Living on a Poverty Income: The Role of Non-Governmental Agencies in the Scramble for Resources

Our objective is to illustrate the precariousness of the formal social service safety net for low-income families and to argue that social inequality in urban America is exacerbated by the inequitable distribution of more formal sources of support. Ultimately, we examine whether the current system of service delivery for poor families is adequate, and what toll these fragmented and discontinuous services take on a family’s ability to thrive

The Policy Nexus: Panhandling, Social Capital and Policy Failure

In this paper, we analyze a unique mixed methods data set based on survey responses (n=108) and intensive interviews (n=18) with panhandlers in Austin, Texas. We examine the way in which failures of primary and secondary social capital interact to create the conditions of extreme poverty and homelessness that lead to panhandling. We find that a large majority of these individuals are working-age adults who lack access to social policy supports that would allow them to weather periods of unemployment produced by health issues and other personal difficulties

Student Loan Defaulters Compared with Repayers: A Texas Case Study

This research compares student loan defaulters\u27 and repayers\u27 attitudes about vocational education in Texas. Interviews with loan recipients indicate that student loan defaults are affected by how much students are pressured to enroll in a program, their understanding of the loan program when they first sign an application, and how well their vocational education equips them to take a job. Such findings are increasingly important to policymakers, as the struggle for federal dollars increases and vocational students remain one of the largest groups of recipients and defaulters in the Federal Stafford Loan Program (formerly the Guaranteed Student Loan Program)

Policy Recommendations for Meeting the Grand Challenge to Reduce Extreme Economic Inequality

This brief was created forSocial Innovation for America’s Renewal, a policy conference organized by the Center for Social Development in collaboration with the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare, which is leading theGrand Challenges for Social Work initiative to champion social progress. The conference site includes links to speeches, presentations, and a full list of the policy briefs

Beaten into Submissiveness? An Investigation into the Protective Strategies used by Survivors of Domestic Abuse

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced pdf of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Interpersonal Violence following peer review. Laura Irving & Ben Chi-pun Liu, 'Beaten into Submissiveness? An investigation Into the Protective Strategies Used by Survivors of Domestic Abuse', Journal of Interpersonal Violence, first published online 14 December 2016, available online at doi: 10.1177/0886260516682520 © The Author(s) 2016 Published by SAGEThe aim of the study was to identify the prevalence and perceived helpfulness of a variety of protective strategies that were used by female survivors of domestic abuse and to explore factors that may have influenced strategy usage. Forty participants were recruited from a voluntary sector domestic abuse service, commissioned by an outer London local authority in the UK. The measurement tools used were the Intimate Partner Violence Strategies Index and the CAADA Domestic Abuse, Stalking and ‘Honour’-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Checklist. The average age was 33 (SD=7.9, range: 20-57), half reported to be of Asian ethnicity, 37.5% White and 12.5% Black or Mixed ethnicity. The average DASH score was 9.8 (SD=13.2, range: 0-18) and an average of 18 (SD=6.7, range: 1-29) protective strategies were utilised by each participant. All of the most commonly used strategies were from the Placating category. Though Safety Planning strategies were rated as the most helpful by all participants, Placating strategies were also rated as helpful by two-thirds of participants. Stepwise multiple regression showed that Placating was the only significant predictor of DASH score (β=0.375, p<0.05) and accounted for 14% of the variance of DASH score. Findings showed that women utilized a diverse range of protective strategies with placating strategies being most intensely used and rated as helpful. However, placating strategy usage could be a risk factor as opposed to a protective factor. This study has also demonstrated that greater placating strategies were used by White than South Asian women, and women who were employed used more formal strategies. This research has extended the knowledge base of protective strategies that professionals can draw from to underpin decisions and interventions when working with domestic abuse survivors.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Life After Welfare: Reform And The Persistence Of Poverty

https://works.swarthmore.edu/alum-books/4943/thumbnail.jp

Children

https://works.swarthmore.edu/alum-books/4910/thumbnail.jp

Services for Crime Victims, PRP 92

This report on crime victims services is the result of a policy research project conducted in 1989-90 under a grant from the Office of the Governor of Texas, Criminal Justice Division. The Office of the Governor designated the Criminal Justice Policy Council as the coordinator to assist in the project. The Texas Crime Victim's Clearinghouse also participated in the design of the study. The research was designed to assist in the development of criteria for the allocation of resources to crime victims. It also represents a pilot study to delineate the difficulties in undertaking research on crime victims. This report presents the results of interviews with over 200 victims of crime. The findings of the project are intended to assist in the development of both future research studies on crime victims and assessments of the relative needs of different types of crime victims.Public Affair

Vocational Education in Japan and Texas, PRP 100

The study was designed to explore and compare the vocational education systems of Japan and the U.S. This report represents the results of analysis of the policies and regulations controlling vocational education in Japan and the United States. The findings should suggest new policies to improve the delivery and assessment of vocational education programs.Public Affair