Many low-income working parents rely on subsidized child care. The Illinois Child Care Assistance Program supports qualifying families in working or attending school, many of whom may be unable to afford market-rate child care. Examining parents' income and employment patterns can guide policymakers to optimally structure subsidized child care to…

States collectively invest over $12 billion a year to support over 4.5 million students through financial aid programs. This interactive 50-State Comparison provides a look at the specific criteria employed in the top two largest aid programs by state. This interactive resource includes details about which state programs are linked to measuring…

The core challenge our proposal seeks to address is how to ensure that every American family and child has access to high-quality, affordable early childhood care and education (ECE) services in a critical period of human development, breaking a shortage of investment in young children. America's status quo asks the most of parents when they have…

The COVID-19 crisis has made delivering early intervention services much more challenging and could exacerbate racial inequities in health and education. But we can only fix what we can measure--so it is vital that states collect and report better data. A survey of state coordinators of early intervention services in fall 2020 focused on Black and…

As the 3,919 students who participated in the first year of Indiana's new, wide-reaching school voucher program near the end of the first semester in their new schools, the program faces its next challenge: A state court hearing opened on Dec. 19 on a lawsuit arguing the program violates Indiana's constitution. The Choice Scholarship program, one…

Time limits on benefit receipt became a central feature of federal welfare policy in the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). Proponents of welfare reform argued that the time limits in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, would send a firm message to recipients that welfare is…

This publication provides tables containing key Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policies for each state as of July 1999, plus longitudinal tables describing a subset of states' policies from 1996-99. Tables are based on information in the Welfare Rules Database (WRD). The WRD was developed in response to the increasing difficulty…

"Kids Count in Colorado!" is an annual publication of the Children's Campaign, providing state and county level data on child well-being factors including child health, education, and economic status. Since its first release 20 years ago, "Kids Count in Colorado!" has become the most trusted source for data and information on…

This report assesses hardship among children of immigrants nationwide and in states with large immigrant populations (California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington). Data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families show that hardship is greater for children of immigrants than for the children of…

A growing number of state leaders believe that it is essential to expand high-quality early learning and development opportunities for all young children before they reach kindergarten. A key component of this strategy is providing access to voluntary, high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, especially for low-income children. Over the last few…

This paper discusses some of the ways in which state tax systems affect low-income families. The focus is on the working poor. Why state tax policy matters for these families is explained, describing some general trends in state tax structure among the 50 states. Attention is then paid to details on personal income and sales taxes in a subset of…

Federal rules allow states to use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant funds to help pay for a child care tax credit. States also have the option to count a portion of the cost of a child care tax credit toward their "maintenance of effort" requirements under the TANF program. There is an important limitation on…

This report describes the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waiver to section 1915 (c) of the Federal Social Security Act that was obtained by the New York State Office of Mental Health. The HCBS Waiver affects the services provided to children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances. Three statutory requirements are included in…

The Family Support Act of 1988 and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 provided the basis for a comprehensive reform of welfare programs. This document provides examples of how five states have chosen to implement new provisions in their welfare programs to aid families in achieving greater economic…

Chapters cover: (1) tuition grants--philosophy and purposes; (2) committee members and staff; (3) statutory authority for the agency; (4) history of the agency; (5) program administered by the agency; (6) expenditures and resources. Appendices cover: (1) full-time student enrollments; (2) freshman enrollments; (3) South Carolina residents…