As they are a long-term policy instrument, the results of many child savings account (CSA) programs take decades to realize. Because of this, important questions regarding the long-term impacts of the programs, as well as participants' perceptions regarding the programs' long-term impacts, are unanswered. In this study, we present findings from a qualitatively driven complex mixed methods follow-up of the first large CSA demonstration project, the quasi-experimental Michigan Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship, and Downpayment (SEED) program. We asked SEED account-holding and non-account-holding families how they communicated about college, saving for college, and future educational attainment, nearly ten years after the CSA demonstration project ended. In a novel approach, we conducted separate semi-structured interviews with dyads of parents and children, combining that information with survey data and account balance monitoring data, ultimately gaining a multidimensional picture of how families with and without SEED accounts were approaching planning for post-secondary...
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Reference Type: Journal ArticleYear: 2019
As they are a long-term policy instrument, the results of many child savings account (CSA) programs take decades to realize. Because of this, important questions regarding the long-term impacts of the programs, as well as participants' perceptions regarding the programs' long-term impacts, are unanswered. In this study, we present findings from a qualitatively driven complex mixed methods follow-up of the first large CSA demonstration project, the quasi-experimental Michigan Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship, and Downpayment (SEED) program. We asked SEED account-holding and non-account-holding families how they communicated about college, saving for college, and future educational attainment, nearly ten years after the CSA demonstration project ended. In a novel approach, we conducted separate semi-structured interviews with dyads of parents and children, combining that information with survey data and account balance monitoring data, ultimately gaining a multidimensional picture of how families with and without SEED accounts were approaching planning for post-secondary education right before the transition to adulthood. We found that: (1) the vast majority of account-holding families did not make withdrawals from their SEED accounts, (2) recent family communication about the SEED accounts was related to the specificity of a child's post-secondary plans, (3) there were tensions between college aspirations and the concrete steps needed to get there, and (4) families voiced concerns regarding the substantial barriers to post-secondary education. These findings point to both the promises and challenges of CSAs that newly developed programs might want to consider. (Author abstract)
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Reference Type: ReportYear: 2019
Access to reliable transportation is a common challenge in rural communities across the country, especially for low-income families who may have few public transit options, if any. Human services providers, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, regularly encounter this issue with the families they serve. The La Plata County (Colorado) Department of Human Services designed an innovative strategy to address this challenge and coach parents on planning and achieving their goals at the same time. Called “Mobile Coaching,” their intervention took case management “on the road” by providing rides for TANF participants to and from service providers in the community, and using the time in transit to discuss the participant’s goals.
The La Plata County team used research methods from the Learn, Innovate, Improve (LI2) framework to generate formative insights about their creative new strategy. Through this collaborative process, staff gained new perspectives about working with their participants and were able to help some families take...
Access to reliable transportation is a common challenge in rural communities across the country, especially for low-income families who may have few public transit options, if any. Human services providers, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, regularly encounter this issue with the families they serve. The La Plata County (Colorado) Department of Human Services designed an innovative strategy to address this challenge and coach parents on planning and achieving their goals at the same time. Called “Mobile Coaching,” their intervention took case management “on the road” by providing rides for TANF participants to and from service providers in the community, and using the time in transit to discuss the participant’s goals.
The La Plata County team used research methods from the Learn, Innovate, Improve (LI2) framework to generate formative insights about their creative new strategy. Through this collaborative process, staff gained new perspectives about working with their participants and were able to help some families take considerable steps forward with their goals. (Edited author introduction)
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Reference Type: ReportYear: 2019
In 2010, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the first round of five-year grants from the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 1.0) Program to 32 organizations in 23 states; five were tribal organizations. The purpose of the HPOG Program is to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and are expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand. HPOG 1.0 grantees designed and implemented programs to provide eligible participants with education, occupational training, support, and employment services to help them train for and find jobs in a variety of healthcare professions.
This paper uses variation in program characteristics—including program components, implementation features, local context, and participant traits—to explore which characteristics are associated with the size of HPOG’s short-term impact on participant...
In 2010, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the first round of five-year grants from the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 1.0) Program to 32 organizations in 23 states; five were tribal organizations. The purpose of the HPOG Program is to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and are expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand. HPOG 1.0 grantees designed and implemented programs to provide eligible participants with education, occupational training, support, and employment services to help them train for and find jobs in a variety of healthcare professions.
This paper uses variation in program characteristics—including program components, implementation features, local context, and participant traits—to explore which characteristics are associated with the size of HPOG’s short-term impact on participant outcomes. We examine the relationship between program characteristics and impacts on four key HPOG outcomes—educational progress, employment, employment in healthcare, and earnings. (Edited author introduction)
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Reference Type: Journal ArticleYear: 2019
Publicly funded center-based preschool programs were designed to enhance low-income children’s early cognitive and social-emotional skills in preparation for kindergarten. In the U.S., the federal Head Start program and state-funded public school–based pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs are the two primary center-based settings in which low-income children experience publicly funded preschool. Although evidence suggests that these programs generally promote cognitive and social-emotional skills for low-income children overall, whether the benefits of program participation vary for low-income children with difficult temperaments is unexplored. Difficult temperament status is a source of vulnerability that connotes increased risk for poor early school outcomes—risks that may be ameliorated by public preschool programs known to promote kindergarten readiness among other vulnerable populations. Using a nationally representative sample of low-income children (N ≈ 3,000) drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), this study tests whether associations...
Publicly funded center-based preschool programs were designed to enhance low-income children’s early cognitive and social-emotional skills in preparation for kindergarten. In the U.S., the federal Head Start program and state-funded public school–based pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs are the two primary center-based settings in which low-income children experience publicly funded preschool. Although evidence suggests that these programs generally promote cognitive and social-emotional skills for low-income children overall, whether the benefits of program participation vary for low-income children with difficult temperaments is unexplored. Difficult temperament status is a source of vulnerability that connotes increased risk for poor early school outcomes—risks that may be ameliorated by public preschool programs known to promote kindergarten readiness among other vulnerable populations. Using a nationally representative sample of low-income children (N ≈ 3,000) drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), this study tests whether associations between public preschool participation and children’s cognitive and social-emotional skills in kindergarten are moderated by difficult temperament status. We focus on Head Start and public school–based pre-k, comparing both with parental care and with each other. Results provide weak evidence that public preschool’s benefits on children’s cognitive and social-emotional skills in kindergarten are moderated by child temperament. School-based pre-k is significantly associated with better reading skills relative to parental care only for children with difficult temperaments. Additionally, for children with difficult temperaments, Head Start is significantly associated with better approaches to learning relative to parental care, and with reduced externalizing behavior problems relative to school-based pre-k. (Author abstract)
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Reference Type: ReportYear: 2019
Licensing is traditionally viewed as providing the foundation (or the floor) of quality in early care and education (ECE) settings. States and territories are responsible for licensing child care programs, and a license serves as permission to legally operate a child care program. The essential purpose of licensing is to provide basic protections to prevent harm to children. Initiatives like Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) often build on the basic requirements of licensing to define quality and support programs in achieving higher levels of quality. This conceptualization of licensing as a basic, first step toward quality has begun to change recently. Licensing is increasingly viewed as integral all along the quality continuum, not just as the floor of quality. Further, some ECE policymakers are considering how all aspects of the licensing system—from the standards to monitoring compliance to enforcement—can support the quality of ECE. Although the conceptual relationship between licensing and quality is evolving, there is little research about how licensing...
Licensing is traditionally viewed as providing the foundation (or the floor) of quality in early care and education (ECE) settings. States and territories are responsible for licensing child care programs, and a license serves as permission to legally operate a child care program. The essential purpose of licensing is to provide basic protections to prevent harm to children. Initiatives like Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) often build on the basic requirements of licensing to define quality and support programs in achieving higher levels of quality. This conceptualization of licensing as a basic, first step toward quality has begun to change recently. Licensing is increasingly viewed as integral all along the quality continuum, not just as the floor of quality. Further, some ECE policymakers are considering how all aspects of the licensing system—from the standards to monitoring compliance to enforcement—can support the quality of ECE. Although the conceptual relationship between licensing and quality is evolving, there is little research about how licensing influences quality. This brief provides a framework to support discussion and research in this important area. (Author introduction)