Recent Policy Documents: December 2004

Children and Families    |     Welfare Reform    

Policy News and Research on Fathers

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Fathers and Mothers in Prison

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• Will U.S. Bar Execution of Juvenile Offenders?

  In recent years, the number of nations that impose the death penalty against juvenile offenders has dwindled to a very small handful, including just one democracy: the U.S. With the Supreme Court poised to rule on the issue, Connect for Kids Editor Susan Phillips spoke with experts about evolving views of the juvenile death penalty.
  
  http://www.connectforkids.org/resources3139/resources_show.htm?doc_id=256504

   

Child Support, Custody, and Fathers

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Children and Families

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• Women and Children First

  Senior Associate Michael C. Laracy adds to the debate about the future of Social Security with this commentary, published by the New York Times, that looks at the role of Social Security as a life and disability insurance program and the millions of children depending on that benefit. To arrange an interview with Michael Laracy, please contact Marci Bransdorf at 410.223.2852.
  
  http://www.aecf.org/newsroom/laracy_op_ed.jan05.pdf

• Balancing Work and Family
  
  Seventy percent of American families are headed by either two working parents or a single working parent. Work brings enormous benefits; but most working parents also face difficult trade-offs. The New America Foundation examined the effects of current working conditions on families and found that the lack of flexibility -- in paid leave, telecommuting or nontraditional hours -- has been linked to depression in women. Negative maternal attitudes tend to result in more negative behaviors among kids. Children with parents who works nights or evenings or who lack paid time off typically have lower reading and math test scores.
  
  http://www.newamerica.net/Download_Docs/pdfs/Doc_File_2146_1.pdf
  
• Connect for Kids
  
  Changing Social Security as We Know It
  Among the challenges we face, none is more fundamental than Social Security. While most people think of Social Security as solely for seniors, there are several reasons why child advocates say the struggle over how to reform this key component of the social safety net might be the biggest challenge we face this year.
  
  http://www.chn.org/dia/organizations/chn/issues/socialsecurity/
  
• Abstinence-Only Curricula Found to Contain Misinformation
  
  A report prepared by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform – Minority Staff at the request of Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) evaluates the content of the most commonly-used curricula among federal abstinence education grantees. Abstinence education has expanded rapidly under the Bush administration, doubling to $170 million in fiscal year 2005. Millions of children now receive abstinence-only education, which promotes abstinence from sexual activity and excludes information on contraception. According to the report, the curricula used in these programs are not reviewed by the federal government for accuracy.
  
  http://www.cffpp.org/briefings/brief_0412.html

Welfare Reform

• The Effects of State Policies on TANF Participation
  
  This research brief uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the effect that state welfare policy variation has on welfare participation and reliance levels.

  http://crcw.princeton.edu/files/briefs/ResearchBrief28.pdf

• Sixth Annual TANF Report on Child Support Collections Available
  
  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families has prepared its sixth annual report to Congress on the TANF program. Child support collections are included as a part of the reporting.
  
  The report, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): Sixth Annual Report to Congress, is available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/annualreport6.