Given the current recession, many families are at risk for homelessness. This issue brief from the Urban Institute examines the current state of homelessness in the United States. Authors review how community responses to homelessness are changing and lessons learned about what works best in serving this population.

This report, published through the Urban Institute, offers information on the relationship between neighborhood communities and schools with a focus on policy interventions. Authors summarize information on effectiveness as well as policy recommendations for improving communities and fostering successful schools. The relationship between neighborhood communities and schools is of key importance as children can benefit from the resources in the community to improve in their school achievement.

Currently, 14 million children live in families with income below the poverty level, which equates to $22,050 for a family of four. The National Center for Children in Poverty authored this report on poverty among America’s children, which details some of the characteristics of children who are considered poor by the official standard of poverty, including their race/ethnicity, parental nativity, and the hardships they face.

This overview of kinship families is from the Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. Researchers were interested in differences among kinship families in terms of family structure and household composition. Using data from a web-based study in Illinois, researchers conducted latent class analysis to develop a typology of kinship foster families based on indicators of family structure and household composition.

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a Federal tax credit incentive that the Congress provides to private-sector businesses for hiring individuals from twelve target groups who have consistently faced significant barriers to employment. The main objective of this program is to enable the targeted employees to gradually move from economic dependency into self-sufficiency as they earn a steady income and become contributing taxpayers, while the participating employers are compensated by being able to reduce their federal income tax liability.

From the National Center for Children in Poverty, this report analyzes the effectiveness of America's work supports, such as earned income tax credits, public health insurance, child care assistance, and food stamps. For families, work supports can close the gap between low earnings and basic expenses, as working more does not always pay as families lose eligibility for critical supports.

The Brookings Institution authored this report on new statistics that show suburban areas have the fastest growing poor population in the country. Specifically, between 2000 and 2008, suburbs’ poor populations grew by 25 percent, which equates to five times faster than primary urban areas. In 2008, suburbs were home to 1.5 million more poor than their primary cities and housed almost one-third of the nation’s poor overall.

Researchers from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago authored this report on the employment needs of foster youth. There is currently limited research on youth aging out of foster care, but studies that have been done point to poor labor market outcomes. From the Midwest Study, the data show that foster youth in Illinois had difficulty staying employed.

This report is from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Urban Institute. Residential mobility can be a positive change for families or it can be a problem related to economic instability. Authors highlight data on resident mobility in Making Connections sites, which measures how mobility modifies neighborhoods’ composition and characteristics, and identifies households' reasons for moving and for staying in neighborhoods.

Tax filing season is right around the corner. Outreach campaigns are underway, and some Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites across the nation will open their doors later this month. Attached is a sample article about EITC and free tax preparation for you to use in your next Grantee newsletter or weekly update.