In 2022, the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Project SPARC conducted research to better understand the barriers experienced by parenting students participating in CalWORKs, California's cash assistance program for families with children. This brief highlights findings from the research on who parenting students are and their experiences…

Many welfare programs give greater benefits to unmarried individuals than to a married couple of otherwise identical income. The resulting marriage penalty discourages marriage and rewards single parenthood. Combined marriage penalties across federal and state welfare programs can reach tens of thousands of dollars per year for a given family. One…

The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project conducted 15 randomized controlled trials of behavioral interventions across eight states, in the domains of work support, child support, and child care. BIAS used a systematic approach called "behavioral diagnosis and design" to develop the interventions and their…

The "Colorado Children's Budget 2012" provided detailed information on appropriations and sources of financing for programs that help children across four domains: early childhood development and learning, health, education, and support services. This report dives deeper into one of the issues that surfaced in that report. The…

We provide the first descriptive summary of selected programs developed to help expand the scope of coverage, mitigate family financial hardship, and provide health and support services that children with intellectual and developmental disabilities need to maximize their functional status and quality of life. State financing initiatives were…

The care and education of young children in the United States is supported by nearly $40 billion yearly from a variety of sources at the federal, state, and local levels. Even so, about a quarter of 4-year-olds and half of 3-year-olds do not attend preschool, and many of those who do attend receive only poor quality services. Some programs are of…

This comprehensive review of policies and programs designed to support youth transitioning out of foster care spans all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As part of the review, Chapin Hall administered a web-based survey of state independent living services coordinators to collect up-to-date information about their state's policies and…

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…

The recent overhaul of the federal welfare system gives states new flexibility to set child care policies, develop child care programs, and fund new initiatives. The Child Care Action Campaign (CCAC) conducted an audioconference on July 31, 1997, to examine key elements of new state plans and to take a close look at how one state, Illinois, made…

Noting that families need access to high quality care so that their children can start school ready to learn and so that parents can work, this report examines state child care subsidy policy choices. Following an executive summary, chapter 1 of the report discusses state policy regarding eligibility criteria related to families receiving welfare,…

This report analyzes data gathered through surveys of state administrators of child care and early childhood programs. The report is in three sections: (1) the state of child care and early education in the mid-1990s; (2) the relative level of commitment of each state in 1994; and (3) the likely impact of 1996 U.S. welfare reform legislation. The…

This guide to immigrant entitlements for New York City agencies serving immigrants reflects major changes in immigration law and entitlements law since 1985. The guide focuses on programs administered by the City of New York, but also includes information about some state and federal programs. The guide identifies the following: (1) government…

New York State's attempt to reduce welfare expenditures by collecting the child support payments of defaulting parents reinforces federal incentives containing penalties for localities operating ineffective collection programs. The state's program may serve as a model for the more effective implementation of legislation in other jurisdictions.…

This report describes how Title IV-A of the Social Security Act is being used to aid homeless families with children. The report reviews the history of the Emergency Assistance program (EA) and the special needs component of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC-Special Needs), discusses current policy and practice, examines…

This document is comprised of three Center for Law and Policy articles dealing with reauthorization of funding for the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The first article compares the U.S. House and Senate bills for reauthorization, asserting that in a broad array of areas, the Senate bill provides states with more…