Revised to include 2004 data, this article through the Center for Law and Social Policy reviews how child support enforcement programs can help families achieve self-sufficiency.

This article, through the Center for Law and Social Policy, reviews the child support enforcement program and its contribution as an "unsung hero" in welfare reform to bringing additional income to low-income families.

From the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), this Compendium is a Federal source for learning about successful child support programs and organizational practices from around the country. OCSE provides a detailed list of successful Child Support programs as well as contact information for each site.

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 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.

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.

From the Urban Institute, this fact sheet reviews various work supports available to low-income families since the 1996 PRWORA. Although work supports were significantly expanded, they still fall short in providing families enough to promote asset building, leading to self-sufficiency.