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Policy Paper

Ending Barriers to Support: Five Arguments Against Work Requirements

May 2023

Safety net programs should ensure that everyone can get support when they need it, yet harsh and cumbersome work requirements put obstacles in the way of much-needed assistance. This brief shares five things everyone should know about work requirements.

Download the infographic featured in the brief.

(3 pp)

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Policy Paper

The Biden Administration’s Budget Recognizes Investments in Families Are Long Overdue: Now Let’s Get To Work

March 2023

In its annual budget released in March 2023, the Biden administration once again proposed critical investments in families, including restoring the Child Tax Credit, establishing a national paid family and medical leave program, and expanding access to high quality child care and early education. This fact sheet shares how the Biden administration's proposals reflect what Black, Indigenous, and Latinx parents and caregivers have told us that they need.

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Policy Paper

Policy Change to Promote Early Relational Health

July 2022

The early and foundational relationships that babies and toddlers experience with their parents shape the health and well-being of two generations. This brief highlights opportunities to promote early relational health with policy change and investments, including with existing programs, pandemic funding, and pending legislation in Congress.

(6 pp)

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Policy Paper

“We Don’t Have that in Mississippi”: How Temporary Expansions of the Child Tax Credit & Child Care Demonstrate the Importance of Federal Investments & Oversight

June 2022

This brief synthesizes findings from our research in Mississippi, where we interviewed and surveyed families who identified overwhelmingly as Black or African American, along with diverse child care providers and other stakeholders in the child care sector, to learn whether the Child Tax Credit and child care investments were advancing economic and racial equity and helping families.

(26 pp) 

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Policy Paper

The Child Care Paradox: How Child Care Providers Balance Paid and Un-Paid Caregiving

June 2022

Care work is some of the most important work in our society, supporting children, families, and individuals across their lifespans. But, despite the critical work child care providers do for families and society as a whole, their work is systematically undervalued. This brief reports the findings from our interviews and the recommendations from providers.

(15 pp)

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Policy Paper

What We Owe Young Adults Involved with Child Welfare: A Youth Thrive Policy Agenda

January 2022

We owe young people who age out of care the structure and supports that they need to thrive. To fulfill this obligation and to remove barriers to thriving, we need new investments to support these young people. This policy agenda highlights key opportunities to advance the health and well-being of young people who are involved with child welfare systems.

(8 pp)

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Policy Paper

The Lasting Legacy of Exclusion: How the Law that Brought Us Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Excluded Immigrant Families & Institutionalized Racism in our Social Support System

August 2021

In 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA) radically transformed our system of social supports. In addition to decimating cash assistance for families, the law’s immigrant exclusions exacerbated economic and racial inequities and harmed children and families in the 25 years since. This reportpublished jointly with the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality Economic Security and Opportunity Initiativeexamines the racist roots of PRWORA’s anti-immigrant exclusions and highlights the law’s role in institutionalizing and legitimizing anti-immigrant exclusion in a range of public benefits and tax credits.

(32 pp)

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Policy Paper

The American Rescue Plan’s Child Tax Credit: Advancing Equity and Laying the Foundation for a Child Allowance

March 2021

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 includes a historic one-year expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), providing much-needed support to families with children. This brief provides an overview of the benefits as well as steps the Biden-Harris Administration and Congress must take to ensure that this expanded benefit reaches the children who need it most, including children in Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and immigrant communities.

(7 pp)

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Policy Paper

A Critical Resource at Risk: Supporting Kinship Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

May 2020

As the current pandemic upends daily lives, among the families suffering the most are kinship caregivers. This brief explores kinship care and how this critical resource is at risk now and in the future.

(10 pp)

Policy Paper

COVID-19: Our Response Must Protect the Health and Well-Being of All Children, Youth, and Families

March 2020

As the United States responds to the public health emergency and the looming economic crisis stemming from COVID-19, there has not been enough attention to the needs of children, youth, and families who are likely to suffer most during this crisis.

Read a statement from CSSP President Judith Meltzer on COVID-19.

(2pp)

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