Head Start, the federal program that provides preschool education, health, and social services for children from poor families, is one of the United States' most popular government programs. Created in 1965, it has endured as a symbol of commitment to children, serving just fewer than one million children a year in neighborhood sites across the…

Reports contents of the Children's Defense Fund's analysis of the effects on families of the Reagan administration's fiscal 1983 budget. (Author/RH)

The working poor are employable people who have found low-paying jobs and barely scrape out a living. By removing many forms of federal aid, the Reagan administration has locked the working poor into poverty. In saving a few dollars today, we are penalizing the next generation. (CS)

Reviews the Reagan administration's approach to maternal and child health policy. Analyzes the administration's legislative and regulatory efforts in this area and concludes that its goal has been to lessen the national commitment to maternal and child health at a time of heightened need for federal intervention. (CMG)

Public service employment is a cost-effective fiscal remedy in terms of jobs created within the first 12 months. Its effectiveness is enhanced if participants come from welfare or unemployment compensation programs. Other positive attributes are low inflationary impact and ability to be targeted to areas or groups. (SK)

Examines the Youth Employment and Demonstration Project Act of 1977 and the lessons it teaches about creating alternative educational experiences for poor and minority youth. Also outlines what is contained in the Youth Act of 1980. (IRT)

One out of five people under the age of 18 lives in families with poverty level income, making them the poorest age group in this country. Federal assistance is necessary to change the situation. Reasons why children are poor and their minimum needs for a physically and emotionally healthy upbringing are covered. (PS)

In an effort to contribute to the dialogue on the need for reform of the nation's fair housing laws and policies, this report describes and evaluates those policies and their impact. The report begins with a discussion of the Federal Government's support for a racially dual housing market prior to 1962 and moves on to describe the beginnings of a…

The current patchwork of programs designed to ameliorate poverty has failed. Efforts to alleviate poverty by expanding educational opportunities have also had little impact. Poverty among youth has increased during the past two decades even though federal funds for reducing poverty have grown and median educational attainment has increased.…

The current displaced worker initiative towers over the 30-year effort to bring the economically disadvantaged into the mainstream of the labor market. The Congressional Budget Office defines displacement as all workers 18 years of age and older who lose full-time employment due to slack work, job abolition, or plant closure. Major displaced…

This paper looks at performance standards and related policies as tools for influencing the direction of local programming as well as ensuring accountability throughout the service delivery system. It suggests various ways in which the different components of the Job Training Partnership Act's performance management system can be used to promote…

The United States has one of the highest poverty rates in the industrialized world, especially among its children and the working poor. The underclass is comprised of a group of 2.5 million chronically poor people who live in inner-city communities where crime, drug abuse, teenage childbearing, dropping out of school, and welfare dependency are…

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…

Student Affirmative Action (SAA) outreach programs to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities and the economically disadvantaged in higher education in California started with little or no coordination and scant thought of evaluation. For a variety of reasons, which include how they were planned, how they are staffed and…

This publication examines the process of networking, which is defined here as a framework to provide technical support between and among professionals. The process of networking is explored over a 7-year period as it served directors of the Midwest Teacher Corps, one of 12 networks established on a geographical basis by the Teacher Corps Program,…