Families with Children

ABOUT THIS ISSUE BRIEF

ABOUT THIS ISSUE BRIEF

This report provides a conceptual framework on the effects of asset holding and reviews the empirical literature based on this framework. The report distills the main findings on how assets influence economic, social, psychological, and child well-being and provides empirical support for the benefits of asset building. [39 PDF pages]

When Congress reformed the welfare system in 1996, major goals of the legislation were to increase employment and income of needy families and to decrease child poverty. Another major goal was to improve child outcomes through increased parental employment and earnings along with other provisions of welfare reform.

This report investigates the availability of data with which to construct a typology of homeless families with the hope that such a typology would foster a better understanding of these families' characteristics, service needs, interactions with human services systems, and the dynamics of their use of emergency shelter and other services and assistance.

Final Report Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation Office of Human Services PolicyU.S. Department of Health and Human Services Fall 2007

Contents

Prepared for:U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation Office of Human Services Policy

By: Karin Martinson, John Trutko, Demetra Smith Nightingale, Pamela A. Holcomb, and Burt S. Barnow The Urban Institute(*)