Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Struggle To Make Ends Meet: Teen Employment And The 1996 Federal Welfare Legislation, Shirley L. Porterfield, Anne E. Winkler

Center for Social Development Research

This study investigates the possibility that teens in more economically-disadvantaged families may have entered the labor market in response to the 1996 welfare legislation that replaced AFDC with TANF. Data are from the outgoing rotation groups of the Current Population Survey (CPS) from September 1995-May 1996 (pre-TANF) and from September 2000-May 2001 (post-TANF). To identify the policy's effect, we compare changes in the employment of teens in economically-disadvantaged families over the study period with changes in the employment of their more advantaged counterparts (a "difference-in-difference" methodology). We find that teen employment significantly increased among those in economically-disadvantaged families relative to …

Using Tax Refunds To Promote Asset Building In Low-Income Households: Program And Policy Options, Sondra G. Beverly, Colleen Dailey

Center for Social Development Research

Using Tax Refunds to Promote Asset Building in Low-Income Households: Program and Policy Options

Fostering Social Development Through Civic And Political Engagement: How Confidence In Institutions And Agency Matter, Gautam N. Yadama, Natasha Menon

Center for Social Development Research

Traditional approaches in social development have neglected the role of politics, civic engagement, and processes of democratization. This paper empirically tests the extent to which civic engagement and political action are shaped by confidence in state and non-state institutions and political and personal agency. The results underscore the importance of enabling social development through inclusive governance and democratization.

The Knowledge Base On Civic Service: Status And Directions, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Margaret Lombe, Fengyan Tang, Michael Sherraden, Carlos Benitez

Center for Social Development Research

The Knowledge Base on Civic Service: Status and Directions

Toward Measurement Of Civic Service, Fengyan Tang, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Toward Measurement of Civic Service

A Comparative Analysis Of Rural And Urban Saving Performance In Individual Development Accounts, Jami Curley, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors of savings outcomes for rural and urban participants in IDA programs. Multivariate analyses by residency were used to explore the experiences of rural and urban participants. a short survey among rural IDA administrators in ADD was used to identify the challenges associated with managing IDAs in these regions. Finally, conclusions and policy implications are presented.

American Indian Tribal Communities And Individual Development Account (Ida) Policy, Juliet King, Sarah Hicks, Karen Edwards, Alisa Larson

Center for Social Development Research

American Indian Tribal Communities and Individual Development Account (IDA) Policy

Linking Tax Refunds And Low-Cost Bank Accounts: A Social Development Strategy For Low-Income Families?, Sondra G. Beverly, Jennifer L. Romich, Jennifer Tescher

Center for Social Development Research

This article describes a pilot program encouraging low-income workers to have their tax refunds directly deposited into low-cost bank accounts. The program did not lead to substantial saving and asset accumulation in the short-term. However, surveys and interviews suggest that the program helped some participants spend money more slowly and more thoughtfully, introduced some to account ownership or direct deposit, and encouraged some to obtain other mainstream financial products. Thus, the program may have helped low-income families “get on track” for future saving and asset accumulation.

Microenterprise Performance: A Comparison Of Experiences In The United States And Uganda, Margaret S. Sherraden, Fred M. Ssewamala, Cynthia K. Sanders

Center for Social Development Research

This article compares microenterprise performance in the United States and Uganda. In-depth interview data and published sources suggest that many of the same factors affect business performance in both countries although scale and details vary considerably. Micro, mezzo, and macro strategies are proposed to maximize entrepreneurial effort, reduce barriers, and strengthen institutional and policy support in both contexts.

North American Community Service Pilot Project, Margaret S. Sherraden, Carlos Benítez

Center for Social Development Research

North American Community Service Pilot Project

Individual Development Accounts In Rural Communities: Implications For Research, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Jami Curley

Center for Social Development Research

Individual Development Accounts in Rural Communities: Implications for Research

Civic Service Worldwide: Social Development Goals And Partnerships, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Carlos Benítez, Kwofie Danso

Center for Social Development Research

Civic service is a long-term, intensive form of volunteering. This article reports on a global assessment of civic service, which identified 210 programs in 57 countries. Program goals and administrative partnerships suggest that civic service is a social development intervention. For civic service to achieve its potential, research is recommended regarding server inclusivity, goal accomplishment, and the nature and effect of partnerships.

Service Enquiry: Service In The 21st Century, Helene Perold, Susan Stroud, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Service Enquiry: Service in the 21st Century

The Forms And Nature Of Civic Service: A Global Assessment, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Carlos Benítez, Michael Sherraden, Kwofie Danso, Beatriz Castaño, Lissa Johnson, Maury Mendenhall, Erica Smulever, Erdenechimeg Tserendorj, Jenny Brav, Lacey Clark

Center for Social Development Research

The Forms and Nature of Civic Service: A Global Assessment

Children's Development Accounts: The Oregon Story, Beverly Stein, Robert Freedman

Center for Social Development Research

Children's Development Accounts: The Oregon Story

Disentangling The Dynamics Of Family Poverty And Child Disability: Does Disability Come First?, Shirley L. Porterfield, Colleen Tracey

Center for Social Development Research

Disentangling the Dynamics of Family Poverty and Child Disability: Does Disability Come First?

Michigan Ida Partnership: Year 2 Program Evaluation Report, Jan L. Losby, Maria L. Hein, Jill R. Robinson

Center for Social Development Research

Michigan IDA Partnership: Year 2 Program Evaluation Report

Tax Credits And Ida Programs, Gena S. Gunn, Anupama Jacob, Melinda Lewis

Center for Social Development Research

Tax Credits and IDA Programs

The Effects Of Individual Development Account Programs: Perceptions Of Participants, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Margaret Lombe, Sondra G. Beverly

Center for Social Development Research

In the United States, Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) are a social development strategy for increasing economic participation and long-term economic security. This article uses cross-sectional survey data (N=298) to describe perceived IDA effects: psychological, economic, social, and civic. Future research can inform the effects of specific program characteristics, such as financial education, as well as the applicability of IDAs worldwide.

Volunteers Of National Youth Service In Israel: A Study On Motivation For Service, Social Attitudes, And Volunteers' Satisfaction, Reuven Gal, Karin Amit, Nicole Fleischer, Nancy Strichman

Center for Social Development Research

Volunteers of National Youth Service in Israel: A Study on Motivation for Service, Social Attitudes, and Volunteers' Satisfaction

Institutional Capacity For Elder Service, Nancy Morrow-Howell, Jim Hinterlong, Michael Sherraden, Fengyan Tang, Prima Thirupathy, Madhura Nagchoudhuri

Center for Social Development Research

Given the demographic changes in our society and the positive effects of volunteering on older adults and on service recipients, service opportunities for older adults should be expanded. The development of institutions is a potentially powerful route to maximizing this potential. We propose five dimensions of institutional capacity, including expectation, access, information, incentive, and facilitation. Pilot data indicates that organizations offering service opportunities to older adults vary on these dimensions.

A Historical And Policy Analysis Of The Family Medical Leave Act Of 1993 (P.L. 103-3), James C. Towns

Theses and Graduate Projects

This historical and policy analysis as a qualitative method of research will examine the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-3), which was passed by Congress and signed into law. This law requires that private employers with 50 or more employees provide for its eligible employees the benefit of unpaid leave for up to 12 weeks. This research and its findings will attempt to provide the social work profession with an understanding of the historical process of this law and those it was intended to benefit.

Siege And Response: Families’ Everyday Lives And Experiences With Children’S Residential Mental Health Services (Full Report), Gary Cameron, Catherine De Boer, Karen Frensch, Gerald R. Adams

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Purpose
Our purpose in interviewing parents with a child placed in residential mental health treatment was threefold: (1) to understand the functioning of children requiring residential mental health treatment before, during, and after treatment; (2) to characterize parents’ perceptions of their families’ involvement with residential treatment; and, (3) to address the popular notion that children requiring residential treatment come from highly dysfunctional and potentially harmful families by describing prevalent family functioning patterns.

Methodology
|This report is based on information obtained by interviewing 29 primary caregivers who had a child placed in residential care at one of two Ontario children’s mental …

Stories Of Mothers And Child Welfare (Summary Report), Gary Cameron, S. Hoy

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

The voices we hear describing the lives of mothers who come into contact with child welfare agencies are usually those of service providers and researchers. How do mothers make sense of their own lives and what happened to their families when they became involved with child welfare? This report provides an opportunity to listen to what 16 of these mothers had to say over conversations averaging 5 - 6 hours with each woman. Aspects of these stories will be familiar to some readers. Nonetheless, these stories challenge both popular and professional perceptions of who these mothers are and how they …

A Workplace Study Of Three Children’S Mental Health Centres In Southern Ontario, Carol A. Stalker, Deena Mandell, Karen Frensch, C. Harvey

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Rationale Recent cuts to resources for children and families requiring children’s mental health services coupled with an increase in the number of children needing these services have left staff in many agencies feeling extremely challenged in providing positive service environments for children and families. In this context, agencies are faced with the challenge of providing working environments that attract and retain staff, particularly in children’s residential mental health services. The purpose of this study was to explore sources of job satisfaction and stress, and why employees stay with and leave these organizations, in an effort to understand what contributes to …

A Workplace Study Of Four Southern-Ontario Children’S Aid Societies (Full Report), C. Harvey, Deena Mandell, Carol A. Stalker, Karen Frensch

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Rationale Children’s Aid Societies have experienced extensive change since the implementation of recent child welfare reforms in Ontario. Agencies are facing a number of challenges including recruiting and retaining staff, high workloads, extensive requirements for documentation and administration, and less time to serve families and children. The purpose of this study was to understand employee experiences as workers in child welfare.

Research Design A survey was distributed to employees of four children’s aid societies. Completion of the survey was voluntary and all individual responses were kept confidential. Completed surveys were returned directly to researchers. Six to eight months after the …

Review Of Diminishing Welfare: A Cross National Study Of Social Provision. Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg And Marguerite Rosenthal (Eds.). Reviewed By Charles Guzzetta., Charles Guzzetta

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg and Marguerite Rosenthal (Eds.), Diminishing Welfare: A Cross National Study of Social Provision. Westport, CT: Auburn House, 2002. $28.00 paperback.

Children As Pawns: The Politics Of Educational Reform. Timothy A. Hacsi.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Timothy A. Hacsi, Children as Pawns: The Politics of Educational Reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. $39.95 hardcover.

Council On Social Work Education: Its Antecendents And First Twenty Years. Katherine Kendall.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Katherine Kendall, Council on Social Work Education: Its Antecendents and First Twenty Years. Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education. $23.95 papercover.

Linking Welfare Clients To Jobs: Discretionary Use Of Worker Social Capital, Michelle Livermore, Alison Neustrom

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The overarching theme of the 1996 welfare reform law was to move clients from dependency to self-sufficiency by facilitating their entry into the labor market. While numerous mechanisms were used to do this, this study explores discretionary actions taken by workers to help clients find jobs, namely, tapping into their own social capital. Respondents in one urban and one rural county in a southern state reported using their own social capital to get information regarding job openings and to exert influence to get clients hired. Notably, respondents at all levels of the bureaucracy expected this behavior to occur. Both the …