Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/ElizabethHarbison

This brief compiles the best available data on the characteristics of vulnerable young children in four service systems: Early Head Start (EHS); the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); the child welfare (CW) system; and Part C Early Intervention Programs (Part C). Data reveal that the children and families in these systems look fairly similar on some key dimensions, suggesting that policy initiatives to support young children's development might be informed by distilling common lessons from the systems' different research bases.

The Minnesota Integrated Services Projects focus on improving the delivery of employment, health, and social services to families who receive cash assistance and have serious or multiple barriers to employment. Operating in eight sites, the project seeks to provide comprehensive assessments of participants' barriers, improve access to more complete services that address multiple needs, and coordinate services provided by multiple service systems. This report examines the implementation of the projects, provides information on participants' demographic, economic and barrier-related characteristics, and describes changes in economic outcomes among participants within a short (six-month) follow-up period.

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