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

This survey of 546 long-term welfare recipients in two California counties demonstrates great diversity in work, income, and dependency. After nearly a decade of attachment to welfare, working non-poor families achieved self-sufficiency and were out of poverty, working poor families were balancing work and welfare, and nonemployed poor families were still poor and very dependent on welfare. Almost one-third of the families studied had a spouse or partner; almost two-thirds were working; and over two-fifths were out of poverty. A connection to work, without an increase in income, was not related to having a low-risk family environment or improved health.

Children living with relatives fare worse than children living with their parents on most measures of behavioral, emotional, and physical well-being. However, many children living with relatives live in poverty, which also may contribute to their poor well-being. Children in low-income relative care fare worse than low-income children living with their parents in terms of engagement in school; they are more likely to be suspended or expelled from school, and more likely to have a limiting condition, which includes any physical, learning, or mental health condition. However, children in low-income relative care and those in low-income parent care have comparable levels of behavioral and emotional problems, activity involvement, and are equally likely to skip school.

Most children involved with the child welfare system have experienced abuse or neglect and separation from a parent. These traumatic experiences can lead to a variety of behavioral and emotional problems including severe attachment disorders. Additionally, many children in the child welfare system not only come from but are placed in high-risk home environments characterized by poverty, instability, and parents or caregivers with poor psychological well-being. These factors can also contribute to a greater likelihood of poor child well-being, further compromising the healthy development of an already vulnerable group of children.

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