Data from the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) were used to assess the prospects of California's welfare population versus those of the U.S. welfare population. Welfare recipients were found to have substantially lower basic skills than other adults do. Although 58% of California adults with basic skills and demographic characteristics…

Although the 1996 welfare reform bill reduced welfare rolls, falling caseloads do not necessarily mean a better standard of living for families. This book examines the evidence and evaluates whether welfare reform has met one of its chief goals--improving the well-being of the nation's poor children. The chapters of the book are as follows: (1)…

Information on literacy programs for adults in the United States was compiled from the annual statistical performance reports states submit to the U.S. Department of Education at the end of each program year (PY). Nearly 27 percent of adults had not completed a high school diploma or equivalent. In PY 1991, the nation's adult education (AE)…

This book contains 10 papers on three key questions regarding the effects of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which ended the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program: why welfare caseloads are falling; how welfare recipients are faring; and how the states are responding to changing…

U.S. citizens can get two to three times the educational and employment benefits now being obtained if all government funding for youth and adult basic education and job skills training is required to be directed to two investment strategies. The first is to increase intergenerational transfer of cognitive skills. Evidence from studies suggests…

Presents a case study of the development of kinship care policy in Illinois due to court decisions regarding the provision of financial support to relatives acting as foster parents. Compares recent reform of kinship care policies in Illinois with welfare reform efforts across the country and their national implications. (SD)

The "new federalism" paradigm offers an explanation why the federal government has devolved much of its administration of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, formerly AFDC) and Medicaid (through managed care) programs. A review of child and family outcomes data resulting from these devolutionary changes in TANF and…

The five matrices in this volume are designed to assist states in coordinating their Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) programs. The matrices, each organized around a theme, summarize key elements of a variety of federal programs. Matrix A features the main programs of human services, labor, and education agencies that are most critical to…

A total of 30 women from a large eastern state who were identified as being single heads of households and who were receiving some form of public assistance, raising one or more children under the age of 18 years, and either currently or previously employed were interviewed regarding their demographics, work experiences, and past and present life…

A study examined the labor market problems of the United States' out-of-school youth population and trends in the development and attempted solution of those problems over the past 20 years. The study's major areas of focus were as follows: trends in the nation's out-of-school youth population's size and demographic composition; trends in the…

This Kids Count publication is the first to examine statewide trends in the well-being of Montana's children. The statistical portrait is based on 13 indicators of well-being: (1) low birthweight rate; (2) infant mortality rate; (3) child death rate; (4) teen violent death rate; (5) percent of public school enrollment in Chapter 1 programs; (6)…

This paper discusses public school-based child care facilities and the ways in which they benefit students, schools, communities, and children. It is argued that when there are child care centers in public high schools, teen-age parents whose children attend the facility are more likely to complete their education and less likely to become…

The Public Assistance Comprehensive Education (PACE) program was established by Tompkins Cortland Community College at the request of the New York State Department of Social Services (DSS) and in cooperation with local DSS offices. PACE offers up to five semesters of vocational training to individuals receiving Aid to Families with Dependent…

The importance of higher education for women on welfare, the needs of welfare women in college, and college services provided to this population are discussed, along with model college programs, and policy implications for local, state, and federal programs. It is proposed that single-parent women on welfare have access to higher education so they…

The Youth Incentive Entitlement Pilot Projects (YIEPP) demonstration, which was in full operation from 1978 to 1980, was established to test the efficacy of work combined with education as a remedy for high unemployment, low labor force participation, and the excessive school dropout rate of teenagers. YIEPP offered Federal minimum-wage jobs…