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Homelessness: Targeted Federal Programs and Recent Legislation

Description: This report describes existing federal programs that provide targeted assistance to homeless individuals and families, and discusses federal efforts to end homelessness. It also contains tables that outline funding levels for various related programs.
Date: February 3, 2014
Creator: Perl, Libby; Bagalman, Erin; Fernandes-Alcantara, Adrienne L.; Heisler, Elayne J.; McCallion, Gail; McCarthy, Francis X. et al.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Overview of Federal Housing Assistance Programs and Policy

Description: This report provides an overview of the history and evolution of federal housing assistance policy, a description of today's major federal housing assistance programs, and a discussion of issues and trends in federal housing assistance policy.
Date: April 15, 2014
Creator: McCarty, Maggie; Perl, Libby & Jones, Katie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): An Overview

Description: This report discusses the earned income tax credit (EITC), established in the tax code in 1975, which offers cash aid to working parents with relatively low incomes who care for dependent children.
Date: April 3, 2014
Creator: Scott, Christine & Crandall-Hollick, Margot L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Community Services Block Grants (CSBG): Background and Funding

Description: This report looks at the purpose and background of Community Services Block Grants (CSBG), which provide federal funds to states, territories, and tribes for distribution to local agencies to support a wide range of community-based activities to reduce poverty. It includes program data, funding activity for fiscal years 2013 and 2014, and proposals for FY2015.
Date: April 1, 2014
Creator: Spar, Karen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Spectrum Policy: Provisions in the 2012 Spectrum Act

Description: This report discusses the Spectrum Act, a provision of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. It includes an overview of the Spectrum Act, the specific policy revisions (deficit reduction, directed auctions, incentive auctions, federal spectrum use and reallocation, and unlicensed spectrum) and a conclusion discussing geographic coverage of spectrum licenses, spectrum caps, and planning for future needs.
Date: May 22, 2014
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Low-Income Assistance Programs: Trends in Federal Spending

Description: This report examines the spending trends of 10 major need-tested benefit programs or groups of programs: (1) health care from Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP); (2) the refundable portion of the health insurance tax credit enacted in the 2010 health care reform law; (3) the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); (4) assisted housing; (5) financial assistance for post-secondary students (Pell Grants); (6) compensatory education grants to school districts; (7)… more
Date: May 7, 2014
Creator: Falk, Gene
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The LIHEAP Formula

Description: This report discusses two types of formulas used to allocate funding to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) through regular and contingency funding.
Date: May 21, 2014
Creator: Perl, Libby
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Poverty: Major Themes in Past Debates and Current Proposals

Description: This report begins with an overview of trends affecting both the incidence of poverty and characteristics of the population, and highlights changing perceptions of the poor and causes of poverty. The report then provides a short history of key federal policies enacted over the past century to address poverty. To provide a framework for analyzing current and future proposals, the report then presents several overarching themes that have recurred in poverty policy debates over the course of this … more
Date: September 18, 2014
Creator: Falk, Gene & Spar, Karen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Spectrum Policy: Provisions in the 2012 Spectrum Act

Description: This report discusses the Spectrum Act, a provision of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. It includes an overview of the Spectrum Act, the specific policy revisions (deficit reduction, directed auctions, incentive auctions, federal spectrum use and reallocation, and unlicensed spectrum) and a conclusion discussing geographic coverage of spectrum licenses, spectrum caps, and planning for future needs.
Date: August 7, 2014
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Support Enforcement: Program Basics

Description: This report discusses the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program that was enacted in 1975 as a federal-state program (Title IV-D of the Social Security Act) to help strengthen families by securing financial support for children from their noncustodial parent on a consistent and continuing basis and by helping some families to remain self-sufficient and off public assistance by providing the requisite CSE services.
Date: January 27, 2014
Creator: Solomon-Fears, Carmen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding

Description: This report begins with a review of federal appropriations activity in FY2014 as it relates to child welfare programs, including the effect of the automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration. The report provides a short description of each federal child welfare program, including its purpose and recent (FY2012-FY2014) funding levels.
Date: July 16, 2014
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: A Primer on TANF Financing and Federal Requirements

Description: This report provides an overview of TANF financing and rules for state programs, describing federal TANF grants and state funds under a "maintenance-of-effort" (MOE) requirement; how states may use federal TANF and state MOE funds to help achieve the purpose and goals of the TANF block grant; rules that apply to states when they use TANF or MOE funds to provide cash welfare to needy families with children; rules that apply to states when they use TANF or MOE funds for benefits and services othe… more
Date: January 27, 2014
Creator: Falk, Gene
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: Responses to Frequently Asked Questions

Description: This report provides responses to frequently asked questions about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. It is intended to serve as a quick reference to provide easy access to information and data. This report does not provide information on TANF program rules.
Date: September 23, 2014
Creator: Falk, Gene
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Public Assistance: Policy Overview and Trends

Description: This report discusses the extent to which residents of the United States who are not U.S. citizens should be eligible for federally-funded public aid. This issue meets at the intersection of two major policy areas: immigration policy and welfare policy. This report deals with the four major federal means-tested benefit programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TAN… more
Date: September 24, 2014
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): Eligibility and Benefit Amounts in State TANF Cash Assistance Programs

Description: This report describes state the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) financial eligibility rules and maximum benefit amounts. The report discusses cash assistance benefit amounts for needy families that are not automatically adjusted for inflation by the states, and have lost considerable value in terms of their purchasing power over time.
Date: July 22, 2014
Creator: Falk, Gene
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Spectrum Policy: Provisions in the 2012 Spectrum Act

Description: This report discusses the Spectrum Act, a provision of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. It includes an overview of the Spectrum Act, the specific policy revisions (deficit reduction, directed auctions, incentive auctions, federal spectrum use and reallocation, and unlicensed spectrum) and a conclusion discussing geographic coverage of spectrum licenses, spectrum caps, and planning for future needs.
Date: March 12, 2014
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding

Description: This report begins with a review of federal appropriations activity in FY2014 as it relates to child welfare programs, including the effect of the automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration. The bulk of the report provides a short description of each federal child welfare program, including its purpose and recent (FY2012-FY2014) funding levels.
Date: September 16, 2014
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Welfare: Profiles of Current and Former Older Foster Youth Based on the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD)

Description: This report provides summary and detailed data about current and former foster youth, as reported by states to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) via the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD).
Date: October 6, 2014
Creator: Fernandes-Alcantara, Adrienne L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Veterans and Homelessness

Description: The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan brought renewed attention to the needs of veterans, including the needs of homeless veterans. Researchers have found both male and female veterans to be overrepresented in the homeless population, and, as the number of veterans increased due to these conflicts, there was concern that the number of homeless veterans could rise commensurately. This report discusses the various aspects of this issue.
Date: November 13, 2014
Creator: Perl, Libby
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Welfare, Work, and Poverty Status of Female- Headed Families with Children: 1987-2013

Description: The report focuses on welfare dependency and work engagement among single mothers, a major dynamic that welfare reform and accompanying policy changes have attempted to affect. It also examines the role of programs other than Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in providing support to single female-headed families with children.
Date: November 21, 2014
Creator: Gabe, Thomas
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Welfare and Child Support: The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183)

Description: This report begins with an overview and topical summary of the provisions of the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (H.R. 4980), which seeks to ensure that child welfare agencies are responsive to particular issues for children and youth in foster care or those who otherwise have contact with the child welfare system. The report follows this with a review of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost estimate for H.R. 4980 and the legislative origins of the enacted bill.
Date: October 16, 2014
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie; Fernandes-Alcantara, Adrienne L. & Solomon-Fears, Carmen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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