This workshop examines the nature and causes of disadvantage among children, ages 0-5, living in Newark, NJ. In order to understand current conditions in Newark, the first six weeks of the workshop focuses broadly on policies and programs designed to provide/enhance (1) income security, (2) early childhood education (3) health and nutrition, (4) safe housing, and (5) family stability. Each class covers the research that demonstrates the need for policy/programs in this particular area, best practices, and funding streams for programs. The second six weeks is spent putting together a report for Newark’s Mayor Cory Booker and Director of the Department of Child and Family Wellbeing, Maria Vizcarrondo.
This seminar has three objectives: (1) to provide students with an understanding of the basic principles of social science research, including measurement, sampling, and causal interpretation; (2) to familiarize students with the strengths and weaknesses of four different research designs, including experimental design, survey research, field methods (ethnography and in-depth interviews), and historical methods; and (3) to teach students how to write a research proposal, including how to formulate a researchable question, how to review and identify a gap in the existing literature, and how to describe a research design.
This course explores ways to judge the efficacy of policies and programs, to assess the benefits and costs of policy or program changes, to develop and implement research-based program improvement strategies, and to use program accountability systems for evaluation purposes. Students study a wide range of research tools, read and discuss a wide range of evaluation papers and reports, and complete an applied evaluation project.
This seminar examines the trends and outcomes of family formation, and marriage in particular. Students study how family structure impacts children’s wellbeing, the laws that govern family formation, and reforms proposed by policy makers that would impact marriage. This course is offered in conjunction with The Future of Children journal; as part of the course, students participate in a two-day conference in which authors, editors and outside discussants meet to shape the volume.
This course examines the nature and causes of poverty in the United States and other western industrialized countries. Topics include: measuring poverty, the emergence of the US welfare state, comparative welfare states, the role of family structure in reproducing poverty, racial disparities in the development of human capital, and the role of neighborhoods in reproducing poverty.
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 reversed federal involvement in welfare policy by eliminating America¿s primary cash assistance program for families with children and replacing it with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant. This law officially expired in 2002 and is now up for reauthorization. Proponents hail its success in reduced welfare rolls and increased employment. Critics point to increases in childhood poverty, and over-dependence on a low-wage job market. The class focuses on two themes: 1) barriers to employment, and 2) the development of effective work programs.
This seminar examines the causes and consequences of the increase in children’s obesity, as well as some policy solutions to this problem. Students examine the ways that different policy areas converge – education, parenting, community and industry regulation, and urban planning – in the attempt to find solutions to this problem. This course is offered in conjunction with The Future of Children journal; as part of the course, students participate in a two-day conference in which authors, editors and outside discussants meet to shape the volume. This seminar counts towards the Certificate in Health and Health Policy.
This seminar examines different ways that the federal government finances social welfare programs. Specifically, students study various financing models as demonstrated through the following programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant; the Child Support Enforcement program; the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG); the Social Services Block Grant (Title XX); and the federal Dependent Care Tax Credit. Each of these programs is financed differently – with components that range from pure block grant, to an entitlement/grant-in-aid structure, to a direct tax provision. In examining the financing structure and rules that accompany these programs, students learn the various ways that the federal government can fund social welfare programs, and the importance that the structure plays in implementing substantive policies.
In this course, we examined various policies that have been proposed by top thinkers in the field to decrease poverty in this country: increasing the safety net for those who are unable to work; increasing marriage and decreasing non-marital births; increasing earnings; offering work supports such as child care and health care; and improving education. This course was offered in conjunction with the Future of Children journal.