Given the continued scale of poverty and limited job opportunities in rural areas, the Office of Family Assistance implemented the Rural Communities Initiative in early 2008. The Initiative provided States, Tribes, and local TANF agencies the…

This Teleconference took place on November 18, 2008 as part of a follow-up to the Rural Communities Academy that occurred in September 2008. Many participants expressed some interest in learning more about how to utilize AmeriCorps volunteers in…

This is a breakout session from the Rural Communities Initiative Academy.

This is the plenary session from the Rural Communities Initiative Academy.

This Research-to-Results issue brief is from Child Trends, and provides information on challenges faced by rural out-of-school programs and offers strategies to improve such programs. Rural youth are less likely to complete high school and more…

This article is from the Rural Families Speak Project and provides research on the employment patterns of low-income women in rural areas. Employment volatility can often create unstable environments for low-income families and hinder economic…

From the National Poverty Center, researchers in this working paper review the trends surrounding concentrated poverty in rural areas. In the 1990s, the rural (nonmetro) poverty rates decreased faster than metro rates and the percentage of the…

This article discusses challenges facing rural America. Although rural America has experienced population loss in recent years, the population is starting to grow again. In 2000, one in five Americans lived in rural areas, which is around 56.1…

Hurricane Katrina brought issues of poverty into the media spotlight. While many issues surrounded the urban poor in New Orleans, one-third of the area affected by Hurricane Katrina was rural. This newsletter outlines the causes of poverty in…

This research brief provides an overview of findings from research with low-income, rural mothers. It was found that many participants reported having tight-knit networks of family members nearby and within 50 miles of a parent. Such networks…