The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are long-standing policies that link cash assistance to low-income families to work effort. A new policy being tested in New York City adopts this "conditional cash transfer" principle and extends it to a broader set of family efforts to build their…

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs have spread worldwide as a new form of social assistance for the poor. Previous evaluations of CCT programs focus mainly on rural settings, and little is known about their effects in urban areas. This paper studies the short-term (1- and 2-year) effects of the Mexican "Oportunidades" CCT program…

Twelve urban community action programs (CAP) were examined in depth to determine how each of them operationally defined community action and to evaluate their performance. The criteria used were: (1) a clear statement of purpose and programs consistent with that purpose; (2) strong independent leadership and a built-in evaluation and…

This volume relates the origins of Volunteers in Service To America (VISTA), its problems and achievements. Originating in President Kennedy's proposal for a national service corps (1963), VISTA reached concrete form with the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. While white middle class youth constitute the bulk of the volunteers, the organization…

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…

"Research results indicate that the Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) has been effective in reaching seriously disadvantaged youth and in improving the community and work adjustments of these youths. At the same time, these achievements appear to fall far short of the full potential of the NYC Programs." Among the problems of program and…

Produced in four parts, this report covers a study of poor people in Austin, Texas, begun in 1967. Initial research efforts defined the problem and identified the population to be studied. An interim report was then made on the first year's findings. This involved evaluating some of the community action programs (CAP) and identifying and analyzing…

Studies listed in this 550 item annotated bibliography on the Community Action Program are classified by 16 population groups (including unemployed, professional and paraprofessional, rural and urban, out of school youth, aged, minority groups, migrants, preschool and school children, welfare recipients, and staff members of the Office of Economic…

IN ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, WHERE THE SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED LIVE IN HIGH DENSITY HOUSING, SCIENTIFIC RESOURCES INCORPORATED RECRUITED AND TRAINED EIGHT INDIGENOUS PEOPLE TO SERVE AS ADULT EDUCATIONAL AIDES IN A 6-MONTH PROJECT DESIGNED FOR THE NEW JERSEY COMMUNITY ACTION TRAINING INSTITUTE. SIX AIDES, AGED FROM 18 TO 48 WITH NINTH-GRADE TO COLLEGE…

The Commission on the Year 2000 found many areas of improvement since issuing its initial report, "New York Ascendant," in 1987, outlining an agenda and goals for systematically dealing with the most significant problems facing New York, New York. The Commission reviewed reports from city agencies explaining what each agency would do to…

In this evaluation study of Project ENABLE, the basic question was whether low-income parents can be reached by family life education discussion groups. The research involved about 11,600 personal interviews with parents and about 6,200 records of group attendance and service to the parents. A substantial number of low-income parents (median…

Part I (VT 005 948) of the report to the Committee on Administration of Training Programs contains summaries of the findings and recommendations based on the analysis of data presented in this volume. Answers to two basic questions were sought: (1) To what extent is there waste, duplication, and inefficiency in administering federally supported…