This report from Prosperity Now provides information about why creating savings penalties towards welfare programs such as SNAP and SSI actually harm families instead of aiding them. Studies have shown that low-income families with savings are able to more easily handle financial shocks. Most states are in the process of eliminating savings penalties due to the fact that eliminating them reduces administrative costs and caseloads.

This brief provides a graphical overview of selected state policy differences for TANF cash assistance. The Welfare Rules Database (WRD), a database maintained by the Urban Institute and funded by the OPRE and ACF, provides the information for this brief. The paper discusses policies related to initial eligibility, benefit amounts, and ongoing eligibility. Additional information about the resources the WRD offers is also included.

This program instruction revises and replaces NEW-ACF-PI 2011-01. It provides guidance on submission of program, financial, and audit reports covering the NEW program, replacing outdated directions from Program Instruction NEW-ACF-PI-2011-01. Native Employment Works (NEW) grantees are required to submit annual program and financial reports to the HHS and ACF. In addition, guidance is added regarding electronic filing of reports as directed by OGM-AT-13-01.

Although research has shown that transportation expenditures are burdensome for low-income households, there is less information available explaining how households manage their mobility needs. To shed insight, this Journal of Poverty article details transportation experiences of 73 low-income individuals in San Jose, California. Research discovered that although low-income families creatively find methods of managing transportation costs, these survival strategies come at a price. High costs to transportation result in fewer miles travelled. This limits families from the very employment opportunities which could lift them out of poverty. (Cost required to access full article.)

This research-to-practice brief highlights data from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey. Data indicates that low-income households spend a higher proportion of their income on transportation expenses. This disproportionately affects African Americans and Hispanics, who experience the highest rates of poverty. Interestingly, this brief explains that low-income individuals experience transportation differently, depending on the city in which they reside. In Los Angeles and Atlanta, low-income populations have shorter travel radiuses between home and work than the average population. In New York, this trend is the opposite – individuals in poverty are more likely to travel further distances to find work. These trends and challenges have implications for all urban residents, which seem likely to persist in the face of rising transportation costs.

This article analyzes whether access to automobiles and public transport affect employment outcomes for low-income individuals. The authors use longitudinal survey data from participants in the Welfare to Work Voucher Program, which was conducted in five metropolitan areas between 1999 and 2005. Multiple logistic regression shows that access to automobiles has a strong positive correlation to employment. However, neither access to public transport nor registered housing assistance has an impact on job attainment. Research finds that enhancing automobile access for low-income populations could significantly improve employment outcomes among very low-income adults, but that other forms of assistance – including for housing – may not be as effective.

This brief, published by the Urban Institute, argues for a shift in thinking beyond the “cars versus transit” mentality which isolates urban poor from economic opportunities. Car access is often restrictive for poor families, immigrants, and people of color. Yet at the same time, public transport is often cumbersome or inaccessible – especially for those outside of the densest urban areas. This brief argues for the creation of new regional coalitions – which would assess the transportation needs of low-income households and implement solutions – including strategies combining affordable car ownership, ride sharing, and expanded transit access. Reducing barriers and burdens of car ownership and driver’s licenses, while promoting carpooling and car sharing strategies, could significantly benefit mobility and accessibility for urban low-income populations.

The HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) has recently released a report which examines relationships between indicators of economic opportunity and the prevalence of prescription opioids and substance use in the United States. Some of the primary findings reflect that the prevalence of drug overdose deaths and opioid prescriptions has risen unevenly across the county, with rural areas more heavily impacted, and that poverty, unemployment rates and the employment-population ratio are highly correlated with the prevalence of prescription opioids and substance use measures.

This practice brief from Mathematica Policy Research and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation offers a different approach for human service programs to test new service approaches. Traditionally, programs will conduct a pilot program before launching a full initiative, but this brief offers an alternative approach called a "road test." The brief explains the difference between the two approaches and how to conduct a road test and offers an example from a county that used the approach.

This report from MDRC provides an evaluation of the state of Kansas' Child Support Savings Initiative (CSSI) which was created to help parents pay off child support debt while contributing to their children's future higher education costs. It encourages parents to make direct deposits into 529 accounts, and in return, they receive matching reductions in their child support debt from the state. The search showed a common finding: that it is difficult to engage low- and middle-income families in saving money, as they already face other financial burdens. This is explored in depth in the report.