Families with low income often do not have access to the basic necessities and resources to foster the nurturing experiences and stimulating environments that young children need to thrive. Income supports may reduce poverty in households with young children, provide critical resources to help families support children’s development, diminish families’ stress levels, and thereby advance health equity. This grant funded research on income supports for low-income families with young children, including tax credits and transfer programs, to inform policymaking and encourage more equitable access to these supports.
Increasing access to early care and education (ECE) may reduce poverty in households with young children by supporting parental employment; provide critical resources to help families support children’s development; diminish families’ stress levels; and thereby advance health equity. This grant sought to fund research that highlighted policy- and practice-related reasons for disparities in access to ECE, and which identified current policy or programmatic solutions or needed changes that would promote equity.
A key contributor to children’s healthy development is sufficient access to healthy foods, though research demonstrates that children from low-income households and racial and ethnic minority children experience nutritional disparities. This grant funded research on federal nutrition support programs that serve low-income families with young children, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
This grant funded a body of research that illuminates strategies and policies that ensure families’ equitable access to key resources for supporting their children’s healthy development. The cross-cutting grants fund research that cut across policy domains, revealing the way that ECE access, income supports, and nutrition supports interact and potentially reinforce one another to promote families’ well being.
Minton, S., L. Giannarelli, L. Wheaton, K. Dwyer, and S. Knowles. "Poverty Projections 2021: Assessing Policy Options to Further Reduce Child Poverty." Washington, DC: Urban Institute, December 2021.
Please contact sminton@urban.org for additional information about this product.
Ginther, D.K. and M. Johnson-Motoyama. "Associations Between State TANF Policies, Child Protective Services Involvement, And Foster Care Placement." Health Affairs, vol. 41, no. 12, December 2022.
Weiss, L., L. Cardenas, A.C. Escobar, D. Segarra, M. Gregoire, B. Telzak, and M. Scherer. "'It got a little bit complicated for me' Community-Based Organizations Access to Benefit Programs for Immigrant Families." New York Academy of Medicine Report, 2023.
Cárdenas, L., M. Scherer, A.C. Escobar, D. Segarra, M. Gregoire, B. Telzak, and L. Weiss. "Programs to Support Income and Food Security Among Latine Immigrant Families: Participant and Staff Perspectives." Presented at American Public Health Association Conference, 2023.
Please contact mscherer@nyam.org for additional information about this product.
Bender, A.K., B. Guo, P. Miller, and E. Jones. "Eating Enough and Healthy? Perspectives on SNAP and SNAP Access Among Low-income Families with Young Children." Presented at the Society for Social Work Research (SSWR) Annual Conference, 2024.
Please contact guob@umsl.edu for additional information about this product.
Guo, B., A.K. Bender, P. Miller, and E. Jones. "Is Integrated Social Service Possible? A Case Study of Two Community-based Organizations." Presented at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action Annual Conference, 2023.
Please contact guob@umsl.edu for additional information about this product.
Guo, B., A. Bender, P. Miller, and E. Jones. "Improving Low-income Families' SNAP Access Through VITA." Presented at the VITA U 2023 Conference, 2023.
Please contact guob@umsl.edu for additional information about this product.
All Nations. “Comments to the White House re Nutrition Health Hunger—July 2022.” All Nations, 2022.
Please contact tmmclure@allnations.health for additional information about this product.
All Nations. "Understanding Barriers and Access to Using Nutrition Support Programs for Urban Native Americans living in Missoula, Great Falls and Billings." Brief prepared for distribution to community members. n.d.
Please contact tmmclure@allnations.health for additional information about this product.