In 2007, New York City launched the first test of a conditional cash transfer program in the United States. Called Family Rewards, the program sought to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by offering cash assistance to poor families to reduce immediate hardship, but conditioned this assistance on families' efforts to improve their…

Families who live in poverty face disadvantages that can hinder their children's development in many ways, write Greg Duncan, Katherine Magnuson, and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal. As they struggle to get by economically, and as they cope with substandard housing, unsafe neighborhoods, and inadequate schools, poor families experience more stress in…

Nearly half of the nation's families with young children struggle to make ends meet. A new KIDS COUNT policy report makes the case for creating opportunity for families by addressing the needs of parents and their children simultaneously. "Creating Opportunity for Families: A Two-Generation Approach" describes a new approach to reducing…

Conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) have two main objectives: reducing poverty and increasing the human capital of children. To reach these objectives, transfers are given to poor households conditioned on investments in their children's education, health, and nutrition. Targeting mechanisms used by CCTs have been generally successful in…

This evaluation report is the third in a series of reports that are part of a 4-year national effort designed to describe the types of Even Start projects that have been funded, the services provided, the collaboration efforts undertaken, and the obstacles to program implementation that have been encountered. The current report provides…

This report describes the development, introduction, and evaluation of the SuperStart comprehensive prekindergarten program adopted by the New York City Public Schools in 1990. By 1991, SuperStart offered 299 classes in 188 schools, providing a developmentally appropriate learning environment to foster cognitive, social, emotional, and physical…

The causes and consequences of homelessness have been the subject of considerable social science research. This report details recovery from homelessness, or "exits from homelessness," through analysis of descriptive demographic data and correlation of success rates with participant behavior and intervention context. The 2-year…

Despite claims that benefits for the needy have not been reduced, the Reagan Administration's final budget for fiscal year 1990 is marked by substantial reductions in programs for the poor. Actual spending for low-income programs would be sliced $6.75 billion below current levels. Medicaid, which provides health care coverage for poor families…

This book analyzes how welfare reform can improve the lives of children, based on a study of successful programs that provide services to needy children and their families. The study looked at programs that operated in conjunction with the welfare department before the enactment of the Family Support Act and that operated successfully. Chapter 1…