Volume 8 – Issue 1 – 2004
Karen A. Randolph, Roderick A. Rose, Mark W. Fraser, and Dennis K. Orthner
James Jennings and Jorge Santiago
Ellen K. Scott, Kathryn Edin, Andrew S. London, and Rebecca Joyce Kissane
Samuel S. Faulkner and Cynthia A. Faulkner
“Promoting School Success among At Risk Youth”
Karen A. Randolph
Florida State University
Roderick A. Rose
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Mark W. Fraser
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
and
Dennis K. Orthner
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between grade retention and completing high school in a sample of very low-income children from an urban school district. Results suggest that being retained – whether in first grade or in later grades – increases the risk of dropout. Moreover, youths who are retained in middle school are at greater risk of dropping out early in high school. Regardless of when retention occurs, youths who participate in extracurricular activities remain in school longer, relative to their counterparts. The findings support a social developmental model of academic success in which children’s opportunities for pro-social involvement, their social and academic skills, and the rewards in their environments condition educational outcomes.
“Welfare Reform and ‘Welfare to Work’ as Non-Sequiter: A Case Study of the Experiences of Latina Women in Massachusetts”
James Jennings
Tufts University
and
Jorge Santiago
Northern Essex Community College
Abstract: Welfare reform emerged as a public policy response to a presumed “dependency” on the part of impoverished individuals and families. This behavioral view of poor people is ensconced in the adoption of welfare reform nationally, and many states including Massachusetts, where “work-first” frenzy fed the political momentum for moving families off welfare as quickly as possible, regardless of the consequences for children and families. A study of the experiences of 100 Latina women in Massachusetts during the fall of 1999 and the spring of 2000 shows that welfare reform presents major obstacles for poor women seeking employment as a way out of poverty. These obstacles include three key problems: the lack of information about potential employment and training programs and services; unaccountable discretion on the part of caseworkers; and biased perceptions about Latina women on public assistance.
“Work, Welfare and Case Management Services: An Analysis of the Missouri FUTURES Program”
Sheilah Watson Bishop
University of Missouri – Columbia
Abstract: Established by the Family Support Act of 1988, the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Program, known as FUTURES in the state of Missouri, experienced a shift in focus with the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in 1996. Once a program that emphasized educational opportunities and job skills training, FUTURES has more recently stressed short-term activities aimed at moving the welfare recipient into the workplace as quickly as possible. This study examines the shift in program components that took place with the advent of welfare reform in 1996, and attempts to provide some insight into whether current case management services are helping clients attain self-sufficiency. The analysis concludes that, in terms of wages and recidivism, individuals who participated in the FUTURES program did no better than individuals who had not enrolled in the program.
“Unstable Work, Unstable Income: Implications for Family Well-Being in the Era of Time-Limited Welfare”
Ellen K. Scott
University of Oregon
Kathryn Edin
Northwestern University
Andrew S. London
Syracuse University
and
Rebecca Joyce Kissane
University of Pennsylvania
Abstract: Four years into the implementation of the 1996 federal welfare reform legislation, promising to “change welfare as we know it,” a critical question remains unanswered: How are formerly welfare-reliant families faring as they make the transition to work? Drawing on longitudinal, ethnographic data collected under the auspices of Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation’s Project on Devolution and Urban Change, we examine changes in women’s employment and income, and their families’ well-being. This paper provides insights into how stable employment accompanied by increases in family income may improve family well-being. However, few families in the sample had income increases that were significant enough to change their material circumstances substantially. This paper also shows that not all families benefited from the move to employment – those who had unstable, low wage jobs without much gain in income experienced fewer benefits than those who had stable employment. Sometimes families relying on low-wage, unstable jobs were worse off than they were on welfare. The effects of such employment on single parents, and their increased absence from the household, often contributed to greater disruption in family routines, causing children to be worse off.
“Public Assistance and the Pressure to Commit Crime: An Empirical Challenge to Conservative Criminology”
Andrew Austin
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
Abstract: In this paper, bivariate and multivariate analyses are used to evaluate three hypotheses about the relationship between public assistance and the frequency of criminal arrests among women. The first two hypotheses are derived from conservative doctrine. These hypotheses propose that either (1) there is no correlation between public assistance and reported criminal offenses or (2) there is a positive correlation between public assistance and reported criminal offenses. The third hypothesis is drawn from liberal scholarship and proposes that there is a negative correlation between public assistance and reported criminal offenses. The study tests these hypotheses using a sample comprised of 104 at-risk women. Statistical analyses find no empirical support for the two conservative hypotheses. Significant empirical support is found for the hypothesis derived from the liberal tradition. Results are presented and discussed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the significance of these findings for future social policy with respect to public assistance and street crime.
Thoughts on Poverty and Inequality:
“Poverty as a Predictor of Child Maltreatment: A Brief Analysis”
Samuel S. Faulkner
Morehead State University
and
Cynthia A. Faulkner
Morehead State University
Abstract: One current theory is that abuse occurs not as a result of personal shortcomings, but as the result of poverty, isolation, and other factors outside of the control of the individual. This is supported by empirical evidence that demonstrates a strong relationship between poverty and child abuse. A serious effort to help children would provide universal day care for all children and families, health care for all families, adequate housing, and a range of treatment programs for drug-addicted parents. Finally, we need to remove the stigma from families and encourage families to seek help before they are in crisis.