From the Rockefeller Institute on Government, this report provides information on a policy forum held on performance management in New York State. The forum included presentations on Federal, State, and local performance management strategies. Specifically, the New York City Human Resources Administration highlighted the JobStat system, which is used to monitor 26 job centers in New York City for welfare and human services.

This resource provides information on how community organizations can help low-income individuals build assets. Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) are matched saving accounts that can be used for the purchase of a home, small business start-up, or education. Researchers reviewed three community-based IDA programs and offer information on how these organizations developed a reputation, responded to local housing markets, and connected to other resources in the community.

The Boston Medical Center conducted this research to identify if the nutritional needs of low-income families are being met by food stamps. In Boston, low-income families on food stamps are unable to afford the variety of foods required for a healthy, balanced diet.

This research brief, from the Families and Work Institute, provides information on how employers can engage low-wage workers to increase job retention. Utilizing a sample of 3,504 workers, researchers found that workers who feel supported and empowered by employer-supported learning opportunities, for example, are more likely to remain at their current company.

This first Issue Brief from the National Center for Children in Poverty's (NCCP's) Project THRIVE identifies ways for States currently planning early childhood comprehensive care systems to use Federal and State fiscal resources more effectively to promote well-being of the most vulnerable young children in the country preparing for school readiness.

From the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this Summer 2006 report highlights information from the Kids Count Data Book. Specifically, this newsletter provides an overview of the importance of family-based child care for children and a State-by-State comparison.

Due to caseload reductions from welfare reform, GAO conducted this report to review how to increase the income of TANF recipients through employment and key factors to implementing income support, and reviews what action HHS has taken to utilize these strategies.

From the National Center for Children in Poverty, this resource gives fact sheets on all 50 States including policy decisions State governments have made that affect low-wage workers and their families. The profiles focus on work supports and policies that affect the ability of families to accumulate assets.

Asset building can be an important anti-poverty tool for many families as tangible assets can be passed down from generation to generation and afford families greater economic stability than income alone. Savings accounts are key to increasing family assets to help families achieve self-sufficiency. Policymakers have implemented a variety of strategies to encourage saving and asset building among low-income families, including Individual Development Accounts, and the EITC. This brief reviews the role that policymakers play in promoting asset building for low-income population.

This paper considers four programs--Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), food stamps, child care subsidies, and the earned income tax credit (EITC)--that form the core work support system in the United States. It highlights differences in program funding, eligibility, and delivery systems. It describes trends in participation and synthesizes research knowledge about the observed differences in program participation. The paper concludes that these programs do not form an effective system. Each program operates under different rules that many low-income working families find daunting. A few recent state innovations offer potential for improving the system.