This brief from the Urban Institute reviews four key service systems that serve vulnerable families with young children: Early Head Start; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; the child welfare system; and…

From the Rand Drug Policy Research Center, this study reviews how outcome data can be used in measuring the performance of substance abuse treatment programs for teenagers. Researchers also identified barriers to performance measurement that…

Evidence-based practice is the practice of applying the best available research evidence in the provision of health, behavior, and education services to enhance outcomes for serving families. This brief on evidenced-based practice is from Child…

This resource from the Urban Institute provides information on asset building among low-income families. Because welfare benefits and food stamps are means tested, assets and income must fall below set limits for families to qualify. This ensures…

From the Finance Project, this strategy brief gives information on the use of TANF funds to finance out-of-school programs to improve outcomes for children. Authors provide information on three strategies for out-of-school initiatives for…

This brief presents research findings from the SAMHSA 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and provides information on illicit drug use among youth. The Survey found that youth who did not participate in any extracurricular activities had…

The Workforce Strategies Initiative published this update on how community colleges and sector initiatives are collaborating to benefit businesses and low-income workers seeking. As there is a continued demand for workers educated beyond high…

This article reviews how the three states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have fared under the 1996 welfare reform. Researchers from Mathematica Policy Research, provide information on how the policy changes have affected the TANF…

The welfare reform of 1996 granted states more flexibility in spending for TANF by receiving block grant funding. This policy brief from the National Poverty Center reviews TANF spending, and found that state spending on public welfare programs…

Between 1996 and May 2006, the TANF caseload has decreased 75%, leaving 65,000 families on the welfare caseload as of May 2006. While Texas has experienced a high rate of caseload decline, statistics show that many families have left welfare for…