Many researchers had agreed “Child care assistance is critical for low income working families as well as those transitioning off welfare” (Eckholm, 2006). Child care is mostly needed for families especially low income families. Critics say the change is the latest of several administration decisions that will limit aid for child care in an era when growing legions of the working poor need it more than ever (Eckholm, 2006). The change in childcare affects low income families due to the high cost of childcare, qualification and waiting list. Affordable, quality childcare can help parents so they can go to work to support their family (Helping all working families,2015). Low income families can face difficulties affording quality child care. Yet today, a year of child care costs higher than a year of in-state tuition at most colleges – putting a significant strain on parents (Helping all working families, 2015). Without help, …show more content…
(Subsidized child care program) “n.d.” Stated that a household of 3 the maximum yearly family income is 40,840 and family of 8 the maximum yearly family income is $82,640. As the household grows the more annual income they need in order to receive any subsidy from the state. (Subsidized child care program) “n.d.” stated that families must reach certain guideline to receive subsidy such as work 20 or more hours a week or meet income guidelines for a family size. Low income families find it hard to reach the guidelines that are needed to receive child care subsidy. They find it hard to reach the income guideline for a family size that is need. By low income families not reaching the following guidelines that are needed would cause them to not receive any subsidy for
Hendrick, H. (2005) Child welfare and social policy: an essential reader. Bristol: The Policy Press.
The current system has not been good for children. In 1965 there were 3.3 million children on AFDC; by 1992, that had risen to over 9 million children despite the fact that the total number of children in this country has declined. Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services estimated if we do nothing, 12 million will be on AFDC in 10 years. Instead of working up, we find more and more children being trapped in a system and into dependency on welfare. 90 percent of the children on AFDC live without one of their parents. Only a fraction of welfare families are engaged in work. There are always the sad accounts of how, again and again, women would get off of welfare, they would be doing well on their own, but their child-care would fall apart just as they were getting back on their feet. The new bill provides $3.5 billion more than current for that needed child care.
Swadener continues with some of the child advocacy organizations that work to dismantle the harsh beliefs about children and families living in poverty stricken areas. They create and/or improve governmental policies as well as programs to aid address specific needs of ‘at risk’ students and families. In reading what they do, I was happy to see that the organizations are working to solve the problems rather than pointing the finger at how the students’ lives became to be such a way. Also, I knew that there are programs out to help ‘at risk’ students, but it never occurred to me that families are labeled ‘at risk’ as well. Swadener listed some of the ‘at risk’ programs which I was surprised to see that I am enrolled for most: Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Head Start which is a program that helps pregnant women obtain prenatal insurance before enrolling for governmental insurance such as Title 19, Badger Care, and/or Managed Health. Seeing these programs listed in Swadener’s article gave me twisted emotions.
Meyers, M.K. & Gornick, J.C. (2003). Public or private responsibility? Early childhood education and care, inequality, and the welfare state. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 34, 379-411.
There is a problem in Texas impacting children’s futures; many childcare centers and homes are not providing children with quality care. In an article about cost and quality in Texas childcare, child development experts Susan Eitel and Joyce Nuner quote a study stating “that [nationally] only 10% of infants and toddlers are in high quality [childcare] programs” (34). The term ratio describes the number of children one caregiver is watching. This number is one of the major factors in the quality of a childcare program. Organizations such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children know as NAEYC release recommendations regarding ratios and accredit programs based on their compliance. Childcare centers and homes must comply with certain minimum standards enforced by Texas regarding ratios; however, these standards often set the bar lower than recommendations made by these early childhood experts. The current standards in Texas do not ensure that all young children receive quality care; for this reason, the Texas Department of Family Protective Services should strengthen the minimum standards regarding ratios to better regulate the quality of care children receive.
Ideological, social, political, and economic factors of a given period play key roles in developing and maintaining any social welfare policies in which the area of child welfare is not an exception. Throughout the history of child welfare legislation in Canada, Acts have been passed and modified according to the changing concept of childhood and to the varying degree of societal atmosphere of each period.
In order to be eligible to receive help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the household has to meet certain tests such as, resources, income, deductions, employment requirements, immigrant eligibility, and special rules for the elderly or disabled. In order to meet the requirement for the resources test, the household may have two thousand dollars in countable resources, such as a bank account, but house and lot do not count (United States Department of Agriculture). In order to meet t...
Working families often cannot pay their rent, or sometimes food. According to an article in The Bill Moyers & Company “Three Steps We Can Take to Solve Poverty, From Someone Who Knows Firsthand” by Tianna Turner, U.S. government should give good tax breaks for companies that provide secure jobs, encourage them to have paid sick and family leave, and invest in affordable and high-quality child care. (Turner) It is true that companies that have tax breaks can utilize tax money to raise the surplus for living wages. Moreover, employees who have paid sick and family leave are more likely perform better in their work because they do not have to worry about the lost hours that result in lost pay. Childcare has always been neglected in the U.S. for a very long time. Many research show that kids in high-quality preschools have better graduation rate from high school, and they tend earn more as adults. If the U.S. childcare system is fix, the parents will have more time to focus on their job, and the overall quality of U.S. citizen will change
In the 1980s, child care was back on the national agenda due to the education reform movement (Tejada, 2010). Tejada further disclosed that several states even launched pre-kindergarten programs for disadvantaged children. Why the Need for Universal Preschool Two-thirds of 4-year-old children in the United States attend preschool, as well as 40% of 3-year-olds (Tejada, 2010). Half of those are enrolled in a public program, such as state prekindergarten (preK), Head Start, or special education, and the other half are in a private program (Adams, 2009). Despite such a large enrollment of children in these programs, there is still a handful of children who are missing out on obtaining a head start in obtaining a good quality education.... ...
State And Local Campaigns To Improve Child Care Policies Reese argues that advocates and parents faced different types of struggles in the wake of the welfare reforms. For example, some welfare rights activists defended poor mothers’ right to take care of their children, pushing for various exemptions from welfare-to-work requirements. Mothers, for example, were encouraged to prioritize paid work over family care by caseworkers. These mothers were facing many challenges, such as balancing their families’ needs, work obligations, and welfare regulations. In addition, increase in work activity has mixed impact on children., where the extra income has positive effects on elementary school children, yet mothers’ absence and stress impacted adolescents’ behavior
...f poor and the real barriers to their access to adequate services must be fully understood in order to resolve this problem. The subsidization for women's shelters and child care services are important to relive some of their financial burdens. Koppelman and Goodhart also suggested providing tax relief for the lower income families (2007).
According to the American Psychological Association, “In 2010, the poverty threshold, or poverty line, was 22,314 dollars for a family of four” (2). People living in poverty may be forced to depend on public assistance programs such as food stamps, or more formally known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. On the exterior, this program seems to benefit hungry families, but in all actually it is actually facilitating their obesity. The formerly mentioned family of four would be qualified to receive a maximum of 688 dollars a month in food stamps (North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services). That equates to just over 170 dollars a week or 40 dollars per family member. A paltry amount such as this forces families to make difficult decisions regarding the amount and type of food they provide their family.
It’s been noted that recent studies specify that “more than half of all 3-5-year-old children in the United States attend child-care centers prior to kindergarten” and “Given these high usage rates, the quality of these early child-care experiences has become an important public policy issue” (Peisner-Feinberg 2001). It is believed that part of the issue is a result of parents not knowing what the primary purpose of daycare/child care facilities are and what high quality daycares consist of in considering a their child should attend.
Poverty in America is measured using thresholds and guidelines that are updated each year so that we have a more accurate picture of who is in need. Using these standards it is then decided who is impoverished. According to the Institute for Research on Poverty (2013) a family of four, who makes less than $23,492 in a year, are considered poor. There are numerous federal programs provided by the government that are designed to help those who are in need. Some of these programs provide food stamps, free lunches, Medicaid, Head Start, and rent assistance. Although these programs are helpful to people who need them they do not entirely prevent children from the consequences of being poor.
Many studies illustrate that high quality child care helps children who have been brought up in poverty to develop skills that enable better education, jobs and earnings (Adelman). It would help to reduce poverty if more parents would invest money `into high quality child care, because children would be able to learn the skills that they should know to get a good education. In an article entitled “9 Ways to Reduce Poverty,” Larry Adelman stated that “Investments in infrastructure—fixing old bridges, building mass transit, converting to clean energy sources—and investments in vital services such as schools, childcare and eldercare generate both public benefits and jobs.” Investments in the most important buildings and structures in a community would help to create job opportunities, which could benefit people who are in poverty by allowing them the opportunity to get a job. Poverty reduction would benefit the economy and the people who suffer from