This webpage begins by explaining the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant provides a temporary safety net to poor families and has decreased its reach since its implementation in 1996. It notes in 2015, for every 100 families in poverty, only 23 received cash assistance from TANF, down from 68 families when TANF was first enacted. It states this “TANF-to-Poverty ratio” (TPR) reached its lowest point in 2014 and remained there in 2015. Links to State fact sheets are then provided that include information on a specific State’s TPR from 1995/96 to 2014/15, the number of…
This desk reference is for state and local boards and staff and provides information on serving priority populations using WIOA Adult funds - recipients of public assistance, low-income individuals, individuals who are basic skills deficient, and veterans. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article Prior studies have found little evidence of an association between unemployment and child support compliance. However, few such studies used sample periods including a recession as severe as the one that occurred in 2007–2009 or a period following the Congressional mandate requiring states to adopt immediate wage withholding for all child support orders established after January 1992. While virtually assuring compliance by steadily employed nonresident fathers, this requirement imposes hardships on unemployed nonresident fathers, especially during recessions, because modifying child support…
This fact sheet focuses on children in poverty in South Dakota. It begins by explaining federal poverty thresholds for 2014, poverty guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, South Dakota benefits that use poverty guidelines, and the Supplemental Poverty Measure. It concludes that poverty thresholds vary by family size and number of children, but not geographically, while guidelines vary by family size and geographically. The use of the Supplemental Poverty Measure to extend the Official Poverty Measure is discussed and key differences between poverty thresholds…
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Journal Article Hegemonic representations of masculinity and dominant images of fatherhood have usually been linked to the domain of work. This article explores the experiences of men under the hardship of unemployment and the impact of these experiences on the construction of their gender identities, specifically on the construction of their fatherhood identity. In addition, the article examines how culture and national context affect the interrelationship between unemployment and fatherhood. Drawing on a post-structural constructivist theoretical perspective, the article describes a qualitative study of…
This fact sheet discusses findings from a KIDS COUNT report that highlights the ways in which parents are stretched thin working in low-paying jobs, the effects of inflexible employment on a parent’s ability to provide the emotional and physical care vital for early childhood development, and the detrimental effects of parental stress on children’s cognitive development. It then spotlights five two-generation polices to improve family mobility: home visiting programs, training health professionals to identify risk factors, streamline the process for accessing benefits, connect fathers to…
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Journal Article This paper documents a model for outreaching, connecting, and serving low-income, ethnically diverse, non-custodial fathers. Men are engaged "where they are" by building their strengths and addressing their needs. The Male Involvement Network's (MIN) collaborative model was created in Connecticut to help fathers become positive and healthy role models by increasing their attachment to their children and families (Smith, 2003). This clinically informed, case management model addresses their physical, emotional, mental, economic and spiritual health needs. Through a relational approach and…
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Journal Article This special issue contains articles that explore how disadvantaged young men are faring in the face of low educational achievement, joblessness, out-of-wedlock childbearing, incarceration, and in the face of the Great Recession. An introductory article reviews social and economic forces facing young fathers, and the following four articles outline the economic status of low-income men and fathers. The deteriorating labor market prospects for low-skilled men in the United States is discussed, as well as young disadvantaged men as fathers, the relationship contexts of young disadvantaged…
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Journal Article The article discusses the answers on questions posed regarding public policy toward fathers with low income in the child support program. It states that the federal government must aim for additional funding to programs designed for the employment of low-income fathers in the child support programs that would increase employment and decrease poverty among low-earning fathers and their children. It notes that making programs mandatory and voluntary will be beneficial to low-earning fathers in the child support program. It mentions that said programs may include services like case management,…
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Journal Article In this analysis, we explore how low-income African American fathers build understandings of successful manhood in the context of community-based responsible fatherhood programs. Drawing on life history interviews with 75 men in Illinois and Indiana, we explore men's attempts to fulfill normative expectations of fatherhood while living in communities with limited resources. We examine the efforts of community-based fatherhood programs to shape alternative African American masculinities through facilitation of personal turning points and "breaks with the past," use of social support and…
