Rural development is broader than just agriculture. Farm policy cannot solve rural community problems. Rural problems are sufficiently unique to require special emphasis and special programs. Since rural development has a broader focus than the local community, its problems need to be addressed by all levels of government as well as the private…

In 1986, of 32 million Americans who were poor, nearly ten million, or 30%, lived in nonmetropolitan or rural areas containing only 22% of the nation's population. While metropolitan poverty rates have declined somewhat since 1983 as a result of economic recovery, nonmetropolitan poverty rates have remained relatively high. Rural poverty is not to…

The focus of this paper is on the program authorized in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. It is noted that the intent of the legislation was to develop strategies for change at the local level by involving local populations in the planning and implementation of programs tailored to meet their social, economic, and educational needs. In Part…

The document presents a view of the program, "Educational Talent Search," operating in 20 counties in northwest Mississippi and in Wilcox County, Alabama. A description of the poverty conditions found to exist in these counties serves as a foundation for the remainder of the report. Talent scout training, talent scout efforts, and student field…

Volume I of this 4-volume report contains the research instruments used in an 18-month project which was designed to understand the rural poor in terms of their information-seeking and information-utilization behavior patterns. Randomly divided into 3 groups, 840 families from 7 target counties in northwestern Florida were studied by a group of…

Over a period of 4 months in early 1994, Voices for Children investigated low-income children's access to 15 benefits for which they might be eligible. Of those benefits, six were further analyzed to determine how many eligible low-income children were actually receiving them. Counties were grouped by population size to determine if differences…

A 1965 summer training program for 90 VISTA volunteers at Monte Vista, Colorado, is described and evaluated in this report. The program was designed to prepare VISTA trainees to work in poverty areas by providing individual helping services and by planning and organizing community action. The trainees lived and worked in Monte Vista, a small…

Dealing with an analysis and evaluation of community action programs (provided for by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964) in Appalachia, this report presents 3 conditions for program success: (1) adequate community action leadership at the local level; (2) power holders at the community, county, or "local" level who are sympathetic, or…

This book synthesizes the views of California's preeminent rural development researchers on how immigration is transforming rural California communities. It draws on papers presented at two conferences held in Asilomar and Riverside (California) in 1995 and 1996. Conference participants were asked to consider whether rural poverty is being…

This select bibliography on poverty in the U.S. is divided into the following areas: (1) general references; (2) economics of poverty; (3) the poor; (4) Office of Economic Opportunity Programs - General; (5) Community Action, VISTA, and participation of the poor; (6) manpower and poverty; (7) poverty and health; (8) education and the poor; (9) the…

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…

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE REPORT OF THE FIRST YEAR OF NEW JERSEY'S ANTIPOVERTY EFFORTS FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE OF THE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 1964. DISCUSSED ARE COMMUNITY ACTION IN URBAN AND RURAL AREAS AND SUCH STATE PROGRAMS AS RURAL YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, MIGRANT OPPORTUNITIES, HEALTH SERVICES FOR POOR YOUTH, WORK EXPERIENCE FOR WELFARE RECIPIENTS,…

THE COUNCIL OF THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS MADE A ONE-YEAR STUDY OF THE MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING ACT IN APPALACHIA AND HELPED ESTABLISH THE YOUTH, EDUCATION, JOB DEVELOPMENT, WORK EXPERIENCE, VISTA, AND ON THE JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS WHICH ARE REVIEWED AND EVALUATED IN THIS REPORT. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT--(1) MEN WANT JOBS, (2) WHILE UNFILLED…