On December 11, 1997, the Child Care Action Campaign (CCAC) hosted an audioconference to explore the issue of how parents seeking to get off welfare can learn about subsidies available for child care in the transition from welfare to work. Presenters were Doug Baird, president of Associated Day Care Services in Boston, who discussed lessons of a…

This report examines what factors, besides funding and eligibility, affect whether eligible low-income parents who know they can get a child care subsidy actually use one. Data come from subsidy agency administrators, child care experts and caseworkers, parents, and providers at 17 sites in 12 states in 1999 as part of a case study project. This…

Interviewed 1,343 single mothers in California who received Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) concerning available child day care options and subsidies. Results suggested that efforts to increase target efficiency in public child day care subsidies by narrowly restricting eligibility may be reducing effectiveness on related policy…

This brief summarizes the report, "Getting and Retaining Child Care Assistance: How Policy and Practice Influence Families' Experiences," examining subsidy policies and practices that affect subsidy utilization, including those that affect every interaction the parent has with the subsidy agency and those that affect the ease of applying…

To learn more about families and children who have been served by the Texas Child Care Management Services (CCMS) system, this study investigated four primary questions: (1) What are the demographic characteristics of Texas families and children who have received subsidized child care services? (2) What are the subsidized child care utilization…

Recognition of the link between child care and the success of welfare reform has given rise to questions about how states are spending child care funds provided through Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). At the request of members of Congress, this report from the General Accounting Office…

Surveyed 207 parents who were using the Transitional Child Care subsidy 6 months after leaving welfare to examine their characteristics and demographics and illustrate the life circumstances they faced. Findings suggest that income, erratic schedules, and ages of children contribute to the complexities parents face in accessing and using child day…

In response to congressional approaches to welfare reform, this report describes a study of the extent to which child care needs of welfare recipients in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program are currently being met, whether any barriers exist to meeting the child care needs of JOBS participants, the effects of child care subsidies…

This paper provides an early analysis of child care subsidies under welfare reform. The paper reviews the literature on child care subsidies and discusses the potential for such subsidies to be an effective part of the effort to make low-income families economically self-sufficient. The paper then uses data from the National Survey of America's…

Noting Congressional interest in encouraging low-income mothers to seek employment as an alternative to receiving welfare, this report describes a study of the impact of child care expenditures on mothers' decision to work and compares the differences in costs for poor, near-poor, and non-poor mothers. The study developed measures for predicted…

This statement by the associate director of Income Security Issues of the Department of Health, Education and Human Services Division addresses the Congressional welfare reform goal of self-sufficiency for welfare mothers through employment. It analyzes the problems of the current welfare subsidy system by examining the effect of child care…