Through secondary analysis, this study examines which benefits and financial supports low-income families access, with a particular focus on child support. The aim is to explore how families create their own economic safety net package from among the existing benefit programs. It was found that higher levels of child support receipt corresponded with higher levels of work, however that child support did not replace any type of welfare benefit but rather, complements it.

This study sought to investigate if the current practice of offering assistance to low income families through tax credits and other transfer methods which are conditional on the recipient working, have financially hurt these families when the labor market is particularly bad, as during the Great Recession. The authors found that work incentives are not helpful to low-income individuals during times when unemployment is high. It is suggested that work incentive policies should be better tied to the ups and downs in the labor market.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the single most important social insurance programs in place in the U.S. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the insurance and incentive effects of the EITC on a central class of recipients: single mothers. To the authors of the paper, it is to their knowledge, the first attempt to analyze the EITC in a life-cycle decision problem with risky wages, risky family-composition, and limited self-insurance. The results indicate that the EITC provides substantial insurance to young single mothers and does not significantly distort labor supply decisions.

This Webinar from the National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families discussed why financial management is a critical healthy marriage and relationship skill. It explored useful tools and resources to help clients build assets and increase financial literacy, and discussed ways to help clients use these tools to increase self-sufficiency and strengthen relationships. Examples of helpful integration strategies for safety-net service providers were provided. This Webinar also provided an overview of new resources and products available from the National Resource Center.

The United States Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration released a resource to help case managers guide jobseekers through the career exploration and planning process. Components of the guide include three ideas about how case managers can organize career exploration and planning, eight "At-A-Glance" templates that help case managers determine which electronic tools are most helpful to meet customers' needs, three "Career Transition Roadmaps" that show how case managers provide career exploration in three distinct scenarios, and an "E-Learning Resource Chart" that highlights additional resources for case managers who want to learn more.

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) updated their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Policy Brief, addressing the new TANF block grants that have been authorized under a series of short-term extensions. This brief discusses the goals of the reauthorization and provides a summary of recommendations along with brief descriptions of each of the nine recommendations made.

A new question and answer has been posted to the Office of Family Assistance Web site (see Question two of the Q & A: Drug Convictions). This item responds to the question as to whether or not an individual with a felony drug conviction can receive TANF non-assistance services.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report discussing the importance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). They stated that SNAP is the cornerstone of the nation's safety net and nutrition assistance programs, and has achieved impressive results in meeting the needs of low-income Americans. SNAP currently provides over 47 million participants in over 23 million low-income households with debit cards that can be used to purchase food each month. This report addresses four topic areas: SNAP's effective response to the recession; SNAP's recent temporary growth in spending; SNAP reaching a high share of eligible people; and SNAP's payment accuracy reaching an all-time high.

Child support has steadily evolved over the decades from a welfare cost-recovery model to a major family support program in a technologically savvy environment.

In March of 2012, the WPTA Network collaborated with CLIMB Wyoming to learn more about their program's sustainability and successes with working with low-income single mothers through tailored job trainings and wraparound services.

CLIMB Wyoming engages participants using a comprehensive wraparound service that includes job training, wage reimbursement during on-the-job training, work tools, mental health counseling, life and parental skills classes, and ongoing support after job placement. This podcast highlights CLIMB Wyoming's job training, subsidized employment and wraparound services for TANF participants. Staff from CLIMB Wyoming describe the job training services offered to low-income single mothers to prepare them for entry into high-demand, high-skill, and high-wage positions, as well as how CLIMB coordinates their various funding streams and partners to leverage the appropriate resources to support their program operations.