Many college students, especially students from low-income backgrounds, face significant structural barriers that make it challenging to persist and complete a degree or certificate. These barriers include substantial financial challenges. Student financial aid at the federal and state levels has not kept up with rising college costs, resulting in…

This article offers a case-study of specific shifts in the view of state responsibility for the less fortunate in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Current welfare policy aims to reduce the state benefits of parents if they do enrol their preschool children in an early childhood centre. I undertake a genealogical investigation and suggest that state…

This article examines the consequences of two concurrent policy changes for family literacy programs in Pennsylvania: (1) the transition from federal (Even Start) to state funding and (2) the elimination of adult education as a work activity for welfare recipients over 22 years of age. Using qualitative data from 10 family literacy programs, the…

Due to federal budget cuts in 2005-06, 11 family literacy programs in Pennsylvania switched from federal Even Start to state (Act 143) funding. Simultaneously, state welfare requirements stipulated that in most circumstances adult education is not an allowable work activity for welfare recipients over age 20. This study examined how these policy…

Explores the implications of the rapid influx of low-income mothers into the work force and the new federal work requirements for the well-being of young children. Reviews data about welfare policy provisions from the 1990s, but notes that such data was generally collected before the influx of low-income mothers into the workforce. (SLD)

One of a series of family impact seminars, the meeting described in this document was held to discuss the child care provisions of the Family Support Act (FSA). This document provides highlights of the seminar and a background briefing report prepared before the meeting. The highlights section summarizes presentations by the seminar's four…

The number of working women with children has increased dramatically in the past 20 years, increasing the demand for child care services to help working families secure and maintain their economic self-sufficiency. As more welfare families will be expected to seek and keep jobs, demand for child care services will increase. Because Congress is…

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…

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…

An analysis of fiscal year 1988 funding levels shows that there will be many cuts in programs for the poor. The programs which will be affected the most are those which pay heating bills for poor households, those which provide emergency food and shelter for the homeless, and those which provide housing assistance for low income elderly and…

Reviews "Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980" by Charles Murray. Murray believes federal social welfare programs sap the moral fiber of poor Americans by eliminating a negative incentive for them to work at low paying jobs. Criticizes Murray's position, citing the importance of positive as well as negative incentives for…

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…

Describes the BEGIN Education literacy programs in adult education. Policy issues in the federal funding of BEGIN are outlined. The challenge is to structure BEGIN so that it defines and addresses a solid and clearly articulated philosophy of adult education as it meets regulatory demands and expectations. (SLD)

The current non-system for dealing with the mentally disabled is expensive and inefficient and is the primary cause of a substantial proportion of all homelessness. A comprehensive national policy and the delegation of greater administrative responsibilities to private agencies would help to address the problem of the homeless mentally ill. (GC)

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…