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Article Archives - Faces of Change - Welfare Reform Directory
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All documents on this page derive from the national research project Faces of Change: Welfare Reform in America, Phase I and Phase II.

Table Of Contents

I.	Research
	A. Data & Methodology
	B. Articles
	C. Books
	D. Presentations
	E. Theses and Dissertations
II.	Policy
III.	Media
IV.	Alerts and Advocacy
V	Other Resources

 

 

 

 

 

I. Research [top]

A. Data & Methodology [top]

• View Faces of Change database of stories
  Browse through the 415 stories collected during Phase I (218 stories) and Phase II (197 stories) by state or search the exclusive story archive.
   
• Faces of Change
  Access methodology, story collection instructions, consent form, staff memo template.

B. Articles [top]

• “It’s something you learn to live with after a while”: The Reciprocal Nature of Child and Parental Well-being in Welfare-involved Families [.PDF] 2006

  • Explores the impact of family instability, housing conditions, and maternal employment on the mental health and physical health of poor children, based on narratives collected for Faces of Change Phase II. Discusses child risk factors and the steps low-income parents take to improve the well-being of their children.
     

• The Welfare Paradox: Decision Making and Economic Strategies in Welfare-involved Households [.PDF] 2007

  • Based on formal analysis of stories from Phase II of the Faces of Change project, this paper explores rationality in the strategies employed by welfare involved households to manage their chronic shortage of cash. It introduces partialization and resource determinacy as explanatory concepts.
     

• Community Service Society Welfare Reauthorization Position Paper The Choice Before Congress on Welfare Reauthorization: Real Jobs or Make Work?, April 2002
   

• Two Profiles of Poverty Under Welfare Reform, December 2000
   
• Forcing Welfare Recipients to Apply Informal Social Resources in their Transition to Work:  A Policy of Self-sufficiency or Indifference?, November 2000

C. Books [top]

• Faces of Change Analysis: Welfare Policy Through the Lens of Personal Experience, May 2002
  Read Chapter 1 Ends That Don't Meet: Employment Under Welfare Reform [.PDF]
  Purchase copy of book online
  
  In 1999 the Alliance for Children and Families launched Faces of Change: Welfare Reform in America in collaboration with the Community Service Society of New York. The study collected over 200 first-hand accounts of current and former welfare recipients affected by welfare reform. The policy analysis that is set forth in Faces of Change Analysis: Welfare Policy Through the Lens of Personal Experience is based on our study of those stories. The full analysis includes chapters on employment, job training, child care, health care, transportation, and public benefits.
   
• Faces of Change: Personal Experiences of Welfare Reform, April 2001
  Read Introduction
  Purchase copy of book online

The first phase of the research gathered 218 stories from citizens in 20 states and the District of Columbia.  100 of these personal accounts were published in April 2001 as Faces of Change: Personal Experiences of Welfare Reform in America.  Their narratives reveal the impact of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 on the lives of low-income individuals and their families.

• Strength in Adversity: The Resourcefulness of American Families in Need, September 1997
  Purchase copy of book online

  This book presents findings and interpretation of Family Service America's 1997 National Survey of the American Family, which sampled 10,000 American consumers across 26 states and the District of Columbia.  Noteworthy in the analysis is a comparison of welfare recipients with non-recipients in terms of their demographics, social and personal issues, services received, and their social assets (Chapter 7).  Welfare recipients, it turns out, make more intensive use of their social networks than non-recipients, but get less help from these assets despite their efforts.

D. Presentations [top]
[PowerPoint - please hit arrow keys to advance presentation]

• Adaptivity in the Housing Strategies of Welfare-Involved Households [.PPT] (2005)
   

• The Use of Social Networks by Welfare-involved Households [.PPT] (2004)
   

• Faces of Change in Tennessee: Results from an Intensive Service Program [.PPT] (2003)

E. Theses and Dissertations [top]

• Rethinking Self-Sufficiency Through the Shared Housing Experience: Shared Housing Among Low-Income Families [.PDF] 2006
  • Explores the shared housing experience from the perspective of those who live it, based on the stories from Phase II of the Faces of Change project. (Master’s thesis, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison.)
     
• Foucault, Rogerian Argument, and Feminist Standpoint Theory: Intersecting Discourses Concerning Welfare Reform During the 1990s  [.PDF] December 2004
  • Examines the rhetoric of social welfare and poverty, focusing on women’s lived experiences as revealed through their discourse and by analyzing the discourses of politicians and newspaper media from the 1990s. Analysis is based partly on 10 narratives from Phase II of Faces of Change. (Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Rhetoric, Texas Woman’s University).
     

• Faces of Child Care: The use of Informal Social Networks Among Low-Income Families [.PDF] May 2001

  • Examines the use of informal social networks to obtain child care based on analysis of narratives from Phase I of the Faces of Change project. Develops policy recommendations based on the findings. (Bachelor’s Honors Thesis, Departments of Sociology and Government, Skidmore College)

II. Policy [top]

• July 3, 2002 The Senate Finance Committee Bill Represents Progress 
  Positive provisions in the bill include: work, education and training, immigrants, improving child well-being, and supporting low-wage workers.

• June 7, 2002 Four women who contributed their stories to the Faces of Change research project spoke at a joint briefing hosted by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) to share their personal viewpoints and experiences navigating the welfare system. The briefing was attended by over 100 policymakers, Congressional staffers, and welfare advocates.

• April Showered with Welfare Reform Hearings
  April 25, 2002 Congress returned from its Easter recess on April 9 and wasted no time before having three hearings on welfare reauthorization. The first hearing, held on the very day recess ended, was by the House Education and Workforce Committee on "Working Toward Independence: the Administration’s Plan to Build upon the Successes of Welfare Reform." 

• Response to administration proposal on TANF reauthorization
  April 10, 2002 This response is informed primarily by the Faces of Change study, research the Alliance has undertaken since 1999 on the impact of welfare reform. In addition to responding to specific proposals, we offer a set of additional recommendations where needed that are relevant to topics raised in the proposal.
   
• Testimony to House Ways and Means Committee on TANF Reauthorization
  April 5, 2002 The Alliance submitted on April 5, 2002 to the House Education and Workforce Committee chair, Representative John Boehner prior to his committee's hearing on the Administration's proposal for welfare reform.  Please feel free to personalize this letter for members of your congressional delegation. 
   
•  Legislative tracking of TANF reauthorization bills (Spring 2002)
   
• Alliance Recommendations for TANF Reauthorization
   
• Issue Briefs on Welfare Reform, April 2001

• Overview [.PDF]
• Work [.PDF]
• Work Supports [.PDF]
• Child Care [.PDF]
• Health Care [.PDF]
• Transportation [.PDF]

III. Media materials [top]

The following news and media releases regarding Faces of Change research are available and viewable in the PDF format:

• Faces of Change: Background [.PDF]
   

• Faces of Change: Media Alert [.PDF]
   

• Faces of Change: Press Release [.PDF]

March 12, 2002: The Alliance for Children and Families supports proposed welfare law provisions to create self-sufficient, stable families, but cautions about potential intrusions into the lives of people who are told marriage is a solution to their woes.

March 5, 2002: The Alliance for Children and Families responded to a recent Sentencing Project report, where more than 40 states enforce some degree of lifetime welfare ban on impoverished mothers convicted of drug offenses.  

February 27, 2002: While welfare reform has dramatically reduced the number of people receiving public assistance, real improvements to the welfare system will not happen until America shifts focus from caseload reduction to poverty reduction. 

IV. Alerts and Advocacy [top]

• Read the Message Points on welfare reform and send a Letter [.DOC] to urge your Representative and Senators to uphold our recommendations on TANF Reauthorization.  

• A Welfare alert to all members and a sample letter to governors asking them to support Alliance welfare recommendations.

• Welfare Advocacy Tips and Model Op-Ed
  The Alliance needs YOU to make contact and keep in touch with your state and local newspapers and media outlets, allies and coalition partners, your mayors, state legislators, governors, senators and representatives, and any and all members of the Bush Administration that you meet or work with.
  Read about Advocacy Tips and view a model Op-Ed piece.

V. Other Resources [top]

• Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)

Full text (251 pages) available from the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO)
download here [.PDF] (897kb)

• Welfare Reform Links
   

(c) Alliance for Children and Families: www.alliance1.org