This paper uses data from the 1996 and 2001 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to assess the impact of recent policy initiatives intended to increase access to Food Stamps. It finds that reductions in state certification requirements increased Food Stamp participation rates of income-eligible families with children by one to…

Personal narrative embeds the expertise of subordinated groups in stories that seldom translate into public debate. The authors describe a community writing project in which welfare recipients used personal narratives to enter into the public record their tacit and frequently discounted knowledge. The research illustrates the difficulties and…

Characteristics were examined of participants in and services provided through the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) programs in 1992. National data concerning 1992 JOBS program participants that had been collected by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) were analyzed along…

A longitudinal study of urban (Baltimore) black teenage mothers and their welfare experiences following the birth of their first child was started in the 1960s by Frank Furstenberg and has continued for more than 20 years. Information was gathered from 3 generations of the families of 300 women. Most of the school-aged mothers were not married at…

The welfare initiative signed into law in August 1996 replaces Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). The federal responsibility to match state expenditures on cash assistance to low-income families with children has become a fixed block grant to states with requirements that focus on a…

This report contains highlights of a seminar which focused on young unwed fathers and welfare reform. Comments by these panelists are summarized: Rikki Baum, legislative assistant to Senator Patrick Moynihan; Linda Mellgren, from the Office of Income Security; and Margaret Boeckmann, Director of the Office of Employment Policy, Maryland Department…

In order to predict the earnings of single mothers under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program and the success of welfare reform in reducing poverty, a study was conducted of single mothers' work behavior, welfare receipt, and other sources of income. Data were generated from the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Income and…

This report presents an analysis of the effectiveness of Ohio's Learning, Earning, and Parenting (LEAP) Program in encouraging school attendance by pregnant and parenting teenagers on welfare. It describes LEAP as a statewide program that provides pregnant and parenting teenagers with financial incentives to go to school. The report's eight…

An analysis of data including standardized achievement test scores from 1960 and 1970 administrations from 62 community districts shows evidence of a strong relationship between the general level of reading within the schools, and health and welfare characteristics of community districts where the schools are located, it is stated. (Author/JM)

This collection of statistical data on the 90 Highland Lao communities in the United States is designed to help members of those communities and people working in refugee-serving agencies to better assist this refugee group. Information was provided by community leaders, state refugee coordinators, and county human resource officials in 1988.…

This report presents the findings from a three-year study of two San Diego demonstration projects designed to increase unsubsidized employment and reduce welfare dependency and costs. One involved a job search requirement, while the other combined that requirement with a short-term work obligation. Overall, compared to the few earlier studies on…

The San Diego (California) Saturation Work Initiative Model (SWIM) was part of the Social Security Administration's two-site demonstration of saturation work programs in an urban area. The multicomponent program operated from July 1985 until late 1987, when it was replaced by a new statewide initiative called the Greater Avenues for Independence…

Information on the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program in Wisconsin is provided in this document. Part 1 is a summary of the history, administration, and funding of the program. In Part 2, various elements of the AFDC program are described. These include eligibility requirements, grant calculation, work requirements, and medical…

The poor evidently do not all think alike or react similarly to materials written for them. The authors suggest that professionals should reassess their communications approach to the poor, because of the sharply differing attitudes, opinions, and values which their study found among welfare recipients. Five well-defined groups are described.…

Current research on adolescent fertility indicates that illegitimacy is becoming concentrated in the teenage and even preteen years. Increasing sexual activity, lack of contraceptive information and techniques, and a desired pregnancy are possible explanations. Some of the problems faced by adolescent mothers include more complicated pregnancies,…