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The National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives at Mississippi State University, known as Rural Early Childhood, commissioned the nonpartisan research organization Child Trends to conduct such an analysis of the ECLS-K and ECLS-B baseline data, focusing on selected indicators related to child and family health and socioeconomic status and children's readiness for school. The authors of the agenda called for comparison of health and school readiness indicators in the federal Early Childhood Longitudinal Study for rural and non-rural American Indian and Alaska Native (AI-AN) children, and of the same indicators for rural AI-AN children and other rural children (Strang & Von Glatz, 2001). They indicated that the ECLS was "the most significant study.... underway" and predicted that findings concerning Native children would be "invaluable for Native researchers who seek to untangle the interrelationships among personal characteristics, family background, community, early childhood services, and success in making the transition to school" (p. 34). "Comparisons of educational outcomes within the population of American Indian and Alaska Native students may be very useful. [This report was produced by The National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives at Mississippi State University, known as Rural Early Childhood, in collaboration with Child Trends.]

This brief introduces the first results from a rural analysis of selected national datasets. Provided are key findings concerning kindergarten readiness of rural children from an analysis of the Kindergarten Cohort of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS). Future briefs will summarize the findings concerning the health of the Kindergarten Cohort, data from the Birth Cohort, and data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). [This report was produced by the National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives, Mississippi State University.] (Contains 4 figures.)

The overarching mission of the Child Trends organization is to improve the lives of children and families by providing research-based information to inform policies and programs affecting children's lives. This annual report details the organization's accomplishments for the year 2002. The report begins with a letter from the president and the board chair describing how the organization's research both confirms and challenges common perceptions related to children and generates new and surprising knowledge that can inform family life, public policy, and service delivery. The letter also accentuates the need for research on children during times of national uncertainty. Following introductory remarks, the report then presents a sample of recent work directed at: (1) supporting efforts to enhance school readiness, including evaluating South Carolina's First Steps program and providing information on indicators for the First 5 California program; (2) promoting positive youth development, including identifying promising youth development approaches and programs, and monitoring outcomes for participants in local youth programs; (3) advancing the use of indicators to monitor child well-being, including collecting state-level data on children to gauge the success of welfare reform; and (4) informing the public about critical trends and issues affecting children through an online data resource, web site and listserv, print research briefs and special reports, and media outreach. The report concludes with lists of recent Child Trends publications and additional publications with Child Trends authors, and lists of board of directors, executive staff, national advisory board members, major funders, and Child Trends staff. (Contains 14 endnotes.) (KB)

In 1999, South Carolina's First Steps to School Readiness was launched as a comprehensive early childhood initiative to improve childrens school readiness by improving the efficiency and coordination of existing services to children from birth to age 5 and their families, and by providing new services where gaps are identified. A legislatively mandated external evaluation focused on the first 3 years of the statewide initiative and included key accomplishments, challenges, and directions for further steps in the areas of administrative structures and collaborative processes, fiscal information, early education, child care, parenting/family strengthening, child health, other programs, and data reporting and evaluation. Main findings of the evaluation include the following: (1) all of the administrative structures legislatively mandated are in place; (2) First Steps adhered to a set of research-supported guiding principles; (3) programs of each type called for in the legislation have been implemented; (4) there was substantial county variation in programs selected for implementation; (5) program quality varied across and within counties; (6) First Steps is engendering a "culture of accountability" regarding expenditures and program implementation; and (7) First Steps has fostered collaboration and built capacity at the state and county levels to enhance services for young children and their families. Recommendations include increased focus on program quality, development of mechanisms to share experiences across counties, continuation of improvements in administrative procedures and requirements, and adequate resources to sustain First Step efforts and to strengthen the quality of programs, data collection, and administration. (Data tables and figures are appended. In addition to the full report are an executive summary and a report providing county profiles. Contains 107 references.) (KB)

Because an educated workforce is recognized as essential to ensuring competitiveness in a global economy, it is considered an issue of national concern how teens in the United States are faring educationally, especially compared with teens worldwide. This research brief summarizes the key findings from a larger review of more than 300 research studies on educational adjustment, educational achievement, and educational attainment. The brief first considers factors such as parental involvement and teens participation in extracurricular activities that can influence educational adjustment, achievement, and attainment from the vantage point of adolescents themselves as well as within the contexts of their families, peers, school, and community. The brief then describes programs that have been found successful in enhancing teens educational success, including high-quality early childhood programs, mentoring programs, and programs aimed at boosting academic outcomes. Suggestions for improving such programs are provided. A What Works summary table details some of the programs and approaches most likely to succeed in enhancing youths academic progress. Although focusing primarily on programs that have been experimentally evaluated, the brief also includes some promising practices drawing on non-experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations as well as practitioners wisdom. (Contains 83 references.) (Author/KB)

This study examined child care patterns during the summer months among 6- to 12-year-old children with employed parents or primary caretakers. Using interview data from the 1999 National Survey of Americas Families, the study analyzed two key aspects of summer child care: the types of arrangements for school-age children and the amount families with school-age children spend on child care. The study divided child care arrangements into three categories: supervised arrangements, self-care, and parent/other (e.g., parents working at home, or use of lessons, clubs or other activities not usually thought of as childcare). Data showed both the percentage of families using each kind of care and the time spent in child care. Arrangements were considered for children ages 6 to 9 and 10 to 12. Data on arrangements and costs were also disaggregated by family income. The study found that nearly three-quarters of all school-age children with employed primary caretakers are in supervised child care during the summer. The summer months see a large increase in care by relatives and in the time spent in organized care. Average summer child care expenses for higher-income families were found to be more than twice the average spent by lower-income families. One surprising finding is that low-income families spend less on child care during the summer than during the school year. Based on the findings, it was recommended that policymakers be aware of seasonal patterns of child care and evaluate summer child care programs. Three appendices provide tabular data. (KK)

Despite persistent media headlines about extreme cases of child abuse and neglect, the public remains largely uninformed about the developmental status of children affected by this tragic problem. The research brief draws on available data and recent research to summarize what is known about these outcomes in several critical areasphysical and mental health; cognitive and educational attainment; and social and behavioral development. To put this information into a larger context, the brief sketches out the dimensions and severity of the child maltreatment problem and the demographic characteristics of its victims. Finally, the brief considers the need to develop reliable indicators to assess and monitor the outcomes of children reported as abused or neglected. In particular, the brief suggests that incorporating child well-being indicators into the existing databases of local and state social service agencies may be a feasible and practical way to improve the capacity of these agencies to address the needs of vulnerable children. The use of such indicators could also provide benchmarks to inform public officials and community leaders about the conditions and needs of the populations served by social service agencies, and to monitor their outcomes as programs, policies, and practice guidelines change over time. (HTH)

The mentoring of youth by adults has been identified as one of the more promising program approaches to promoting positive youth outcomes. This synthesis examines the role that mentoring plays in helping youth develop a broad array of strengths and capacities related to: (1) education and cognitive attainment; (2) health and safety; (3) social and emotional well-being; and (4) self-sufficiency. The synthesis describes five mentoring programs that have undergone an experimental evaluation, three programs with non-experimental evaluations, and two quasi-experimental programs. Many of the programs featured mentoring as a component of a comprehensive evaluation, with mentors often recruited from the community and mentored children always at-risk youth. Overall, youth participating in mentoring relationships improved on some educational measures. Mentoring showed promise in helping youth develop healthy and safe behaviors. Mentoring indirectly improved a number of social and behavioral outcomes. However, the impact of mentoring programs on young adult self-sufficiency has not been well researched. Program practices and participant characteristics associated with positive and negative youth outcomes are suggested. The synthesis identifies additional research needs, including the need to compare impact of different program components, models of mentoring relationships, and participant characteristics. Two appendices describe youth mentoring programs and their evaluation studies, and delineate program components offered in addition to mentoring. (Contains 38 references.) (KB)

Based on the view that programs with a strong academic component may reduce the substantial educational disparities for American students from disadvantaged backgrounds or in chronically underperforming schools and school districts, this synthesis of research on academic achievement programs describes how such programs may help children and adolescents develop strengths and abilities in the areas of education and cognitive attainment, health and safety, social and emotional well-being, and young adult self-sufficiency. The report describes academic-oriented programs for youth that have a rigorous experimental evaluation or a careful quasi-experimental evaluation. Twelve programs are examined, all designed to improve academic achievement, with most participants considered to be at-risk of failing a grade or dropping out of school. Most programs had academic achievement as a component rather than the program's sole focus, were conducted after school, and were community-based. Experimental studies found that impact of academic achievement programs were mixed and varied considerably across programs. Programs focusing primarily on a particular outcome and including an academic component appeared to be more effective at improving that outcome than programs focused exclusively on academic achievement. Quasi-experimental evidence suggested that youth participating in programs longer and more intensively did better than those participating for a shorter time or less intensively, and that programs with a strong academic focus were more consistently effective at improving academic outcomes. The report identifies numerous questions for further research. The report concludes by asserting that although programs with at least one strong academic component can improve educational, health, social and emotional, and self-sufficiency outcomes among participants, the effects are not certain and sometimes no impact has been found. The report's two appendices describe the academic achievement programs and their evaluations, and delineate the non-academic programs offered by each program. (Contains 100 references.) (KB)

This brief is one of a series written to help inform public debate surrounding the 2002 reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The brief examines the level of depressive symptoms among samples of welfare recipients studied in five experimental evaluations of welfare-to-work programs. The brief notes evidence suggesting that a relatively high number of welfare recipients show symptoms of depression, that recipients who are depressed may have more difficulty getting and keeping a job, and that the children of mothers with symptoms of depression are likely to have more problems. Findings also show that when welfare recipients participate in a welfare-to-work program, these symptoms can be affected, sometimes negatively. (Contains 33 endnotes.) (EV)

This paper uses the 1997 National Survey of America's Families to examine child care patterns for young children in the United States. The paper examines three general features of children's early care and education participation: (1) primary care arrangements, classified as center-based care, family child care, relative care, nanny or babysitter, and parent-only; (2) number of hours in nonparental care; and (3) number of nonparental arrangements children participate in on a regular basis each week, and the percentage of children using two or more such arrangements. Major findings indicate that more than two-thirds of children who are under age 5 and not in school experience nonparental care. Primary care providers shift from parents and relatives to center-based care as children get older. The time spent in nonparental care increases with child's age. Children are more likely to be in two or more nonparental arrangements as they near school entry. Income and parental employment are interrelated factors associated with patterns of early care and education. Tables with basic demographic information about the children and responding parents in the national survey sample are appended. (Contains 12 references.) (KB)

Over recent years, there has been an explosion in the collection of state and local level child and youth indicator data by federal statistical agencies and in the dissemination of those data through agency Web sites. This paper reviews these resources and provides information needed to access the data. Data sources are presented in five topical areas: economics and demographics (e.g., decennial Census and Census 2000 Supplementary Survey); health (vital statistics, disease surveillance systems, and health surveys); education (e.g., Common Core of Data and Schools and Staffing Survey); crime and juvenile justice (e.g., Easy Access System and Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement Databook); and child welfare (National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System and Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System). Each section begins with an overview of what is available, including descriptions of data portholes that agencies have developed to facilitate access to data, and descriptions of individual data resources, including surveys, administrative data sets, and publications available on agency Web sites. Internet addresses to those resources are provided. Selected nonfederal sources are also briefly covered. An appendix presents a summary listing of federal Web sites containing indicator data on children and youth. (SM)

The upcoming reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant is prompting closer scrutiny of how families affected by the law are faring. This research brief examines teen employment in the context of welfare reform, drawing on data from the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) to describe employment patterns among teens ages 14 to 17 years. The brief reports that teens in families receiving welfare benefits are much less likely to have jobs than those in families that have left the welfare rolls. Moreover, the brief indicates, working teens in families that have recently left the welfare rolls are much more likely to work long hours than any other group of youth. Large differences across states are reported in the proportion of teens who work. The brief's findings suggest that enhancing employment opportunities for youth in welfare families, while considering pressures to work overly long hours, should be a focus of the TANF reauthorization debate. In addition, the findings demonstrate that states face very different needs in the youth employment area, suggesting that the focus and scope of state youth employment programs should take this into account. (Contains 15 endnotes.) (Author/KB)

With the passage of the 1996 welfare reform law, numerous commentators expressed concern about the impact of welfare reform on young children of welfare recipients, while few expressed concern about adolescents. However, recent evidence suggests that adolescents are affected negatively when their parents participate in welfare-to-work programs. This research brief describes these negative impacts and explores possible explanations for the unexpected findings. Findings are presented from three experimental evaluations conducted in Canada, Minnesota, and Florida of welfare-to-work programs established before 1996 but including some of the reform law's key components. Negative effects included declines in achievement as well as increases in troublesome behavior such as smoking, drinking, drug use, and delinquent activity. Possible explanations for the findings are suggested and examined: (1) eroded adolescent-parent relationship quality; (2) decreased parental monitoring; and (3) shifting adolescent role in the family. The data provide some evidence that participation in welfare-to-work programs may lead to increased negative parenting behavior, limited evidence of small decreases in parental supervision, and evidence for a broader shift in adolescents' roles in the families, with adolescents taking on more adult-like roles. The brief concludes with key issues for policymakers to take into account when considering policies to support adolescent development in families affected by welfare reform, including establishing more after-school programs for adolescents, reducing the number of hours that adolescents work, and providing guidance to parents about levels of adolescent responsibility and autonomy. (Contains 25 endnotes.) (KB)

One of the critical elements of children's healthy development is the participation of parents in important activities in their children's lives. This research brief reports on the involvement of fathers in their children's lives. The brief focuses on the involvement of fathers who live with their children, including single fathers raising their children, in four key areas: (1) general activities; (2) school activities; (3) limit-setting; and (4) religious activities. The data sources were the 1997 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the 1999 National Household Education Survey, and the 1996 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Findings from these studies suggest that fathers are likely to be actively engaged in a variety of activities with their children at least once a week, ranging from 25 percent of fathers helping their children build or repair something to 72 percent talking with children about their family. In 1999, between 24 and 33 percent of fathers were highly involved in school activities, depending on the child's age. Fathers with higher levels of education were more likely to report high school involvement than were fathers with less education. More than half the fathers worked on homework with their child at least once a week. In 1997, fathers reported that they often or very often set limits for their children. Almost 30 percent of adolescents in 1996 reported attending a church-related event with their father in the past month. Fathers who were college graduates were more likely to engage their children in religious activities than fathers with less education. Both parents were more likely to provide religious guidance when children were between 11 and 14 years than when they were older. (Contains 30 endnotes.) (KB)

Research supports the anecdotal observation that unmarried mothers and their children face greater obstacles and suffer greater strains than married couples and their children. Less is known about the specific characteristics of the women who have births outside of marriage. This research brief paints a fuller picture of nonmarital childbearing. The data presented here dispel many inaccurate perceptions about unmarried mothers. Research findings indicate that: (1) the percentage of births to unmarried women increased substantially until 1994 and has since plateaued; (2) women in their early twenties have the highest rate of births outside of marriage; (3) teens account for a diminishing share of all births outside of marriage; (4) only about half of nonmarital births are first births; (5) the majority of births outside of marriage are unintended at conception; (6) racial and ethnic disparities in nonmarital childbearing are declining; (7) the proportion of nonmarital births to cohabiting parents is increasing; (8) whites show the greatest increase in births to cohabiting couples; and (9) the majority of unmarried mothers are romantically involved with the father of their baby at the time of the birth. The brief concludes with an examination of factors behind the trends in nonmarital childbearing, the implications of nonmarital childbearing for mothers and children, and public perception of the situation versus reality. Contains 20 references. (EV)

This report presents data on Hispanic Americans, one of the nation's largest racial minorities. Hispanics have had much lower high school completion rates and higher dropout rates than blacks and whites since the 1970s. Hispanic high school students are more likely to carry weapons and more likely to become pregnant than black and white students. Between 1970-99, the percentage of children in two-parent families decreased for all races, and the number of Hispanic children living in two-parent families decreased from 78 to 63 percent. Hispanic women have the highest nonmarital birth rate of all racial and ethnic groups. Hispanic youth are more likely than black or white youth to consider or attempt suicide. Hispanic children are less likely to have health insurance than black or white children. The percentage of all Hispanic women who receive early prenatal care has increased from 60.2 percent in 1980 to 74.3 percent in 1998. Hispanic children were more likely than other children to live in poverty in 1997. The percentage of Hispanic children at or below 100 percent of the poverty line declined between 1996-99, though they (and black children) are twice as likely as white children to live in poverty. (SM)

Noting that many communities in the United States have set the ambitious goal of enhancing school readiness, this report is intended to help communities invest wisely in school readiness initiatives. Part 1 of the report summarizes recommendations from the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) for defining and assessing school readiness. The core conclusions are that: (1) school readiness is multifaceted; (2) family and community supports for readiness are essential to address in an assessment of readiness; and (3) school readiness is a reciprocal phenomenon. Key principles for appropriate assessment of young children are also summarized. Part 2 presents a framework for community investments based on an ecological view of child development. This framework is broader than that of the NEGP and considers factors related to the child's physical and mental health, the family context, children's experience of early childhood care and education settings, and the neighborhood context. A selective review of research is presented, emphasizing rigorously implemented experimental evaluations of intervention, longitudinal studies, and studies using multivariate analyses. Part 3 of the report delineates implications for community action and summarizes the most effective investments for school readiness, based on the review of research. Presented in tabular form, the summary identifies the level at which intervention might occur, starting at the level of the child and working outward to community-level factors and beyond. Interventions with significant impacts on school readiness are summarized, with information on interventions shown to be ineffective, as well as interventions with mixed results. Interventions that are theoretically important but without empirical evidence of their effectiveness are also summarized. The areas of intervention are: (1) child health (immunizations, nutrition, unintentional injury, lead exposure, dental health, emotional and behavioral problems); (2) family factors (economic risk, family structure, home environment); (3) early childhood care and education; (4) school transitional practices; (5) emergent literacy; (6) community/neighborhood factors; and (7) media effects. (Contains 256 references.) (KB)

Many communities across the country have set for themselves the goal of enhancing school readiness. But what does school readiness mean, and how do communities know whether they have achieved it? This research brief is intended to help communities invest wisely in school readiness initiatives. It begins by summarizing recommendations from the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) for defining and assessing school readiness. The brief then presents a framework for community investments based on an ecological view of child development. This framework considers factors related not only to the child but also to the child's family, early childhood care and education, schools, and neighborhood. (Contains 43 references.) (EV)

As policymakers have sought to balance the goal of fostering poor children's well-being with that of encouraging adult's self-sufficiency, public assistance has become more predicated on custodial parents' involvement in work or mandatory welfare-to-work programs activities. This report examines the effects of welfare-to-work programs on the children of the adults mandated to participate. The report synthesizes the findings from two recently completed reports from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS Evaluation), the 2-year effects of 11 welfare-to-work programs that operated in 7 sites in the early to mid 1990s. Section 1 of the report summarizes the findings. Section 2 presents a conceptual model of how mandatory welfare-to-work programs might affect children. Section 3 describes aspects of child well-being examined in the NEWWS evaluation. Section 4 discusses characteristics of the adults and children in the evaluation samples. Sections 5, 6, and 7 summarize program implementation and program effects on targeted and nontargeted outcomes, highlighting any situations where effects were different for mothers in a special Child Outcomes Study sample focusing on young children, compared to mothers with children of all ages. Section 8 presents effects on children. The report notes that, overall, effects on children were consistently favorable in the cognitive development area, consistently unfavorable in the health area, and both favorable and unfavorable in the behavioral and emotional adjustment area. Child effects were not systematically different for mothers subject to employment-focused programs than for those subject to education-focused programs. Few child effects were found for subgroups of young children identified as at high or low risk for poor development. The report concludes by asserting that mandatory welfare-to-work programs, with no services provided directly to children, can have spillover effects on children's well-being. The report's four appendices include definitions of the child outcome measures and a comparison of national samples of children and control group children. Contains 19 references. (KB)

As policymakers have sought to balance the goal of fostering poor children's well-being with that of encouraging adult's self-sufficiency, public assistance has become more predicated on custodial parents' involvement in work or mandatory welfare-to-work programs. This summary report examines the effects of welfare-to-work programs implemented as part of the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS) on the children of adults mandated to participate. The evaluation focused on children's development and well-being in a sample of families with preschool-age children at the start of the evaluation. The findings indicated that the welfare-to-work programs implemented as part of the JOBS program did have significant impacts on children's development, but these impacts were not widespread and were generally small. There were favorable impacts particularly in the area of cognitive development and particularly at one site. There were unfavorable child health impacts, specifically at one site. Findings in the area of children's behavior and emotional adjustment encompassed both favorable and unfavorable impacts. Findings for a subgroup of higher risk families were few and tended generally to be small. Unfavorable impacts were found for children from lower-risk families at three sites. The unfavorable and policy relevant impacts occurred in a concentrated manner and some had moderate to large effect sizes. It was concluded that most children were not adversely affected, and in some cases were helped, by their mothers' participation in a JOBS program. Further follow-up will be important because of the limited unfavorable impacts. (Contains 37 references.) (KB)

The 1997 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) asked parents of 6- to 17-year-olds several questions in order to assess the degree of turbulence or stability in a child's life. Turbulence was associated with several types of change, including moves and multiple school changes. The NSAF is a survey of more than 44,000 families, representing a national sample and the populations of 13 states, conducted as part of the Assessing the New Federalism project. A child who experienced two or more of the defined changes during the prior 12 months was classified as experiencing turbulence. Nationwide in 1997, 6% of all children experienced turbulence as defined for this study. When children are compared by family income, welfare receipt, family structure, and parental education, it becomes apparent that turbulence is much more prevalent in poor families than it is in moderate- or higher-income families. Fourteen percent of children in families that received Aid to Families with Dependent Children experienced high levels of turbulence in their lives. Nine percent of children who lived in one-parent families experienced turbulence, compared with 5% of children in two-parent families. Children who had experienced turbulence were also more likely than other children to have high levels of emotional and behavioral problems. There is considerable variation across states in the percentages of children who have experienced high levels of turbulence, with a high of 9% in Florida. Evidence from the NSAF indicates that turbulence is associated with poorer outcomes for children. (Contains 1 table, 5 figures, and 22 references.) (SLD)

The National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) includes several questions that can be used to assess sociodemographic risk. The NSAF is a national survey of more than 44,000 families, conducted as part of the Assessing the New Federalism project. Measures used to form an index of risk are: (1) single parenthood; (2) four or more children living in the child's household; (3) the lack of a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma by the child's parent; and (4) poverty. Children who experienced three or more risks were classified as having a high level of sociodemographic risk. Nationally in 1997, 8% of children under age 18 experienced high levels of sociodemographic risk. Among the 13 states studied, the proportion of children experiencing high risk ranged from 3 to 17%. Risk factors tended to co-occur; children who experienced one stressful factor were likely to experience others. About half of poor children experienced poverty plus one other risk factor, and 5% experienced all the risk factors. Children who experience high levels of sociodemographic risk are substantially more likely than other children to suffer negative outcomes, such as emotional and behavioral problems and difficulties in school. Implications of NSAF findings for the study of high-risk children are discussed. (SLD)

To assess the level of family stress that a child experiences, several questions from the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) were combined to create a family stress index. The NSAF is a survey of more than 44,000 households representative of the United States as a whole and of 13 states, conducted as part of the Assessing the New Federalism project. The family stress index assigns one point for each of six stressful circumstances related to the inability to meet household expenses (including shelter and food), access to health care, and poor health. Children in families scoring two or higher on the index were categorized as living in stressful family environments. Findings indicate that half of children living in families with income below the federal poverty level also lived in stressful family environments. Thirty-five percent of children in families with incomes between 100 and 150% of the federal poverty level lived in stressful family environments. In contrast, just 1 child in 20 of those families with incomes over 3 times the federal poverty limit lived in stressful family environments. Levels of stress also vary by parents' education and by family structure. Children living in single-parent families or cohabiting families were more than twice as likely as those living in married couple families to live in stressful family environments. There are striking differences across the states in the proportion of children living in stressful family environments, ranging from a low of 15% in Wisconsin to a high of 30% in California. Overall, just over one in five children in the United States lives in a stressful family environment. Data suggest that children living in stressful family environments are nearly twice as likely to exhibit low levels of school engagement and are four times more likely to have high levels of behavioral and emotional problems. (Contains 1 table, 6 figures, and 16 references.) (SLD)

The current research and policy debate over why teen pregnancy and birth rates have declined in the 1990s has focused on whether increased abstinence or increased contraceptive use is primarily responsible. This research brief indicates that both factors appear to be contributing factors. It finds that: (1) the percentage of teens who reported ever having had sexual intercourse declined for both males and females from 1988 to 1995; (2) the majority of male and female sexually experienced teens had either 0 or 1 partner in the past year; and (3) the percentage of female teens who reported using any method of contraceptive at first sexual encounter increased between 1982 and 1995. On the other hand, the brief also notes less promising trends, including: (1) a decline in the percentage of female teens who report using any method of contraception at their most recent sex encounter; (2) an increase in the percentage of teens having sex before age 15; and (3) an increase risk for Hispanic teens of teen pregnancy. The proportion of Hispanic teens who are sexually experienced has increased, but they are the least likely to use any form of contraception at first sex encounter or most recent sex encounter. Finally, the brief highlights recommendations, including the following: (1) employ multiple strategies to reduce teen pregnancy; (2) support programs to increase involvement among males in decision-making about contraceptive use; (3) emphasize to teens the need to use contraception consistently; (4) develop strategies to discourage sex among young teens; and (5) target more programs specifically to address needs of different racial/ethnic and cultural groups. (Contains 11 references.) (EV)

The Project on State-Level Child Outcomes was initiated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to examine the effects on children of waiver policies related to state welfare reform efforts prior to the passage of federal welfare reform legislation. This report details the project's examination of child well-being in the context of five distinct state welfare programs. Part 1 of the report describes the process by which researchers, state administrators, and evaluators came to agree upon a common core of measures of child outcomes. Part 2 highlights features of the states' demonstrations and evaluations that presented challenges and opportunities for assessing child well-being and integrating findings across the five evaluations. This part describes the waiver policies in five states (Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota), describes their evaluation designs, discusses the implications of variations in the states' policies and evaluations for the synthesis and integration of findings across the five evaluations, proposes analytic strategies, and describes how findings from the project can increase understanding of welfare reform policies and their implications for child development. The report notes that the project will allow a comparison of various policy packages which anticipated provisions in the 1996 national welfare legislation and will permit an examination of the processes mediating the impact of welfare policies on children. Two appendices include a list of key project participants. Contains 16 references. (KB)

Although it is likely that there will be a substantial number of children who remain poor in spite of considerable work effort by their parents as families leave welfare roles, there has been relatively little research on children in working poor families. The primary purpose of this project is to develop a definition of working poor families and to provide a baseline of descriptive information about them. The primary data sources for the study were the 1987, 1988, and 1990-1993 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Current Population Survey for 1996 and 1997. The findings indicated that children were much less likely to be poor if they were living in a working family. Over time, there was a rough balance between the number of children entering and the number leaving poverty, and children whose parents met the work standard had higher odds of leaving poverty and lower odds of entering poverty. There were racial/ethnic and family structure differences in the percentage of poor children whose families met the work standard. There were substantial differences between working poor families and poor families not meeting the work standard with respect to family structure, education, home ownership, health insurance coverage, car ownership, and child care costs. There were also important differences between working poor families and more prosperous working families in terms of home and car ownership, paid child care participation, and health insurance. (Contains 32 references.) (KB)

This report details a national survey study of parents, age 54 or younger, living with children under age 18. The study examined parents' physical health status, stress levels and negative feelings, health habits, and access to health care. Findings indicated that one in eight parents reported health problems, with health related to education, income, parent age, marital status, and employment status. Stress levels were higher than physical health problems, with almost half of mothers and more than a third of fathers experiencing a lot of stress in the previous year. Parents without health insurance had the same or lower rates of seeking psychological help than parents with private insurance. One third of mothers and 40 percent of fathers engaged in at least one risky health-related behavior, with risky behavior related to income and education level, and marital status. Fifty-five percent of fathers and 74 percent of mothers reported having a medical check-up within the previous 2 years, with differences found across social and demographic groups. Several indicators suggested inadequate access to health care. This report considers three theoretical perspectives to explain associations between background factors and parental health, (1) stress hypothesis; (2) resource hypothesis; and (3) dysfunctional behavior hypothesis. The report concludes by noting that many parents need to change their health-related behavior to set an example for their children to remain physically and mentally healthy for the crucial task of child rearing. Data tables are appended. Contains 83 references. (Author/KB)

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort 2000 (ECLS-B) is a study that will assess children's health status and their growth and development in domains that are critical for later school readiness and academic achievement. This paper is one of several that have been prepared in support of ECLS-B design efforts. It is anticipated that three waves of data will be collected from families of children born between January and December 2000, with supplementary data collected from child care providers. Several options remaining to be decided are addressed, including identifying the primary respondent and other respondents, the assessments to be used, and how to collect data on variables such as other children in the family. The following eight major domains have been identified for the study: (1) demographic background; (2) family organization, composition, history, and turbulence; (3) family processes; (4) child care; (5) child characteristics; (6) child outcomes; (7) early health care, feeding patterns, nutrition, and insurance; and (8) distal constructs, such as neighborhood characteristics. Each of these domains is discussed. (Contains 485 references.) (SLD)

While most American children are not poor, the proportion of children living in poverty has remained at or near 20 percent since the early 1980s. Childhood poverty can have short- and long-term negative consequences for children. Growing up at or near the poverty line can affect the quality of a family's housing, children's access to nutritious food and adequate health care, and parents' ability to provide toys, books, and recreational or educational opportunities for their children. Poor children are also more likely than children who are not poor to experience difficulties in school, to become teen parents, and, as adults, to earn less and be unemployed more often. The effects of being raised in a family with income substantially below the poverty line are correspondingly more damaging. Until 1997, many poor families with children received cash assistance from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), a 60-year-old entitlement program. Welfare reform legislation enacted in August 1996 replaced AFDC with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, which, among other changes, sets time limits on families' receipt of welfare. Several studies are currently underway to assess the effects of TANF on children's well-being, but it may be some years before researchers can speak definitively to the long-term effects of welfare reform on children. (KB)

This brief summarizes key research findings on new ways of thinking about father involvement and the roles that fathers play in children's lives. The main points addressed by the brief are as follows: (1) fathers can be involved with their children in more roles than just the provider role; (2) quality counts; (3) different styles of parent-child interaction can contribute in important ways to children's healthy development; and (4) dads are not just substitute moms. The bulk of the report discusses dad as: economic provider; friend and playmate; caregiver; teacher and role model; monitor and disciplinarian; protector; advocate; and resource. (EV)

As rates of divorce and nonmarital childbearing have increased in recent decades, the percentage of children and fathers who live apart from one another has also increased. Yet our knowledge of how father involvement affects children's well-being in these situations is quite limited, since most research on fathers and children has focused on intact families. This brief summarizes key findings on the relationship between father involvement and child outcomes from that larger body of research, as well as the relatively small group of studies that consider fathers who live apart from their children. Main findings are as follows: (1) children benefit from positive relationships with their fathers; (2) fathers can positively influence their children's development by assuming a significant amount of the child care tasks; (3) a father's parenting style has implications for child well-being; (4) fathers' involvement can affect children's social development, cognitive development, and academic achievement; (5) limited research has been conducted on the relationship between child outcomes and involvement of fathers who do not live with their children; (6) provision of child support is related to children's cognitive development, academic achievement, and behavior; and (7) research findings on the association between frequency of father-child contact and child outcomes are mixed. (Contains 14 endnotes.) (EV)

Noting that socioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural variations among fathers and differences in family structure may affect fathers' roles and their level of involvement with their children, this brief summarizes key research findings on the ways in which various factors influence fathers' involvement in children's lives. Regarding socioeconomic influences, indicators such as education level, income, and social class have been found to be linked to father involvement; for instance, fathers with higher levels of education are more accessible to and engaged with their school-age children. Bleak economic conditions may lead fathers to seek alternative ways to be involved with their children. Regarding racial and ethnic variations, research has revealed variations in the amount and type of father involvement based on the racial/ethnic background of the father; however, there are perhaps as many or more similarities as there are differences. Regarding family structure, research has not kept pace with changes in family structure and children's living arrangements. Research does indicate that stepfathers vary in how involved they are in their parenting roles; single custodial fathers vary in their parenting role; and fathers who live apart from their children are usually much less involved with their children than fathers who reside with them. (Contains 28 endnotes.) (EV)

Although the last 100 years have seen dramatic improvements in the health of U.S. children, there remain racial and ethnic disparities. This research brief presents data illustrating improvements in children's health and the need for further progress. The brief also examines new morbidities among American youth, such as obesity, early sexual activity, and alcohol and drug use. Trends are described and presented graphically for the following, showing racial/ethnic differences: (1) life expectancy at birth; (2) infant mortality; (3) child death rates; (4) youth death rates; (5) deaths from pneumonia and influenza; (6) children's health status; (7) chronic health conditions; (8) child vaccinations; (9) median educational attainment; (10) child poverty; (11) median net worth of household; (12) children living in two-parent households; (13) families with three or more children; (14) unemployment among 20- to 24- year-old men; (15) substance use; (16) overweight adolescents; (17) sexual activity; (18) contraception use at first intercourse; and (19) gonorrhea. The report concludes by noting that remarkable success has been achieved in reducing infant and child mortality, and in eradicating or controlling major diseases and health conditions that could lead to death or disability. However, trends in risk-taking behaviors suggest that new approaches will be needed to reduce risk-taking and address racial and ethnic disparities. (KB)