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Explore Academic Programs and Research Institutes

SSRC maintains this section to support the next generation of self-sufficiency scholars and professionals by:

  • Helping current and prospective graduate students explore learning opportunities that will lead them to their career of choice in the self-sufficiency field; and 
  • Helping professors and instructors find and exchange relevant course supplements, course syllabi, and other materials that will enrich students’ ability to apply theories to real world settings.
open book on a pile of books

 

The Students' Corner is designed to help prospective graduate students explore learning opportunities, ask the important questions, and evaluate the merits of respective graduate programs relevant to the self-sufficiency field.
Top 3 Benefits of Using the SSRC Library:
  1. We do the first search for you. Starting a paper – whether a short assignment or beginning work on a thesis or dissertation – can be a challenge in finding what quality resources to start looking at. SSRC Selections are a list of pre-curated resources around different topics with links to finding each resource (many times with full text) in our Library. Citation assistance is coming soon so you can download what you want, in the format you want!
  2. Key resource information right up front. Each resource in the SSRC Library highlights key information on the search results page – including research methodology, target population, key topic areas, geographic focus, reference type, and source. Bonus: You can also filter your results by these categories as you set up your search parameters. 
  3. Export your resources. As you find resources that you want to use or revisit, you can easily export your list into citation software or APA format directly from the SSRC Library.

Were you able to use the SSRC Library to help you write a paper or complete a project for a class or job/internship? Share the experience with us on Facebook and Twitter, using #SSRCLibrary.

SSRC Selections provide recommended readings around topics related to self-sufficiency. Read the seminal work around the following topics:
  • Youth Employment and Young Men of Color
  • Adult Basic Education
  • Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Self-Sufficiency
  • Barriers to Employment
  • Career Pathways
  • Child-Only TANF Cases
  • CHIP & Medicaid
  • Disabilities & Employment
  • Disconnected Youth and Self-Sufficiency
  • Early Childhood Obesity
  • Emergency Preparedness
  • Executive Functioning
  • The Great Recession
  • Homeless Families and Self-Sufficiency
  • Housing Assistance, Work, & Welfare
  • Impoverished Communities
  • Motivational Interviewing
  • Native American and Alaska Native Populations
  • Obesity among School-Aged Children
  • Obstacles in Substance Abuse Recovery
  • Parental Education and Employment
  • Parental Incarceration and Child Outcomes
  • Personal Agency
  • Rapid Attachment to Employment
  • TANF, Substance Use, and Mental Health
  • TANF Sanctions and Work Requirements
  • Transitions to Adulthood
  • Transportation and Self-Sufficiency
  • Trauma, Youth, and Self-Sufficiency
  • Two-Generation Strategies
  • Welfare-to-Work & TANF Studies

The self-sufficiency field is interdisciplinary; university degrees are typically awarded in a humanities field such as education, economics, environmental studies, global development, health, political science, public administration, public policy, psychology, social work, sociology, or urban planning. People who perform research, policy analysis, public management, or training in this field often have a master’s or doctorate degree.

Some universities have centers or programs that provide research, evaluation, training, or other supports to communities and direct service providers. These University centers often have student work (volunteer or paid) opportunities.

The SSRC does not recommend or rank graduate programs. One source for rankings is U.S. News and World Report.

 

Professors and Instructors: find relevant course supplements, course syllabi, and other materials here to enrich students’ ability to apply theories to real world settings. 
What did we miss? Please share your reading lists, case studies, or tailored course syllabi by emailing a copy of the material or a hyperlink to us at .  We can deposit them in our growing library or link back to your university site from this page.
Anna Gassman-Pines, SSRC Emerging Scholar 2014
  • U.S. Poverty Policy after Welfare Reform Syllabus
    • Browse SSRC Library Records for Resources listed in the Syllabus
      • Amato, P. 2005. The Impact of Family Formation Change on the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Well-Being of the Next Generation.
      • Barnett, W. S. & Belfield, C. 2006. Early Childhood Development and Social Mobility.
      • Berlin, G. L. 2007. “Rewarding the Work of Individuals: A Counterintuitive Approach to Reducing Poverty and Strengthening Families.
      • Blank, R. 2007. What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and What We Need to Know about Welfare Reform.
      • Chase-Lansdale, P. L. & Brooks-Gunn, J. 2014. Two-Generation Programs in the Twenty-First Century.
      • Currie, J. 2001. Early Childhood Education Program.
      • Decker, P. T. & Berk, J. A. 2011. Ten Years of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA): Interpreting the Research on WIA and Related Programs.
      • Dion, M. R. 2005. Healthy Marriage Programs: Learning What Works.
      • Duggan, M. G. & Kearney, M. S. 2007. The Impact of Child SSI Enrollment on Household Outcomes.
      • Ellwood, D. 1988. “Values and the Helping Conundrums.” In Poor Support.
      • Evans, G. 2004. The Environment of Childhood Poverty.
      • Evans, W. N., & Garthwaite, C. L. 2010. Giving Mom a Break: The Impact of Higher EITC Payments on Maternal Health.
      • Federman, M., Garner, T., Short, K. & Cutter, W. 1996. What does it mean to be poor in America? 
      • Garfinkel, I., McLanahan, S. S., Meyer, D. R., & Seltzer, J. A. 1998. A Brief History of Child Support Policies in the United States, “ In Fathers Under Fire.
      • Gibson-Davis, C.M, Edin, K., & McLanahan, S. S. 2005. High Hopes but Even Higher Expectations: The Retreat from Marriage among Low-Income Couples.
      • Holzer, H. J. 2009. “Workforce Development as an Antipoverty Strategy: What Do We Know? What Should We Do?” In Changing Poverty, Changing Policies, Chapter 11.
      • Kumanyika, S. & Grier, S. 2006. Targeting Interventions for Ethnic Minority and Low- Income Populations.
      • Magnuson, K. & Shager, H. 2010. Early Education: Progress and Promise for Children from Low-Income Families.
      • Magnuson, K. & Votruba-Drzal, E. 2009. “Enduring Influences of Childhood Poverty,” In Changing Poverty, Changing Policies, Chapter 6.
      • Mani, Anandi, et al. 2013. Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function.
      • Mead, L. 2007. “Toward a Mandatory Work Policy for Men.” 
      • Meyer, B. D. 2007. The U.S. Earned Income Tax Credit, Its Effects, and Possible Reforms.
      • Meyer, D. R. & Wallace, G. L. 2009. “Poverty Levels and Trends in Comparative Perspective,” In Changing Poverty, Changing Policies, Chapter 2.
      • Meyer, D. M., Cancian, M. & Cook, S. T. 2005. Multiple-Partner Fertility: Incidence and Implications for Child Support Policy.
      • National Human Services Assembly. 2013. Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Young Families.
      • Rouse, C. & Barrow, L. 2006. U.S. Elementary and Secondary Schools: Equalizing Opportunity or Replicating the Status Quo?
      • Slack, K. S., Magnuson, K. A., Berger, L. M., Yoo, J. , Coley, R. L., Dworsky, A., Kalil, A., et al. 2007. Family Economic Well-Being Following the 1996 Welfare Reform: Trend Data from Five Non-Experimental Panel Studies.
      • Smeeding, T.M. 2005. Public Policy, Economic Inequality, and Poverty: The United States in Comparative Perspective. 
      • Sommers, B. D., Baicker, K., & Epstein, A. M. 2012. Mortality and Access to Care among Adults after State Medicaid Expansions. 
      • Swartz, K. 2009. “Health Care for the Poor: For Whom, What Care, and Whose Responsibility?” In Changing Poverty, Changing Policies, Chapter 12.
      • Thomas, A. & Sawhill, I. 2005. For Love and Money: The Impact of Family Structure on Family Income.
      • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2003. Moving to Opportunity Interim Impacts Evaluation – Executive Summary.
      • Wilson, W. J. 1996. When Work Disappears.
      • Wood, R. G., McConnell, S., Moore, Q., Clarkwest, A., & Hsueh, J. 2012. The Effects of Building Strong Families: A Healthy Marriage and Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents.

Lenna Nepomnyaschy, SSRC Emerging Scholar 2012

  • Browse SSRC Library Records for Resources listed in the Syllabus
    • Edin, Kathryn & Maria Kefalas. 2005. Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage.
    • Short, Kathleen. 2012. The Research: Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2011. Current Population Reports.
    • Acs, Gregory & Nichols, Austin. 2010. America Insecure: Changes in the Economic Security of American Families.
    • U.S. Census Bureau. 2012. Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States, 2011.
    • National Center for Children in Poverty. 2010. Asset Poverty and Debt among Families with Children.
    • Ludwig, Jens, et al. 2012. Neighborhood Effects on the Long-Term Well-Being of Low- Income Adults.
    • Magnuson, Katherine & Votruba-Drzal, Elizabeth. 2009. Enduring Influences of Childhood Poverty. In M. Cancian & S. Danziger (eds.), Changing Poverty, Changing Policies.
    • Evans, Gary, Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne & Klebanov, Pamela. 2011. Stressing Out the Poor: Chronic Physiological Stress and the Income-Achievement Gap.
    • Sherman, Arloc. 2004. Hardships Are Widespread Among Families in Poverty.  
    • Pew Charitable Trusts. 2012. Pursuing the American Dream: Economic Mobility across Generations.
    • National Employment Law Project. 2012. The Low-Wage Recovery and Growing Inequality.
    • Raphael, Steven. 2007. The Employment Prospects of Ex-Offenders. 
    • Pager, Devah, Western, Bruce, and Sugie, Naomi. 2009. Sequencing Disadvantage: Barriers to Employment Facing Young Black and White Men with Criminal Records.
    • Shonkoff, Jack. 2011. Building a Foundation for Prosperity on the Science of Early Childhood Development. 
    • Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. 2012. Studies Show that the EITC Encourages Work and Success at School and Reduces Poverty. 
    • Wolfe, Barbara. 2011. Poverty and Poor Health: Can Health Care Reform Narrow the Rich-Poor Gap? 
    • Iceland, John. 2013. Poverty in America: A Handbook.
    • Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. 2012. Policy Basics: The Earned Income Tax Credit. 
Schools of Social Work - General Courses & Syllabi
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work
  • The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work
  • University of Central Florida School of Social Work
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work

Schools of Public Policy or Administration – General Courses & Syllabi

  • George Washington University Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration
  • University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy
  • University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
  • Institute for Research on Poverty’s Poverty Related Course Syllabi
  • Search the SSRC Library for high-quality research and other resources