Mary Cunningham, author of "Preventing and Ending Homelessness—Next Steps," answers five questions about how to combat homelessness. Evidence-based approaches have cut homelessness among chronically homeless single adults and new strategies are now being adopted to help homeless families. Investing in proven strategies is crucial as the economic crisis puts more people at risk of ending up in shelters and threatens to reverse the progress communities have made toward ending and preventing homelessness.
Susan Popkin, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and an expert on public housing, has been named the director of the Institute's new Program on Neighborhoods and Youth Development.
The 15th annual Fact Book is a comprehensive data source for indicators of child well-being in the District of Columbia. Over 50 data indicators are tracked over time. This publication provides a broad perspective on the status of children and youth in the District. We seek to inform and educate our readers about the issues affecting children and their families in the District. We encourage community residents, policy makers, professionals, and others who work with and/or on behalf of children and families to create conditions that foster the optimal health and development of our children.
In this Washington Post commentary, Institute Fellow Harry Holzer suggests ways to help those most adversely affected by the economic downturn—low-income single mothers, disadvantaged adults, youths, and their families.
Older adults often are left out of policy conversations on poverty because many believe that relatively few of them experience economic hardship. Yet an updated measure of poverty indicates that the rate for adults ages 65 and older matches the rate for children. The Economic Recovery package under consideration includes some provisions that would benefit older adults, but more could be done. One-time payments for those receiving welfare and increases in food assistance benefits especially would help some poor older adults. Investments in the job skills of those who want to work should also be considered.
In response to the deterioration of the economy and the decline in asset values, Senators McCain and Obama have offered new proposals related to unemployment compensation, retirement savings, taxation of capital gains, and job creation. Although the proposals would provide some benefit, they have significant shortcomings.
anelists will discuss the effects teen childbearing has on the life trajectories of the mother and child, the costs to government agencies aiding teens' children, and the increased risks these children face, including maltreatment, being placed into foster care, and incarceration. Private and public programs that reduce teen pregnancy, help teen mothers avoid bearing a second child, and change teen behavior will be explored.
The Earned Income Tax Credit enjoyed marked success bringing low-income women into the labor force in recent years. At the same time, labor force participation by low-income or less-education men stagnated, and declined among young black men. In response to these labor market conditions, this paper analyzes several EITC reform options directed at increasing the EITC for low-income workers, in the hopes of drawing these men into the labor force. We estimate the cost of various proposals and put forth an additional proposal that breaks the EITC into two components – one focused on individual workers and one focused on supporting children.
Teen childbearing in the United States has been declining since 1991, yet we consistently have the highest teen birth rates in the industrialized world. In 1997, Kids Having Kids was the first comprehensive effort to identify the consequences of teen childbearing for the mothers, the fathers, the children, and our society. Rather than simply comparing teen mothers with their childless counterparts, the assembled researchers achieved a new methodological sophistication, seeking to isolate the birth itself from the mother’s circumstances and thus discover its true costs. This updated second edition features a new chapter evaluating teen pregnancy interventions, along with revised and updated versions of most first edition chapters.
This report presents final process and impact study findings from one of four programs evaluated as part of the Multi-Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs. Impact findings were based on a two-year follow-up of youth in foster care in Los Angeles County who participated in a random assignment evaluation of the Life Skills Training Program. Youth were 17 years old at the time of random assignment to either a treatment group that was offered access to Life Skills Training or to a control group.
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