Search Results

Advanced search parameters have been applied.
open access

Trends in Poverty in the United States

Description: This report discusses trends in poverty in the United States. In 2004, 37 million people were found poor under the official poverty definition — a 1.1 million increase from 2003. The poverty rate, or percent of the population considered poor, increased for the fourth straight year, to 12.7% in 2004 — up from 12.5% in 2003, and 11.3% in 2000, its most recent low.
Date: September 6, 2005
Creator: Gabe, Thomas
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Welfare Reauthorization: Overview of the Issues

Description: The 109th Congress is reviewing a number of programs that aid poor and low-income families with children. These programs include the TANF and child care block grants, child support enforcement, abstinence education, transitional Medicaid (known as Transitional Medical Assistance), Head Start, and the Workforce Investment Act. Other potential policy initiatives, such as social security and tax reform, also would likely affect low-income families with children. This report focuses on programs and… more
Date: September 29, 2005
Creator: Falk, Gene; Gish, Melinda & Solomon-Fears, Carmen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Welfare Reauthorization: An Overview of the Issues

Description: In February 2002, the Administration proposed its welfare reauthorization plan. The debate was dominated by controversy over the amount of child care funding and the Administration's proposed changes to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation standards. The final agreement reflects the same child care funding increase that was provided in House-passed welfare reauthorization measures in 2002 and 2003 ($1 billion in additional mandatory child care funding over five year… more
Date: December 22, 2005
Creator: Falk, Gene; Gish, Melinda & Solomon-Fears, Carmen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Welfare Reauthorization: Overview of the Issues

Description: In February 2002, the Administration proposed its welfare reauthorization plan. The debate was dominated by controversy over the amount of child care funding and the Administration's proposed changes to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation standards. The final agreement reflects the same child care funding increase that was provided in House-passed welfare reauthorization measures in 2002 and 2003 ($1 billion in additional mandatory child care funding over five year… more
Date: June 8, 2005
Creator: Falk, Gene; Gish, Melinda & Solomon-Fears, Carmen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Welfare Reauthorization: An Overview of the Issues

Description: In February 2002, the Administration proposed its welfare reauthorization plan. The debate was dominated by controversy over the amount of child care funding and the Administration's proposed changes to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation standards. The final agreement reflects the same child care funding increase that was provided in House-passed welfare reauthorization measures in 2002 and 2003 ($1 billion in additional mandatory child care funding over five year… more
Date: December 22, 2005
Creator: Falk, Gene; Gish, Melinda & Solomon-Fears, Carmen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Welfare Reauthorization: Overview of the Issues

Description: In February 2002, the Administration proposed its welfare reauthorization plan. The debate was dominated by controversy over the amount of child care funding and the Administration's proposed changes to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation standards. The final agreement reflects the same child care funding increase that was provided in House-passed welfare reauthorization measures in 2002 and 2003 ($1 billion in additional mandatory child care funding over five year… more
Date: June 8, 2005
Creator: Falk, Gene; Gish, Melinda & Solomon-Fears, Carmen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and the Welfare-to-Work (WtW) Tax Credit

Description: The Work Opportunity Tax Credit and Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit are temporary provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Since their initiation in the mid-1990s, the Congress has allowed the credits to lapse four of the five times they were up for reauthorization. In each instance, they were reinstated retroactive to their expiration dates as part of large tax-related measures. The employment tax credits never have been addressed independently of broader legislation. This report describes the WOTC… more
Date: September 16, 2005
Creator: Levine, Linda
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

How Medicaid Works - Program Basics

Description: Medicaid is a means-tested entitlement program that has been in existence for over 35 years. It provides primary and acute care as well as long-term care to over 50 million Americans at a cost to federal and state governments of approximately $276.1 billion in FY2003. Of all federally supported social programs, only Medicare comes close to this level of spending, and only Social Security costs more.
Date: March 16, 2005
Creator: Herz, Elicia J.; Hearne, Jean P.; Stone-Axelrad, Julie; Tritz, Karen; Baumrucker, Evelyne P.; Scott, Christine et al.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Child Welfare Financing: An Issue Overview

Description: The purpose of this report is to describe the federal interest in child welfare (as expressed by Congress); describe the current level and structure of federal dedicated child welfare financing and examine trends in the appropriation and spending of this money; and to review the extent to which states rely on non-dedicated federal funds for child welfare purposes. Finally, the report discusses the future federal commitment to child welfare financing, along with the concepts of flexibility and a… more
Date: April 6, 2005
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Child Welfare: State Performance on Child and Family Services Reviews

Description: This report begins with a short history of the legislation and other factors that led to the creation of the current CFSR and then briefly describes how a CFSR is conducted and what “substantial conformity” with federal child welfare policy means in the context of this review. Much has been made of the fact that no state was found to be in substantial conformity with all aspects of federal policy reviewed during the initial (FY2001-FY2004) round of the CFSRs. This report seeks to better underst… more
Date: June 29, 2005
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Medicaid Expenditures, FY2002 and FY2003

Description: Medicaid is a health insurance program jointly funded by the states and the federal government. Generally, eligibility is limited to low-income children, pregnant women, parents of dependent children, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Each state designs and administers its own program within broad federal guidelines.
Date: February 15, 2005
Creator: Tritz, Karen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): Percentage of Total Tax Returns and Credit Amount by State

Description: The earned income tax credit (EITC), established in the tax code in 1975, offers cash aid to working parents with relatively low incomes who care for dependent children. The EITC is the only federal cash aid available to all working poor families with children. For eligible filers with income tax liability, the EITC reduces their taxes.
Date: November 4, 2005
Creator: Scott, Christine
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Budget Reconciliation FY2006: Provisions Affecting the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP)

Description: The federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) is the rate at which states are reimbursed for most Medicaid service expenditures. The FY2006 budget reconciliation bills passed by the House (H.R. 4241) and Senate (S. 1932) include provisions that would affect state FMAPs for Medicaid in a number of ways. This report describes these provisions and estimates their impact on FY2006 FMAPs.
Date: November 28, 2005
Creator: Grady, April
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Medicaid and the Current State Fiscal Crisis

Description: Medicaid, a health insurance program funded jointly by the federal government and the states, is facing a period of quickly escalating costs at a time when the need (as measured by the number of uninsured) among the population it serves — the lowincome disabled, families and elderly — is rising. The pressures of quickly rising costs and increasing need are driving legislative attention both at the state and federal levels. Between FY2000 and FY2003, the annual growth rate of federal Medicaid ex… more
Date: January 21, 2005
Creator: Scott, Christine
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Medicaid and SCHIP: The President's FY2006 Budget Proposals

Description: This report describes the proposal and provides an estimate of the cost or savings based on publicly available information. The report provides a brief background for the proposal and provides a listing of current Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports related to the proposal.
Date: June 9, 2005
Creator: Grady, April; Hearne, Jean P.; Herz, Elicia J.; Scott, Christine; Stone-Axelrad, Julie & Tritz, Karen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Hurricane Katrina: Medicaid Issues

Description: This report discusses the following: Medicaid’s rules on eligibility, benefits, and financing in the context of current questions and issues raised by Hurricane Katrina. Recent state actions in response to Medicaid issues raised by the hurricane. Federal Medicaid waiver authority, including information on current activity in this area and the New York Disaster Relief Medicaid waiver granted in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Current federal legislation related to Medicaid and H… more
Date: September 15, 2005
Creator: Baumrucker, Evelyne P.; Grady, April; Hearne, Jean P.; Herz, Elicia J.; Rimkunas, Richard; Stone-Axelrad, Julie et al.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): Its Role In Response to the Effects of Hurricane Katrina

Description: The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant provides grants to states to help them fund a wide variety of benefits and services to low-income families with children. TANF is best known as helping fund ongoing cash welfare benefits for families with children, but the block grant may also fund other benefits and services such as emergency payments, child care.
Date: September 16, 2005
Creator: Falk, Gene
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Medicaid: A Primer

Description: This report describes the basic elements of Medicaid, focusing on federal rules governing who is eligible, what services are covered, how the program is financed and how beneficiaries share in the cost, how providers are paid, and the role of special waivers in expanding eligibility and modifying benefits.
Date: December 19, 2005
Creator: Herz, Elicia J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Coverage of the TANF Population Under Medicaid and SCHIP

Description: Health insurance is an important support for individuals receiving, leaving or diverted from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare or cash assistance program for low-income families. Medicaid and SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) are key vehicles for providing such coverage. While there is no formal link between TANF and either Medicaid or SCHIP, some TANF-eligibles, especially children, are likely to qualify for one of these programs. But state eligibility … more
Date: January 27, 2005
Creator: Herz, Elicia J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP): Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act

Description: This report is intended to provide an overview of the Adequate Yearly Process (AYP) concept and several related issues, a description of the AYP provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, and an analysis of the implementation of these provisions by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the states. It will be updated when major administrative actions are taken by ED, or substantial new data on state implementation become available.
Date: October 26, 2005
Creator: Riddle, Wayne C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen