Large percentages of preschool children in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia live in poverty and receive no benefits from society's "safety nets." County estimates for unemployment and per capita income (1985-1987) indicate that economic conditions are most severe in central West Virginia, eastern Kentucky,…

This report examines state earned income tax credits (EICs) as a means to assist working poor families to escape poverty. Specifically, the report notes that six states have their own EICs, expressed as a percentage of the federal EIC, with the advantages being that the credit is a reward for work, is a pro-family policy, is efficiently targeted,…

The National Center for Children in Poverty is developing a series of issue briefs on children and welfare reform to help policymakers, community leaders, and advocates use the opportunities afforded by welfare changes in ways that are most likely to benefit both children and adults. This second issue brief focuses on the impact of federal and…

As a result of federal legislation aimed at welfare reform, states have been transforming welfare in new ways. Critical questions remain, however, and policymakers must continue to develop new ideas and implement programs from other states. This book contributes to the learning process among states by sharing program innovations and analyses to…

In this report, the Rural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty presents 11 Pathways from Poverty (PfP) state-team efforts and accomplishments. Education and training are themes that appear here and there throughout the strategies described. Many PfP state teams have formed alliances with state rural development councils that…

According to recent studies, families with children are now the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population: 40 percent of the homeless population consists of members of families. Forty-three percent of homeless children do not attend school, which provides children with a much-needed sense of place and continuity that they otherwise lack…

As discussed in several addresses at a New York State Board of Regents symposium, the task of continuing education in New York State includes adult basic education, job training, and other forms of involvement by educators and other segments of society in efforts to enable individuals, communities, and organizations to function effectively in a…

Smart Start is a broad-based community initiative to ensure that all of North Carolina's children arrive at school healthy and ready to learn. This study examined the effect of Smart Start on the quality of child care from 1994-1996. Data were collected from child care centers in 12 counties implementing the initiative. Data collectors visited 180…

This report proposes that state economic development policy and resources, and state personnel, with their knowledge of and access to the business community, can contribute to the intertwined issues of competitiveness and poverty. Following an introduction, chapter 2 examines four related issues: poverty, income equity, welfare dependency, and the…

Smart Start is a multi-disciplinary, comprehensive, community-based initiative to serve North Carolina children under age 6 and their families to ensure that all children enter school healthy and prepared to succeed. To achieve this, local county partnerships have focused both their attention and their funds on three major areas of service…

This document provides a historical framework for better understanding the emergence of community-based family support and education (CBFSE) programs, their place within the larger service delivery system, and their potential for meeting the needs of children and families living in poverty. The paper is organized into five sections. The first…

Smart Start is a multi-disciplinary, comprehensive, community-based initiative to serve North Carolina children under age 6 and their families to ensure that all children enter school healthy and prepared to succeed. To achieve this, local county partnerships have focused both their attention and their funds on implementing child care programs,…

The final report of the Texas Childhood Hunger Identification Project (Texas CHIP), this document describes the most comprehensive study of childhood hunger undertaken in Texas. Through enumeration and interviewing methods, low-income families from 27 counties in Texas were analyzed in the areas of income allocation, food frequency, homelessness,…

Noting that the mid-1990s are an era of experimentation in welfare initiatives, this publication summarizes 34 research studies on children and welfare reform. Articles include studies of children and parents in poverty, studies of program models likely to have direct implications for children, and outcome evaluations of welfare-to-work programs…

Explores the economic and demographic factors fueling rural homelessness, based on field research in scattered rural communities. Data were collected by interviewing low-income families and local service providers and from community agency and school records. Suggests strategies for preventing and responding to homelessness that would be…