This newsletter issue focuses on programming undertaken to address the health and educational needs of rural families in developing and developed nations. After examining the nature of rural families and rural poverty, the newsletter discusses: (1) the Mon Women's Organization in Thailand; (2) The "Contact With Kids" parent education…

This paper addresses the role community colleges can play in moving the working poor toward economic independence. Since Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) was enacted in 1996, there have been many new job openings in the country. But, employment and earnings prospects for job seekers leaving the welfare system are dismal. TANF clients…

Reviews evolution of workfare programs during the past 25 years. Summarizes both positive and negative outcomes of such programs, and identifies some key issues and unanswered questions resulting from these outcomes. Suggests a more viable direction for welfare reform in the areas of child care responsibility, balance of rights and obligations,…

The Citizens' Campaign Against Hunger and Poverty and For Life is a nongovernmental organization in Brazil that recruited and organized more than three million volunteers to distribute food baskets, support gardening and water projects, provide basic health care, create jobs, assist homeless children, and encourage local and state governments to…

Discusses changes in British attitudes toward education from emphasizing social engineering and an equal right to education to a cost-effective approach. Sets out educational goals of independence and the ability to do useful work and to enjoy life by participating in it. Discusses special needs students and the safety net for children from poor…

Offers information on welfare-to-work programs at community colleges. Suggests that all community colleges, including those without such programs, can use existing research to maximize the commitment to further educational opportunities for disadvantaged individuals. (Contains 16 references.) (AUTH/NB)

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…

Helping urban principals and schools work effectively requires analyzing the urban school context. Ways in which schools can serve the poor are detailed in this study. The research employed three separate approaches: use of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to identify the primary concerns of residents from three economically depressed…

Federal block grants and consolidated programs related to poverty reduction may compel states to streamline administrative structures and approaches that have deterred collaboration in the past. This report considers the block grant environment in making key policy recommendations for reducing poverty in rural areas, formulated during a Pathways…

This report describes some of the ways in which Head Start agencies are helping to set parents on the path to self-sufficiency. The report is intended to illustrate the variety of initiatives that are underway and to highlight the important work all Head Start agencies are doing to support parents as they move from welfare to work. The…

In order to break the cycle of poverty for disadvantaged children and their families, action must be taken to redistribute income and other resources and improve services and institutions that serve the poor. Successful programs are the following: (1) comprehensive, flexible, and responsive; (2) staffed by workers who develop relationships of…

In order to study the persistence of poverty across generations with a view to developing or monitoring cross-generational poverty-reduction policies, social indicators to track dependency and deprivation of children are needed. Available data on the dependency and deprivation of children primarily describe the following characteristics of the…

This special report from the National Commission for Employment Policy on coordinating federal assistance programs for the economically disadvantaged contains two parts. Part 1 includes recommendations for improving public assistance coordination programs in general and employment and training programs in particular. Eight recommendations focus on…

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…

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…