remains stable or increases. The impact of public assistance is also considered. (SLD)

Recently states have increasingly turned to managed care arrangements to finance and deliver health services to Medicaid beneficiaries. As this trend continues, states should carefully monitor changes in program costs and quality and implications for delivery of pediatric services and health outcomes for children. (SLD)

This issue of "The Future of Children" examines whether programs implemented by the federal welfare reform law accomplished the goal of reducing the number of children growing up in poor, single-parent families and whether these programs benefited children. This examination coincides with debates in Congress on the reauthorization of the…