Child welfare

New measures of student poverty solve some challenges - and create others

Research
Nov 19, 2018
Erica Greenberg for The Urban Institute
For decades, free and reduced-price lunch (FRPL) status has been used as a proxy measure for student poverty. Families filled out paper lunch forms, and these were the basis for allocating resources to schools, defining accountability goals, and conducting research.

New evidence shows the safety net reduces Americans' material hardship by 48 percent

Research
Nov 5, 2018
Signe-Mary McKernan and Caroline Ratcliffe for The Urban Institute
Using multiple panels from the US Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, we find that participation in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or public health insurance reduces the number of hardships low-income families w

Could "public charge" reduce public preschool participation among immigrant families?

Policy Brief
Nov 5, 2018
Erica Greenberg and Archana Pyati for The Urban Institute
The potential impacts of expanding the regulation known as “public charge” have yet to be fully understood, but experts anticipate that young children in immigrant families—more than 90 percent of them US citizens—could be disproportionately affected.

Healthy Homes App

Interactive
Nov 5, 2018
HUD
Content for this app was developed specifically for middle schoolers and educates them on the principles of a healthy home in a preteen-friendly format. Navigation is simple and intuitive. Interactive features include the Train the Brain and the ability to save a list of items found in their home.