Government safety-net programs provide income, health, education or other forms of assistance to individuals, families, and households. The AARP Public Policy Institute authored this resource looking at the distribution of work-related and need-related benefits among American families in 2004. While most older Americans are covered by Social Security and Medicare, need-related government programs are still important for low-income, older Americans.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network sponsored this Roundtable on May 9-10, 2007, in Boise, Idaho. The principal goals of the Roundtable were to build and enhance partnerships statewide between social services providers, Idaho TANF Agency, business leaders, faith-based organizations, etc., with an aim toward helping low wage earning families achieve financial self-sufficiency.

Isabel Sawhill, of the Brookings Institution, testified before the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support of the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss poverty reduction strategies. She cited three priorities to alleviate poverty in the United States: expanding early childhood education, reducing teen pregnancy and early, out-of-wedlock childbearing, and encouraging work.

Mathematica authored this resource on vouchers and gives an overview of how vouchers are used in public programs. Information is provided on the design and implementation of voucher programs and outcomes associated with existing voucher programs, specifically regarding the Child Care and Development Fund and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs.

From the Urban Institute, this report reviews historical and current funding trends of 100 federal programs, including TANF, Supplemental Security Income, Food Stamps, Section 8 Low-Income Housing Assistance and Low Income Home Energy Assistance, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program. Through the data, authors offer insight into how children fare in the Federal Budget for 2007.

This report was completed by the Program Review and Investigations Committee on Connecticut’s Welfare Reform Initiative. Authors describe the Jobs First program in detail as well as provide caseload trends, recipient demographics, and funding trends. Connecticut has utilized the earned income tax credit as a anti-poverty strategy, and authors also provide recommendations for improving work participation among the caseload.

The Washington, D.C. Department of Human Services contracts employment and training services for TANF clients and requires that all contractors use the same case management system. The Department requested TA from the Welfare Peer TA Network to learn more about Web-based case management capabilities. To gain a better understanding of centralized case management, DC conducted a site visit to Connectinc., located in North Carolina, to view their web-based case management system.

This report, from MDRC, provides an update on welfare reform in the cities of Cleveland and Philadelphia. This study specifically reviews the policies implemented through 2005, caseload and employment trends through 2003, and neighborhood indicators describing the conditions of low-income communities in 2003.

The TANF Seventh Annual Report to Congress has been published, reporting on FY 2003. Since the enactment of TANF, millions of families on the TANF caseload have achieved stable employment. Employment among low-income single mothers has increased significantly since 1996, and child poverty rates have declined.

The use of faith-based organizations to delivery public services has increased over the last two years due to program devolution and privatization. Researchers gathered information on faith-based organizations in each State, and outline the findings in the following report.