The paper analyzes how street-level bureaucrats construct and activate the intersectoral network induced by the implementation of the "Bolsa Família" Program (BFP) in a region of extreme poverty in Brazil. BFP is a federal cash transfer program with conditionalities, benefiting 13.8 million families. Based on the educational…

Single mothers have the lowest rates of degree completion of any demographic group when they pursue higher education as a path out of poverty. This article explores the obstacles student mothers face when they pursue higher education. The lived experiences of participants add context to data about low rates of degree completion. Findings are based…

In the nation today, 4.6 million young adults ages 16 to 24 are out of school and unemployed. More than one-third live in poverty. For these young people, commonly referred to as opportunity youth, building skills and gaining work experience are key to upward mobility. However, they face significant barriers to entering the labor market.…

Each year, effective federal programs give parents the power to provide their children with affordable healthcare, nutritious food, stable housing, and early childhood education. These programs lift millions of children out of poverty, but also have long-term benefits--children in families who accessed these programs have higher educational…

This article focuses on the quantitative phase of a multiphase mixed methods study investigating adults' and families' access to government food assistance. The research evaluates participants' comprehension of, and ability to, adequately complete authentic complex texts--national food assistance application documents. Summative usability testing…

Through a year-long study of welfare-to-work students in the community college CalWORKs program, we investigated what self-authorship development looks like by examining developmental progress, and whether there are patterns in development along the three dimensions of self-authorship. Findings demonstrate progress toward self-authorship, but…

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) serves as the foundation of America's national nutrition safety net. It is the nation's first line of defense against food insecurity and offers a powerful tool to improve nutrition among low-income individuals. SNAP is the largest of the 15 domestic food and nutrition assistance programs…

This 60-item annotated bibliography focuses on case management as it relates to welfare, Medicaid, and/or the Family Support Act of 1988. While specific definitions, types of practice, and goals of case management vary greatly, the term here refers to a strategy of coordinating or integrating services for a client or group of clients in the social…

This report provides a detailed examination of the various federal programs for children and families and outlines ways in which the United States Congress and Executive Branch could make these programs work better. Intricate and often overlapping goals and actions are typical of the Congressional committees and Executive Branch departments that…

To assist states in easing the burden of Medicaid application procedures and verification requirements for families, the Southern Institute on Children and Families conducted a regional meeting to discuss child health coverage verification issues in September, 1998. Participating in the dialogue were Medicaid and state child health insurance…

This booklet, which describes federal food assistance programs, is designed to help large families, families on small budgets, and elderly people on fixed incomes get more food for less money. The book is divided into four chapters: Kids, Women and Children, Families, and Senior Citizens. Each chapter describes in detail the food assistance…

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 paper examines the status of social welfare programs in the United States and recent efforts to reform such programs. It proposes key issues that need to be addressed in any attempt to overhaul the federal welfare system. Welfare reform should ensure that: (1) those families on public assistance are able to meet their basic needs in order to…

This booklet discusses the origins and components of Head Start, a federal project launched in 1965 to help break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. The description of the program notes that in fiscal…

This report contains summaries by representatives of major federal agencies of the ways in which their programs relate to children. Generally, each reporting agency provides a brief description of programs, information on authorizing legislation, appropriations and any recent program modifications as well as names of any programs that have been…