GROWING UP IN POVERTY

The Center, in collaboration with researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, sought to learn how children’s environments were changing under welfare reform. With detailed information collected from mothers in California, Connecticut, and Florida, the team investigated the impact of welfare reform on the expansion of the child care system over time; access to and use of state-level assistance by mothers; changes in children’s social environments; and the effect of changes in home and child care settings on children’s early development and learning. This project provided empirical data needed to modify federal and state welfare reforms, focusing primarily on the federal reauthorization of welfare reform legislation, as well as early care and education public policy.

Funding Sources: Child Care Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education; David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Spencer Foundation; Annie E. Casey Foundation; A.L. Mailman Family Foundation; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund; Miriam and Peter Haas Fund; Walter and Elise Haas Fund; California Department of Social Services.

Contact: Sharon Lynn Kagan, Ed.D.