Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g321Mwu10205; Mon, 1 Apr 2002 20:22:58 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 20:22:58 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <20020402012131.55256.qmail@earthlink.net> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: " Mary Ann Corley" <macorley1@earthlink.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:784] Connect for Kids Weekly X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: MIME-tools 5.41 (Entity 5.404) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Status: O Content-Length: 4725 Lines: 48 Hello, List: The following references are from this week's Connect for Kids Weekly. -Mary Ann Corley * * * * * * * * * * * * MAKING WELFARE WORK FOR WORKING FAMILIES **Welfare Reform and the Work Support System Isabel Sawhill and Ron Haskins find that programs like the minimum wage, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the child tax credit, child care subsidies, Food Stamps and health insurance have significantly expanded and helped welfare-to-work families make work pay. The researchers expect that maintenance and even expansion of these programs will be a major part of this year's welfare reauthorization debate in Congress. http://www.brookings.edu/wrb **Job Retention and Advancement in Welfare Reform Flexibility in the current system has allowed state and local officials to design and test programs to address the retention and advancement needs of current or former Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients. In the absence of sufficient research to recommend sweeping policy changes, this policy brief from the Brookings Institution argues that the federal government should continue to provide funds and flexibility to states so that better methods for increasing job retention and advancement can be created. http://www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/es/wrb/publications/pb/pb18.htm **Marriage, Poverty and Public Policy A single mother is much more likely to live in poverty than a married mother. So shouldn't policy makers concentrate on getting single moms married? This analysis from the Council on Contemporary Families says not so fast. Poverty among college-educated single women is close to 1 percent, and better-educated, better-skilled moms are more likely to marry men who offer more to a marriage. The report recommends that policy makers should eliminate the unintended financial penalties for marriage in the EITC and other benefit programs, but beyond that, single moms and their children might be better off getting a degree than getting a husband first. E-mail Stephanie Coontz for this report (coontz@msn.com). **Substance Use Among Welfare Recipients: Trends and Policy Responses The Supreme Court recently upheld the "one strike, you're out" eviction policy for welfare families in public housing. This Joint Center for Poverty Research analysis finds that illicit drug use and dependence are more common among women receiving welfare than among women who do not, but public concerns have overstated the prevalence or severity of illicit drug use within the welfare population. http://www.jcpr.org/wpfiles/pollack_danziger_jayakody_seefeldt_SRI2001.pdf **Innovative Program Assists Low-Income Families with Homeownership The Self-Help Ventures Fund in North Carolina uses an innovative secondary market program and a partnership with the Latino Community Credit Union to help families with few assets buy and stay in their homes. http://www.huduser.org/periodicals/fieldworks/0202/fworks3.html _____________________________________ WELFARE REFORM'S IMPACT ON CHILDREN -- WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS **Are Children Whose Parents Left Welfare Better Off? The answer is no, according to this Child Trends' review of the research. The research continues to show that poverty and the disadvantages associated with poverty are the key risk factors for children, whether their parents have left welfare, remain on welfare or have never entered the welfare system. http://www.childtrends.org/LeaversPR302.asp **Measuring Improvements in Child Well-Being Kristen Moore, president and senior scholar at Child Trends, talks about defining and measuring child well-being in an online question and answer session through April 10. http://www.futureofchildren.org/discussion2873/discussion_show.htm?doc_id=105773 **Increasing Welfare Mothers' Education Affects Their Young Children's Schooling Research often points to correlations between maternal and child educational achievement, but does an increase in a mother's education cause an improvement in her young child's academic performance? Researchers for the Joint Center on Poverty Research say their findings on the causal effects of maternal education on children's academic improvements are large enough to be of considerable importance for policies that affect the work, welfare and training of low-income mothers. http://www.jcpr.org/wp/WPprofile.cfm?ID=322 **Welfare Information Network Brief on Welfare Reform and Outcomes for Children The Welfare Information Network reviews the assumptions, research studies, and conclusions regarding how welfare reform may be affecting outcomes for children and teens in its February 2002 brief. http://www.welfareinfo.org/childwellbeing_trn.htm --
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