Office of Human Services Policy

Welfare Indicators and Risk Factors, Fifteenth Report to Congress

This report provides welfare indicators through 2013 for most indicators and through 2014 for some indicators, reflecting changes that have taken place since enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996.  The report analyzes the proportion of individuals who receive more than half of their total family income in one year from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and defines these individuals as “welfare dependent.”

Parenting And Partnership When Fathers Return from Prison: Findings from Qualitative Analysis

This brief presents findings on family life during and after a father’s incarceration based on qualitative interviews conducted as part of the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering (MFS-IP). Qualitative and mixed-method analysis of pre- and post-release interview data from 170 participants found that reentering men and their partners reported overwhelming, unmet needs for support to maintain family relationships during incarceration, overcome trauma, meet families’ material needs, and find housing and employment after the father’s release.

Family Interventions for Youth Experiencing or at Risk of Homelessness

Family conflict is a key driver of youth homelessness, and most programs serving youth experiencing homelessness use some form of family intervention to address conflict and help reconnect youth when appropriate. This report summarizes existing evidence on family intervention strategies for youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness gathered through a literature review and supplemented with conversations with a small set of key informants. It also includes a summary of common elements of effective interventions and a discussion of gaps in the evidence base.

Adolescent Well-Being after Experiencing Family Homelessness

New analysis of data from HUD's Family Options Study of adolescents’ experiences in shelter with their families and 20 months later shows that most adolescents continued to live with their families, and some continued to experience housing instability or live in overcrowded situations. These adolescents were more likely to have changed schools or been absent from schools than their peers nationally, and school mobility was associated with persistent homelessness or doubling up.

Differential Response and the Safety of Children Reported to Child Protective Services: A Tale of Six States

Differential response (DR) is an increasingly common model for how child protective services agencies address reports of child maltreatment. Differential response systems seek to be less adversarial than traditional child protective services by separating incoming referrals into two (or more) tracks. Families with low to moderate risk and safety threats (variously defined) are encouraged to accept and use prevention services, an approach referred to as alternative response (AR).

Children Living Apart from Their Parents: Highlights from the National Survey of Children in Nonparental Care

This paper highlights the characteristics and experiences of the approximately 2.3 million U.S. children who live with neither biological nor adoptive parents, but instead live with relatives or non-relatives in foster care or less formal arrangements outside the foster care system. It presents an overview of descriptive results from the 2013 National Survey of Children in Nonparental Care (NSCNC), the first large-scale, population-based, nationally-representative survey to focus on issues specific to this group of children.

The Importance of Medicaid Coverage for Criminal Justice Involved Individuals Reentering Their Communities

The purpose of this issue brief is to highlight the importance of health insurance coverage for criminal justice involved individuals, particularly the importance of the expansion in Medicaid coverage made available through the Affordable Care Act. This issue brief explains why Medicaid and access to the health benefits the program covers can play a key role in improving the health not only of justice involved individuals, but also of their communities.

Health Coverage and Care for Reentering Men: What Difference Can It Make?

Many community-based organizations serving men coming out of the criminal justice system recognize that their clients have serious physical, mental, and behavioral health needs. They also recognize that the Affordable Care Act and the Medicaid expansion have created new opportunities for their clients to get access to affordable health care, however many organizations do not know what those opportunities are or how to connect their clients to them.

Health Coverage for Homeless and At-Risk Youth

This fact sheet explores eligibility for health care coverage, including through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), for youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness. It provides information on subpopulations of youth who are likely to be eligible for health care coverage, which services are covered, and how to enroll. In addition, the fact sheet includes Medicaid and CHIP income eligibility levels for each state.

Are Homeless Families Connected to the Social Safety Net?

New analysis of data from HUD's Family Options Study of families' experiences in shelter and 20 months later shows that families experiencing homelessness are generally connected to public benefits at similar rates to other families in deep poverty. This non-experimental analysis finds that homeless families receive TANF, publicly funded health insurance (including Medicaid, CHIP, and state-funded insurance), and SNAP at equal or greater rates than other families in their communities who are also living in deep poverty.

The Child SSI Program and the Changing Safety Net: Pathways to SSI

This research brief examines pathways to the child SSI program, drawing upon analysis of administrative data and site visits to Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas. It finds that informal referrals appear to be most common, though schools, health care providers, and legal services staff also play a role.

The Child SSI Program and the Changing Safety Net: SSI and TANF Program Coordination

This research brief examines program coordination between the child SSI and TANF programs, drawing upon analysis of administrative data and site visits to Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas. It finds limited coordination between the programs, and that TANF programs play a limited role in child SSI screening and referrals, due to changes in TANF administrative processes and the declining caseload.

Why Health Matters for Low-Income Fathers

This brief will help community-based organizations serving low-income fathers better understand the new opportunities offered under the Affordable Care Act, why it is important information for their clients, and how they can help their clients get connected to health coverage and care.

Estimates of Child Care Eligibility and Receipt for Fiscal Year 2012

This brief provides descriptive information on child care eligibility and receipt. Of the 14.2 million children eligible for child care subsidies under federal rules, 15 percent received subsidies. Of the 8.9 million children eligible for child care subsidies under state rules, 25 percent received subsidies. Poorer children were more likely to receive subsidies than less poor children. Younger children (ages 1-5) were more likely to receive subsidies than older children. Data sources are TRIM microsimulation output and 801 child care administrative data.

The Experiences of Families During A Father’s Incarceration: Descriptive Findings from Baseline Data Collection for the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering

Using data from baseline interviews, this report describes the experiences of 1,482 incarcerated fathers and their intimate or coparenting female partners. One key contribution of this report is that responses reflect the dual perspectives of both men and their partners, thereby providing the most detailed portrait to date of couples who are in intimate or coparenting relationships during a period of incarceration. Survey questions addressed relationship quality, parenting and coparenting, family contact, and the well-being of children and mothers during the fathers’ incarcerations.

Welfare Indicators and Risk Factors: Fourteenth Report to Congress

The Welfare Indicators Act of 1994 requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to prepare an annual report to Congress on indicators welfare dependence. The Indicators of Welfare Dependence report is prepared by ASPE’s Office of Human Services Policy. As mandated under the Congressional act, the report addresses the rate of welfare dependence, the degree and duration of welfare recipiency and dependence, and predictors of welfare dependence.

Financial Condition and Health Care Burdens of People in Deep Poverty

Americans living at the bottom of the income distribution often struggle to meet their basic needs on very limited incomes, even with the added assistance of government programs. The following analyses describe the characteristics of the poor population; available income for those at the deepest levels of poverty; and average medical care needs among those living in poor and deep poor families (meaning those with incomes below 50 percent of the poverty threshold)2. The brief concludes with implications for medical cost sharing among those with few resources available.

Barriers to Employability Among Women on TANF With a Substance Abuse Problem

Welfare Time Limits State Policies, Implementation, and Effects on Families

Making Sense of Replication Studies: Guidance for Teen Pregnancy Prevention Researchers

Improving the Rigor of Quasi-Experimental Impact Evaluations: Lessons for Teen Pregnancy Prevention Researchers

The Implementation of Family Strengthening Programs for Families Affected by Incarceration

Innovation in monitoring in early care and education: Options for states - An ASPE White Paper, in partnership with ACF

Innovation in Monitoring in Early Care and Education (ECE) SettingsOptions for States An ASPE White Paper in Partnership with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF)  

The Changing Role of the Child SSI Program in the Safety Net