As part of our ongoing commitment–in partnership with The Urban Institute–to providing information and resources related to the goals of Stepping Stones, please find below summary of recent research on issues of economic security and financial independence for women and their families.

This research is summarized and compiled for The Women’s Foundation by Kerstin Gentsch of The Urban Institute, NeighborhoodInfo DC.

Financial Education and Wealth Creation News

The Effects of Welfare and IDA Program Rules on the Asset Holdings of Low-Income Families
By Signe-Mary McKernan, Caroline Ratcliffe, Yunju Nam
Urban Institute
September 2007

Examines the effects of a comprehensive set of 13 welfare, Food Stamp, individual development account (IDA), earned income tax credit (EITC), and minimum wage program rules on the asset holdings of low-education single mothers and families.  This report finds empirical evidence that more lenient asset limits in means-tested programs and more generous IDA program rules may have positive effects on asset holdings of low-education single mothers and families.

Main Findings:

• More generous unrestricted asset limits are not associated with increased liquid asset holdings for either low-education single mothers or families.
• More generous restricted account asset limits are associated with increased liquid asset holdings for low-education single mothers and families.
• More generous Food Stamp vehicle asset limits are associated with increased vehicle asset holdings for low-education single mothers.
• Expanded categorical eligibility in the Food Stamp Program is associated with increased vehicle asset holdings for low-education single mothers and families.
• More generous IDA program rules are associated with increased liquid asset holdings and net worth.
• A more generous state EITC amount is negatively associated with liquid asset holdings but the percentage of the state EITC that is refundable is positively associated with liquid asset holdings.
• A more generous state minimum wage for federally covered categories (i.e., covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act) is associated with increased liquid asset holdings, vehicle asset holdings, and net worth.

Abstract and introduction.
Full paper. 

Assessing Asset Data on Low-Income Households: Current Availability and Options for Improvement
By Caroline Ratcliffe, Henry Chen, Trina R. Williams-Shanks, Yunju Nam, Mark Schreiner, Min Zhan, Michael Sherraden
Urban Institute
September 2007

Identifies the most reliable and informative data sources for understanding low-income households’ assets and liabilities, details their limitations, and provides options for improving asset data sources and collection methods.
The four evaluation criteria—relevancy, representativeness, recurrence, and richness of correlates—serve as a framework for assessing how effectively various data sets can provide an understanding of low-income households’ assets and liabilities.  Of the data sets reviewed, only one receives the highest ranking under all four criteria—the PSID. With these high rankings, the PSID has the potential to provide reliable information on low-income households’ assets and liabilities and is identified as a “primary” data set.

Because our primary research question asks that we identify the most informative and reliable data sources for understanding low-income households’ assets and liabilities, any data set designated a “primary data set” should comprehensively measure assets and liabilities (relevance criterion) and be representative of the overall U.S. low-income population (representativeness criterion).

The only other data sets that receive top ratings in these two criteria are the SIPP and SCF. They perform well enough in the other two criteria to also be deemed “primary” data sets.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full report. 

Jobs and Business Ownership News

Low-Income Workers and Their Employers: Characteristics and Challenges
By Gregory Acs and Austin Nichols
Urban Institute
May 2007

Defines and documents the characteristics of low-wage workers and their employers.  This paper finds that about one in four workers, ages 18 to 61, earned less than $7.73 an hour in 2003. Low-wage workers who reside in low-income families with children are substantially less educated than the average worker, are concentrated in industries with low wages, and have limited prospects for wage growth. Many policies aimed at low-wage workers are not well-targeted at workers in low-income families with children, in part because only one in four low-wage workers reside in such families. Nevertheless, policies targeted at low-wage workers may have broad benefits, including improving the lot of low-income families with children.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Place Matters: Employers, Low-Income Workers, and Regional Economic Development
By Nancy M. Pindus, Brett Theodos, G. Thomas Kingsley
Urban Institute
May 2007

Summarizes factors determining locational decisions of businesses and workers, as well as local economic growth, and suggests how employer needs as well as opportunities for low-income workers might be served by successful policies in the areas of housing, transportation, education and workforce development.

In looking at economic development, employer choices, and opportunities for low wage workers through the lens of place, it is clear that the landscape is shifting and policies must adapt accordingly. Spatial mismatch is more than employers and businesses leaving the urban core and poor urban residents lacking transportation to new job centers. Now, some urban centers are revitalizing, the creative class is growing in cities, and some suburbs (especially older suburbs and some outer-ring suburbs) are increasingly diverse and beginning to experience some of the same challenges as cities. And, there is a growing body of evidence that, in a knowledge-based economy, equity and tolerance are good for business. There is a growing consensus that geography of opportunity has changed, and continues to change.

Opportunities for new initiatives:

• Housing policies that promote “workforce housing” and the deconcentration of poverty by considering the mix of the workforce and matching housing opportunities to that mix.
• Transportation and other infrastructure funding that supports integration of systems and reduces sprawl by concentrating development near rail and bus hubs (“smart growth”).
• Aligning workforce and education with economic development by addressing spatial mismatches between training opportunities and where people live and work; improving coordination between employers, workforce development intermediaries, and community colleges; and facilitating cross-firm career mobility within regional labor markets.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Building Skills and Promoting Job Advancement: The Promise of Employer-Focused Strategies
By Karin Martinson
Urban Institute
May 2007

Discusses what we know about employer-focused training, describes three employer-focused training models, and concludes with some key questions to address to assist in moving forward with this type of skill development strategy.  Three types of promising employer-focused job training:

• Incumbent worker training provided directly at the workplace through employers is a large-scale effort to involve employers in skill building.
• Sectoral training programs focus on providing training to a cluster of employers in one segment of the labor market.
• Career ladders: A subset of sectoral initiatives focuses on developing career pathways that lead to higher-paying jobs.

Main challenges:

• Many sectoral and career ladder initiatives require the involvement of multiple systems, including workforce development, community colleges, the business community, unions, and community groups. It can be difficult to gain the cooperation of all parties needed to enact the type of major changes required by many initiatives.
• Many employer-focused training programs require substantial resources to plan and implement effective initiatives.
• While strides forward have been made, it is a continuing challenge to develop training options that effectively reach low-income workers.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Meeting Responsibilities at Work and Home: Public and Private Supports
By Pamela Winston
Urban Institute
May 2007

Summarizes what we know about families’ access to supports, employers’ experiences, and public and employer efforts to expand them.

Paid parental/family leave:
Time for parents and infants to bond is vital to children’s positive development, and long hours in out-of-home care in early infancy pose risks for children’s development, especially in the low-quality settings to which low-income families often have access. The United States is one of only 5 of 173 nations surveyed for a global index that does not have public policies to provide paid time off for parents to care for and bond with a new infant. Further, while some employers and states provide paid parental leave, low-wage workers are least likely to have access to it.

Paid sick leave/paid time off:
Paid time off that can be used for workers’ short-term illnesses or those of their children, routine medical care, involvement in children’s school meetings or activities, or for other family or personal needs can play an important role in fostering family well-being. Almost half (48 percent) of American private-sector workers are estimated to lack any paid sick leave, amounting to over 54 million employees.

Workplace flexibility:
Flexibility for employees to change start or end times, take time out during work hours for emergencies, request shift changes or exemption from mandatory overtime, or otherwise adjust work hours for family obligations can also help parents fulfill their responsibilities to their employers and their families. 57 percent of workers indicated in 2002 they did not have access to traditional flextime.

Child care:
Access to affordable, consistent, and adequate-quality child care available during work hours can make an important difference to parents’ productivity and reliability on the job, and to children’s well-being. As a rule, the child care market does not provide a sufficient supply of affordable adequate-quality care, which can create particular challenges for low-income families. Public programs can provide financial and other support to many low-income families with low-wage workers, but typically many eligible people do not participate in them.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Maternity Leave in the United States: Paid Parental Leave is still not Standard, even among the Best U.S. Employers
By Vicky Lovell, Elizabeth O’Neill, Skylar Olsen
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
August 2007

Analyzes parental leave policies of Working Mother100 Best Companies.

• Nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of the best employers for working mothers provide four or fewer weeks of paid maternity leave, and half (52 percent) provide six weeks or less.
• Nearly half of the best companies fail to provide any paid leave for paternity or adoption.
• While more than one-quarter of companies (28 percent) provide nine or more weeks of paid maternity leave, many of the winners’ paid parental leave policies fall far short of families’ needs.
• No company provides more than six weeks of paid paternity leave and only 7 of the 100 best companies provide seven weeks or more of paid adoptive leave.

Press release.
Fact sheet. 

Implementation and Sustainability: Emerging Lessons from the Early High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGJTI) Grants
By John Trutko, Carolyn T. O’Brien, Pamela A. Holcomb, and Demetra Smith Nightingale
Urban Institute
April 2007

Summarizes lessons from the early grantees of a major national effort to encourage the development of market-driven strategies addressing business and industry’s workforce challenges.

The discussions revealed insight into four general, interrelated, implementation issues:

1. Establishing and maintaining partnerships

• Bringing the right partnerships together is critical to success.
• Successful collaboration requires regular discussions and agreement regarding respective roles and responsibilities of each organization and the specifics of how staff will collaborate and share information.
• The existence of the HGJTI grants helped partnering organizations to better understand the resources and capabilities of other organizations.
• Employer partnerships are especially important to ensure that the workforce challenges are accurately defined and the strategies selected meet the current and immediate needs of the sector.
• Projects operating across large areas, such as in rural locations, face special issues regarding partnerships.

2. Project start-up, development, and design

• Effective and timely implementation of projects aimed at addressing critical workforce needs depends greatly on recruiting and retaining staff with the necessary occupation-specific skills.
• Effective training programs should have a strong front-end assessment and recruitment and outreach procedures in place.

3. Targeting and reaching trainees

• Grantees found that when serving disadvantaged populations and dislocated workers it is important to incorporate supportive services.
• Recruiting and retaining participants is a major activity for training programs, and a particular challenge when targeting on widely varying populations.
• At the time grantees were contacted, most had reached or were close to reaching their capacity-building and training goals.

4. Management and meeting federal grant requirements

• It is important to begin to focus on post-grant sustainability well before grant funds are exhausted.
• DOL/ETA staff provided various types of technical assistance and guidance to HGJTI grantees, but many needed more federal grants management support.
• Grantees found that they needed a longer grant performance period.

Abstract and introduction.
Full paper. 

Child Care and Early Education News

Vouchers for Housing and Child Care: Common Challenges and Emerging Strategies
By Margery Austin Turner, Gina Adams, Monica Rohacek, Lauren Eyster
Urban Institute
August 2007

Highlights promising strategies for tackling challenges to housing and child care vouchers’ success.  Vouchers play an important role in federal efforts to help low-income families obtain both housing and child care. These programs constitute essential components of the promise of welfare reform to encourage and support work among low-income families. And both types of vouchers have the potential to enhance long-term outcomes for children.

Although federal housing and child care voucher programs differ in important respects, they also face common challenges. First, the success of both programs in helping families access high-quality services depends upon the supply of these services in the private market and the willingness of providers to accept voucher families. If acceptable rental housing units or child care slots are not available where families need them, vouchers are not effective. In addition, low-income families may face challenges in negotiating the private market, gathering information about available child care or housing options, or identifying providers that meet their needs and offer good quality. Finally, both housing and child care voucher programs have to balance requirements to avoid any overpayment of subsidies (either by serving ineligible families or by miscalculating the appropriate subsidy amount) with a mandate to support work and enhance well-being among low-income families.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Pre-Kindergarten to 3rd Grade (PK-3) School-based Resources and Third Grade Outcome
By Brett V. Brown and Kimber Bogard
ChildTrends
August 2007

Examines multiple PK-3 school based resources that tap into children’s experiences of early elementary grade learn to PK-3 school-based resources by key social groups of children defined by poverty status, parental education, and race/ethnicity.

While the majority of children had access to most positive PK-3 school influences, marked inequalities in access were still found. Unequal access to these school resources were observed by parental education and income level, as well as race and Hispanic origin. The most educationally at risk children (i.e., parents have less than a high school education, family income below the poverty level, Black non-Hispanic children) were the least likely groups of children to access high resource elementary schools. This finding clearly indicates that the quality of elementary schools must be considered when examining questions concerning achievement gaps by income and race/ethnicity.

Our preliminary multi-variate analyses point to some core school variables that predict academic and behavior skills necessary for future success and well-being. Of particular interest are the differential relationships between two clearly defined sets of PK- 3 school-based resources reported in kindergarten, and their relationships to academic and behavior outcomes in third grade. Reading and math scores were consistently predicted by strong principal leadership, high academic standards, and teachers collaboratively developing curricular materials. Teacher turnover, which can be considered indicative of instability within a school, was related to lower rates of self-control and school engagement among third grade children. These findings suggest that there may be PK-3 school-based resources that independently predict academic and behavioral outcomes. Though these results are preliminary, we believe they are the strongest research evidence yet that such factors each have influence over levels of school readiness in young children.

Full paper. 

Health and Safety News

Access to Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance among Low-Income Families: Who Has Access and Who Doesn’t?
By Lisa Clemans-Cope, Genevieve M. Kenney, Matthew Pantell, Cynthia Perry
Urban Institute
September 11, 2007

Examines access to employer-sponsored health insurance among low-income families.

• In 2003 and 2004, about one in two children in low-income families did not have access to ESI, despite having one or more employed adults in the family.
• Among low-income working families, families with lower levels of income, families with lower parental education, families where parents work in smaller establishments, and families in which no parent has union representation are all less likely to have access to ESI.
• Public insurance fills a substantial part of the gap in health insurance coverage left by lack of ESI access for children in low-income working families, but parents without an offer of ESI remain uninsured at high rates. In fact, among families without an ESI offer, children are twice as likely—and parents nearly three times as likely—to be uninsured than families with an offer.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance and the Low-Income Workforce: Limitations of the System and Strategies for Increasing Coverage
By Linda J. Blumberg
Urban Institute
May 2007

Outlines the problems with employer-sponsored insurance from the perspective of employers, specifically those employing low-income workers, and discusses potential strategies for addressing them.  Problems with employer-sponsored insurance from the perspective of employers:

• When employers competing for the same pool of workers tend to offer health insurance, then the pressure to offer such benefits increases for the other employers in that labor market. Likewise, in markets where ESI is not common, the pressure to offer it is significantly lessened.
• One of the more controversial and complex issues related to the employer decision to offer insurance is whether the incidence of employer premium contributions falls upon the employer or upon the worker. While the best empirical evidence available indicates that, at least in large part, employer payments are passed back to workers via reduced wages, most employers do not believe this is the case.
• Firms employing significant numbers of modest-wage workers will not be able to offer health insurance to their workers. This is because low-income workers will tend to prefer employment that provides additional wages as opposed to health insurance benefits to a significantly greater extent than will high-income workers.
• Another aspect of the price of health insurance to employers is labor turnover. The administrative costs associated with health plan enrollment and disenrollment are higher for employers with high-turnover workforces.

Policy options to address shortcomings of the system:

• Providing government subsidies for insurance coverage.
• Requiring all residents to obtain a minimum level of insurance: individual mandates.
• Requiring employers to participate in the financing of health insurance coverage for their workers: employer mandates.
• Approaches for controlling health care costs.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Other News and Research

The Feminization of Poverty
by Megan Thibos, Danielle Lavin-Loucks, and Marcus Martin
The J. McDonals Williams Institute
May 2007

Examines the evidence for the feminization of poverty and analyzes the factors that contribute to the phenomenon; provides a portrait of feminized poverty at national and local levels; examines the role of public policy in alleviating women’s poverty and proposes policies that could significantly reduce the magnitude of the feminization of poverty.

Two schools of thought on the reasons for the feminization of poverty:

The feminization of poverty exists because of significant changes in the family structure such that households headed by females are not only a larger proportion of households but also are disproportionately impacted by factors contributing to poverty compared with other types of households.

Structural changes in the economy have caused the displacement of many women into occupational sectors that are gender-specific, low-wage, and low-benefit employment opportunities—such as pinkcollar jobs. Moreover, the shift into a knowledge-based economy has meant that those females with the least educational attainment and the least work skills will be least likely to experience work opportunities that can effectively and permanently move them and their families out of poverty.

Our focus is on three broad public policy areas that can have a positive impact on moving female-headed households out of poverty and into the self-sufficiency:

1) Expanding educational opportunities
2) Livable wages
3) Equitable wages and occupational segregation

Full report.

Thanks and see you next month with more research from the Stepping Stones issue areas!

Inspired by Roxana’s post on women entrepreneurs and the study Trinity University conducted for The Women’s Foundation about how to support them, I couldn’t help but click when I came across an article in the Jacksonville Times-Union called "Women mean business: $18 billion worth."

The article cited a study that showed how women-owned businesses in northeast Florida had made an $18.8 billion impact on the local economy and created more than 200,000 jobs.

The study was done similarly to the way that Trinity had done theirs in our area, and revealed some of the same findings.  Including how women just feel that they can do better on their own, rather than working for someone else.

The article states, "For some reason, [women] think they can do better on their own than somewhere else," said Gwen Martin, managing director of research at the Center for Women’s Business Research. "From these numbers, I’d say they’re right."

It all got me thinking more about the local statistics about women-owned businesses, and the power of investing in women entrepreneurs–and in programs that build their skills and help them step out on their own.

Programs like those found in the directory of women’s small business development that Roxana created with her students.

It got me to thinking about the status of women-owned businesses in our area.  From the Center for Women’s Business Research I learned that as of 2006:

• In D.C.: There are an estimated 21,706 privately-held, 50% or more women-owned firms, generating $5.4 billion in sales and employing 20,667 people.  Between 1997 and 2006, the number of these firms in the District of Columbia increased by 52.3 percent and sales increased by 48.7 percent.
• In Virginia: There are an estimated 243,756 privately-held, 50% or more women-owned firms, generating more than $42 billion in sales and employing 320,198 people. These firms account for 40.2 percent of all privately-held firms in the state.
• In Maryland:  There are an estimated 210,751 privately-held, 50% or more women-owned firms, generating more than $32 billion in sales and employing 223,760 people. These firms account for 41.2 percent of all privately-held firms in the state.

Not too shabby, particularly when you consider the challenges that women face in developing a small business, and particularly low-income women like those featured in the Trinity study.  The challenges cited include access to start-up funding, credit issues, lack of business knowledge and training, time constraints, family commitments, health insurance and a fear of failure.

Given that, it would make sense then that one of the study’s most important questions would be why a woman, and particularly a single, low-income woman without another breadwinner in the home, would even attempt it. 

The study found the following answer, "…As minority low-income single mothers, they are more likely to have experienced difficulties and disadvantages in the labor market. Inadequate income, lack of opportunities to build wealth and assets, insecure jobs, little opportunity for advancement, poor working conditions, and conflicts with supervisors appeared to encourage these women to consider self-employment as a more desirable option than their existing wage employment…"

Trends that sound similar to those expressed in a recent DC Women’s Agenda post on the challenges facing women wage earners in Washington, D.C.

Then there are the Portrait Project’s findings that throughout our region, women earn less than their male counterparts with the same level of education, due largely to the fact that women are crowded into fields that offer lower wages and fewer benefits.  Nationally, for instance, 23 percent of women are in administrative support roles (compared to 5.4 percent of men) and 17 percent of women are in service jobs (compared to 11 percent of men).  When women do hold professional or managerial jobs, they earn from $12,000 to $16,000 less than their male counterparts.

So it may be that women are feeling that they can do better on their own because, by and large, they can–particularly for low-income women looking at jobs that don’t provide stability, security, insurance or paid leave.

The risk of starting a business may seem small in light of the potential reward of succeeding.

And given the statistics about women-owned businesses in our area, it certainly seems as though investing in their success has a similar risk/reward ratio and is highly likely to pay off. 
 
As the Times-Union article stated, "We can reduce that stress so they can get on with the rest of their lives, whatever their dreams might be."

Learn more about how our Stepping Stones initiative is helping women in our area fulfill their dreams–from owning their own business to advancing in a secure career.  And how you can get involved!

As a recent Stepping Stones Grantee Partner (I’m an associate professor at Trinity University in Washington, D.C.), I partnered with students in three of my courses over two semesters to develop, conduct, and analyze two community-based research projects to benefit D.C.-area women.

Trinity University takes seriously its role as a member of our community and one of the ways we work to fulfill our social justice mission is by partnering with other community-based organizations to identify and address our area’s needs.

Our community work takes a number of different forms both on and off campus. Not only do we encourage our students to volunteer, we require students to engage in course-based service projects that benefit our community while reinforcing and extending what they learn in class.

And, unusual for an undergraduate institution, we also provide opportunities for undergraduates to perform hands-on research—something which is usually limited to graduate students at larger universities.  These opportunities not only introduce them to sophisticated and rigorous concepts and methods, but allows them to use their own community as a laboratory and a lens, adding depth, dimension, and a grounding in reality to their college educations.

Our students learn “in the ivory tower” as well as “in the neighborhood.”

Our two community-based research projects had different, yet complimentary, focuses. In one course, my students and I conducted three focus groups bringing together low-income single mothers in the D.C. area to gauge their potential interest in starting their own small businesses.

Our key finding was that these women believed that they would never be able to get ahead as someone else’s employee.  They saw small business ownership as the only way they would ever be able to get ahead financially while balancing the competing (and often conflicting) needs of work and family. We compiled our research findings and analysis into a comprehensive report.

Our research explored both the opportunities and advantages women envisioned when considering self-employment, as well as the obstacles they perceived to be keeping them from making the leap from wage employment to micro entrepreneurship. One of the biggest obstacles our research participants identified was a lack of information about resources out there to help them plan—then actually launch—their businesses (primary need, start-up funding).

This finding neatly segued into our second, parallel research project: an online directory of D.C.-area micro enterprise assistance organizations, a project that we researched and compiled over two semesters.

My students and I developed a research instrument to find out specific information about each organization we studied. We compiled a list of local organizations to survey, and students tenaciously contacted these organizations, surveying them then analyzing survey results to judge whether they met our criteria for inclusion. The Association for Enterprise Opportunity’s member directory served as the foundation for this asset-mapping project.

We were able to build on the information they provided and we eventually identified 25 organizations in the Washington metropolitan area that provided micro loans, business training and technical assistance, and/or other relevant information and assistance that women in our community can use to make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality.

Roxana Moayedi is associate professor of sociology at Trinity University, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.

As The Women’s Foundation’s Stepping Stones Phase 2: Voice and Vision forums come to an end, many wonderful, enlightening thoughts on the future of Stepping Stones and women and girls in our region have been shared.

One thing I’ve observed about the forums as I’ve compiled the evaluation forms from many people–from different regions and communities–is that people from all over echo the same concerns and insights on issues related to what keeps women from succeeding economically and financially.

When you hear the concerns and worries at different points in time from different people, it helps to legitimize things and ensure you that they are, in fact, issues to address.

What are some of the discussion topics that continue to generate rich, interactive conversations?

Attendees always engage in a rich dialogue around the area of the targeted income range. The insights as to why we should consider lowering the floor from $15,000, or heighten the current bar from $35,000, are varied and you get to hear excellent different points of view of people from different walks of life. 

Our current geographic target population (Washington, D.C., Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, Maryland, and Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax Counties in Virginia) is another hot topic.

Thirdly, the role of advocacy in the Initiative remains a question widely debated. Should we increase advocacy efforts? What strategies could we engage in to do so?

So, why should you consider attending the last forum on December 1? Because if you don’t already know what Stepping Stones is and why it came about, this is a great chance to learn more!

Stepping Stones is so great because it takes a comprehensive look in the long-term at the economic and financial well being of women. You also get an opportunity to share your voice on some of the hotly debated issues such as the ones listed above.

The grants given from the Stepping Stones fund nonprofits directly impacting the community.  They are not grants to provide a handout; they are hand-ups.  These funds and the technical assistance that come along are literal stepping stones that assist women in reaching their full potential.

These forums are a relaxed environment.  It’s only two hours, and after you learn about Phase 1 of Stepping Stones you get a chance to share your input with staff and other community leaders on what Phase 2 might look like.

I’m glad that this series of regional forums was launched.  It exemplifies how much The Women’s Foundation values input from our own community.

We want to hear from you, because we are all agents of change.  We’ve had Grantee Partners, leaders of nonprofit organizations in our communities, governmental officials, and friends from the general public attend and learn and share a great deal.

It’s an inspiring process that we welcome you to be a part of.

Learn more about the final Voice and Vision Forum on December 1.

Today marks a huge day in women’s philanthropy—the official launch of the National Women Moving Millions campaign.

This campaign is the first time that women’s funds from around the world have come together—through the Women’s Funding Network—to raise more than $150 million for women’s funds around the world.  From women giving $1 million each.  In all, the campaign is designed to infuse women’s philanthropy with enough money to bring its totals to the $1 billion range.

But the campaign holds special meaning for me, since $1 million was my first significant gift to any organization, and it was a big step. My $1 million gift was an investment in Washington Area Women’s Foundation, and I sincerely believe that it changed me as much as it changed them.

Neither of us were very seasoned at the time, in 2004. They were a young organization still, and it was the first time they made a really big ask of a donor. And it was the first time I stepped up to really act upon my vision, on my true passion not only to give, but to really shift my community.

It felt bold, it felt daring, and it felt risky when I made my $1 million contribution to Stepping Stones, an initiative with a range of strategies to create self-sufficiency for women, especially single mothers.

A new initiative. An untested initiative.

I had no idea if it would work. I only knew that as a single mother who went to law school when it was tough for women to do so, it felt right to invest in other single mothers, women who may not have the resources I did.

Today I think back on that gift, and I remember my thinking when I made it. How I had just read Rambam’s Ladder by Julie Salamon and learned of the Eight Stages of Giving, or the rungs on the ladder.

Salamon provides a thoughtful exploration of each one of Rambam’s steps, from the lowest kind of charity-giving (begrudgingly), to the highest form–the gift of self-reliance, so that the recipient, through a loan or a job, will not have to ask for help again. 

The highest rung is all about charitable actions aimed at breaking the poverty cycle and enabling the poor to establish themselves as independent and productive members of society.

But many things were flying around in my head.  How much to give?  How do we know if our gifts are being used wisely?  Is it better to give anonymously? 

Rambam argued that giving at the highest level often requires that you don’t remain anonymous. So I made the decision to actually use my name.

This gift went far beyond writing a check. It was a way of seizing my own power, of taking responsibility for a significant decision and investment, and it required me to jump in, to learn, to become an incremental part of the success of this initiative.

Today, Stepping Stones is on fire. It’s changing lives every day, providing women with training and access to jobs, the opportunity to save money and buy their own homes. The women emerging from programs funded by Stepping Stones are changing the landscape of their own lives, and of our entire community.

When I sit and listen to the stories of women who have transformed their lives by entering fields in construction or law enforcement, fields they never thought they’d be capable of entering, I can’t help but see myself in their stories.

Because whether you’re a philanthropist or a single mom working towards a better future for your family, we are all changed when we do something outside of our comfort zones, bigger in scope than anything we’ve ever done before.

Women Moving Millions is so exciting for me not only because it’s a first, and it’s bigger than anything anyone has ever imaged for women’s philanthropy, but because I see such potential in the women who will emerge, many for the first time, to step up and invest their success, their wealth, their resources, their voice—with power, with certainty, with impact—in other women.

I know the adventure that awaits them, and I can see, just from my experience here in Washington with The Women’s Foundation and Stepping Stones, the rippling impact that this is going to have on our communities, on our country, on the world.

Women’s philanthropy—and the power it has to change lives and communities—is about to be lit on fire. And we’re all about to feel the warmth and light of it.

Dear Washington Area Women’s Foundation,

My name is Sharon Wise and I’m one of the students enrolled in the Female Property Management Certificate training at Southeastern University (a Stepping Stones Jobs Fund Grantee Partner).
 
I just wanted to let you know that everything is great!  I love my class and I am learning so much. I am in a communications class and the facilitators are so funny and smart.  I did not know there were so many ways to email, write letters and express oneself.

I thank you all 100 times over for allowing me to have an opportunity to be in this class!  My self esteem has increased because I feel I am part of something. 

I have not missed one class and I am excited on Tuesday, for I know Wednesday is coming. 

We had a quiz yesterday and I know I Aced it!  Hurray!

I want to share my experiences so that you all will know that someone is benefiting and learning.  I love this class!

This is an experience of a lifetime.

I just want to thank you all so much for just doing the work that you all do to make it possible for women like myself to go through this fabulous program, and I just look forward to being one of your success stories.

Sharon Wise is one of thousands of women throughout our region benefiting from the power of giving together. 

Join us for our 2007 Leadership Luncheon to meet some of these women, the Grantee Partners who are serving them and to learn how YOU can become a part of the Washington area’s most powerful wave of women’s philanthropy that is changing lives, and our community, every day.

As part of our ongoing commitment–in partnership with The Urban Institute–to providing information and resources related to the goals of Stepping Stones, please find below summary of recent research on issues of economic security and financial independence for women and their families.

This research is summarized and compiled for The Women’s Foundation by Kerstin Gentsch of The Urban Institute, NeighborhoodInfo DC.

Financial Education and Wealth Creation News

District of Columbia Housing Monitor: Spring 2007
By Peter A. Tatian
Urban Institute
June 28, 2007

Looks at the Washington, D.C., housing market, tracking home prices, real estate listings, new construction, and affordable housing; examines mortgage lending trends through 2005; and highlights the declining share of low income home buyers in neighborhoods throughout the city.

Key findings:

• Housing demand continues to slow; median third quarter sales prices for single-family homes and condominiums are down from one year earlier.
• Real estate listings of single-family homes and condominiums decreased between the third and fourth quarters of 2006, but the time houses spend on the market continued to increase.
• Prices show definite signs of declining or flattening in all wards except Wards 7 and 8.
• Home building slowed in the fourth quarter of 2006, and housing permits for the entire year were down for the first time since 2003.
• Denial rates for home purchase loan applications rose again in 2005; almost one quarter of all loan applications in Wards 7 and 8 were denied.
• Home buyers in Wards 5, 7, and 8 were more than 12 times more likely to take out a high interest rate loan than were buyers in Ward 3.
• The share of home purchase loans for second home and investment properties continues to increase.
• As housing prices have increased, the share of home purchasers who are very low income has dropped dramatically.

Abstract, introduction and key findings. 
Full issue.
 
How Have Asset Policies for Cash Welfare and Food Stamps Changed since the 1990s?
By Signe-Mary McKernan and William Margrabe
Urban Institute
July 2007

Examines allowance changes for restricted and unrestricted accounts at the federal and state level and tracks the different allowances for IDAs, food stamps, and welfare programs from 1992 to 2003.

Cash welfare and food stamps are means tested: assets and income must fall below set limits for families to qualify. While this ensures that benefits go to the neediest families, asset limits may also discourage asset building. States can exempt all assets (unrestricted assets), or they can exempt assets held for a specific purpose, such as education, a home, or a business (restricted assets); a car; or an individual development account (IDA).

Since 1992, states have increasingly supported IDAs and have allowed specific classes of assets. States allowing IDAs went from none in 1992 to 26 in 2003. Similarly, states exempting restricted assets in their welfare programs went from none in 1992 to 30 in 2003.

Prior to 2002, the Food Stamp Program provided no exemptions for restricted accounts. But the 2002 Farm Bill provides states the option of exempting restricted assets, if doing so aligns their food stamp policy with their welfare or Medicaid policies.

In 1992, federal policy for cash welfare allowed families to exempt $1,500 in vehicle value from the asset limit. By 2003, 29 states allowed exemption for at least one vehicle. Only 3 states exempted the entire value of a vehicle from Food Stamp eligibility during the late 1990s, but by 2003, 34 did.

The growth in allowances for restricted assets contrasts with the erosion in limits on assets not set aside for a particular purpose. Average TANF unrestricted asset limits rose in real terms from $1,138 in 1993 to $2,779 in 1998 but have since been eroded by inflation, falling to $2,592 in 2003. The Food Stamp asset limit has eroded in real terms from $2,398 in 1991 to $1,895 in 2003.

It remains unclear how much disregarding certain assets from eligibility determinations will affect decisions to save.

Text-only version.
Full paper.

Jobs and Business Ownership News

Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well?
By John Morton and Isabel Sawhill
The Brookings Institution
May 2007

Intends to provoke rigorous discussion about the role and strength of economic mobility in American society.

For more than two centuries, economic opportunity and the prospect of upward mobility have formed the bedrock upon which the American story has been anchored — inspiring people in distant lands to seek our shores and sustaining the unwavering optimism of Americans at home. From the hopes of the earliest settlers to the aspirations of today’s diverse population, the American Dream unites us in a common quest for individual and national success. But new data suggest that this once solid ground may well be shifting. This raises provocative questions about the continuing ability of all Americans to move up the economic ladder and calls into question whether the American economic meritocracy is still alive and well.

Summary.
Full report. 

Child Care and Early Education News

Early Care and Education for Children in Low-Income Families: Patterns of Use, Quality, and Potential Policy Implications
By Gina Adams, Kathryn Tout, and Martha Zaslow
Urban Institute
May 2007

Assesses the patterns of early care and education (ECE) utilization by low-income families, the implications for children’s development of the extent and quality of ECE participation, the evidence on the quality of ECE that low-income children receive, and the policy context that shapes ECE.

Key findings include:

• Patterns of early care and education differ for families with higher and lower incomes. Participation in early care and education settings is common for children from low income families.
• The use of particular early care and education arrangements reflects access to different arrangements as well as family preferences and constraints. 
• There is consistent evidence of a link between the quality of early care and education and children’s development. Recent studies find that the type of care and extent of care also are important for children’s development even after controlling for quality. 
• While we lack nationally representative data on child care quality, large-scale studies in differing geographical regions suggest that overall (setting aside the issue of family income), much of the care in the United States falls below a rating of “good” on widely used observational measures.
• We also lack a national picture of the quality of the market-based child care that children from low-income families receive.
• Studies indicate that the quality of program-based early care and education settings such as Head Start and state pre kindergarten differs by program type.
• Children from low-income families may be more likely to experience changes in early care and education arrangements.
• Public policies that affect the quality of early care and education tend to focus primarily on one of three goals—supporting parental work, supporting children’s development through access to early care and education programs with specific quality standards, or supporting the quality or supply of market-based settings.

Abstract, summary, and key findings.
For full report. 

Health and Safety News

Food Insecurity and Overweight among Infants and Toddlers: New Insights into a Troubling Linkage
By Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew, Martha Zaslow, Randolph Capps, and Allison Horowitz
Child Trends
July 2007

Examines data on food insecurity, defined as limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and links food insecurity with maternal depression, poor parenting, and—paradoxically—overweight toddlers.

• One in eight U.S. households with infants (12.5 percent) reports being “food insecure”.
• Among households with low-birthweight infants—infants born weighing less than 5.5 pounds—about one in seven (14.4 percent) is food insecure.
• Among poor households with infants, nearly three in 10 (28.9 percent) report food insecurity.
• Young children living in households with very low food security are 61 percent more likely to be overweight than are young children living in food-secure households.
• Mothers living in food-insecure households are significantly more likely to report symptoms of depression than are mothers living in food-secure households.
• Parents in food-insecure households have less positive interactions with their infant children, such as less responsiveness to infant distress and less behavior directed at fostering their babies’ social and emotional growth.

Press release.
Full brief. 

Survey Spotlight on Uninsured Parents: How a Lack of Coverage Affects Parents and Their Families
By Karyn Schwartz
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
June 2007

Spotlights how being uninsured affects not just a parent’s health, but also the well-being of the entire family.

Health insurance for low-income parents influences both their own health and access to care, as well as the well-being of their families. Without health insurance for parents, families are more likely to incur debt and cut back on other basic needs to pay for care. Uninsured parents face real health consequences when they delay care, and the entire family is affected when those delays cause a parent to remain ill or be unable to participate in daily activities.

Medicaid coverage for parents is limited, and many low-income parents are not eligible. Uninsured low-income parents who are working have very limited access to employer coverage, with about half working for firms with less than 25 employees and over 40% working in industries with the lowest rates of employer coverage. About 60% of uninsured low-income parents say that they are very concerned that they do not have enough savings to cover financial obligations. Without savings, they are unlikely to be able to pay for medical treatments out-of-pocket.

As documented earlier, when parents have insurance, children are more likely to be covered and have access to health care. Some states have taken steps to improve access to public coverage for parents recognizing the importance of making coverage available for the whole family.11 Children in homes where everyone has coverage also gain financial stability and other positive benefits when their parents are able to access care. As policy makers look to decrease the number of uninsured children, children’s health coverage may be more broadly and effectively addressed if their parents’ access to coverage and care is also improved.

Full brief.  

Other News and Research

Nonprofit Governance in the United States: Findings on Performance and Accountability from the First National Representative Study
By Francie Ostrower
June 25, 2007
Urban Institute

Presents survey findings from the first ever national representative survey of nonprofit governance.

• Discusses relationships between public policy and governance, factors that promote or impede boards’ performance of basic stewardship responsibilities, board composition and factors associated with board diversity, and recruitment processes, including the difficulty experienced by many nonprofits in finding members.
• Includes some data on the representation of women on nonprofit boards.
• Our representative sample of organizations results in a radically different picture of representation by women.
• Almost all nonprofit boards include women (94 percent) and as a whole they are almost equally balanced with respect to gender. On average, boards are composed of 46 percent women (the median is a close 44 percent).
• The percentage of women on boards, however, is inversely related to organizational size. The average percentage of women is 50 percent among nonprofits with expenses under $100,000, but drops to a low of 29 percent among the largest nonprofits (over $40 million in expenses).
• Conclusions about gender composition based on larger nonprofits will be quite different than those that include smaller ones. These findings are consistent with the contention that women are less likely to serve on boards of large and prestigious nonprofits.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

The coaches on The Biggest Loser might help people burn fat and shed pounds.  I do something similar, only I help them shave off unnecessary, unhealthy debt.

This year, I’ve coached 234 women through the rough work of shaving off a total of $115,050 in debt through my work at the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, Inc. (MHCDO), which is a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation’s Stepping Stones initiative. 

Stepping Stones brings together nonprofits–like MHCDO–with other organizations throughout our region to work collaboratively to build the economic security and financial independence of low-income, single mothers.

While providing job training is a huge part of this work, this has to be coupled with financial literacy to really be effective, so that women can learn how to manage the basics of bank accounts, budgeting, saving and all the pitfalls and benefits of credit.

A big part of that journey is often getting rid of debt and the limits it places on your life, opportunities and goals. 

This isn’t easy work.  Just like losing weight, it requires sacrifice, changing habits and a lot of hard work.  I help by providing the tools our clients need.   I provide the playbook and call the plays, but in the end, our clients are truly awesome, and they’re the ones who get the job done.

One client who did an amazing job with this work is Tracey Turner.  Her story of going from falling behind in rent to becoming a workforce development specialist working out of MCHDO’s office is on page 13 of The Women’s Foundation’s annual report.  As she tells her clients now, "I know what it’s like to be in the other chair.  I know about the sleepless nights. I know about the emotional breakdowns. I know what it’s like to go without a meal so your children have something to eat.”

She knows about the burden of carrying around excess debt. 

Now a coach in her own right, she works with me at MHCDO and knows the struggles, challenges and the power of transformation that emerge when women like her do the hard work of changing the game in their own lives! 

One client who embodies this change is a single parent divorcee that had accumulated excessive debt with her was-band (my slang term for former husband).  They had agreed as part of the divorce settlement that he would be responsible for a car repossession repayment of $8,250.

Needless to say, that repayment never occurred.

Through the credit and financial education offered by MHCDO through Stepping Stones, she found this debt showing up on her credit report.  She couldn’t locate the copy of the courthouse document confirming the agreement so I advised her to obtain another copy.

That certified copy was then forwarded to the Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit bureaus to update her credit report to show that the ex was totally responsible for the debt. Their responses in writing permanently removed the $8,250 delinquency from her credit file, thus allowing her to continue with her mortgage pre-qualification.  I asked her to keep me informed with the process so we can celebrate.

Another example is a Stepping Stones participant–a single parent divorcee–whose credit report showed a $6,800 car repossession because she had co-signed a loan for her brother who didn’t hold up his end of the bargain.  This debt just recently appeared. Had her brother been honest with her, she would have known sooner and she could have made a more conscious decision that would not have become a detriment to her credit. 

She lives at Mayfair Mansions, a joint partnership with MHCDO and other investors to help preserve affordable housing east of the Anacostia River in Wards 7 and 8 by converting targeted apartment buildings in this historic development into affordable condos and giving first rights of refusal to current qualified residents.

She felt it was hard enough having to juggle bills before becoming a Stepping Stones participant, and now she had to deal with this new burden of debt.  Under our advice, she got her brother to sign a notarized statement that he was solely responsible for the car payment, forwarded a payoff letter from the collection agency showing this and sent copies of it to all three credit bureaus.  This cleared the debt from her credit, and enabled her to successfully secure a credit union loan for the full amount to buy into her condo–a tremendous leap in financial security! 

These were just samplings of the 234 Stepping Stones participants that have been able to successfully reduce debt and improve their financial situation.  Most of them are still working on reducing their household debt and continuing to effectively manage their budgets to be able to make intelligent financial decisions in the future, thus developing self-sufficiency and goals towards wealth-building.

To become part of the power of giving together and to support the hard work of nonprofits like MHCDO and low-income, single mothers working to gain financial literacy, shed debt and become homeowners, join us!  We’re changing women’s lives, and our community, together.

Coach Geoffrey Tate is a certified credit counselor with Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, Inc., a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.

As part of our ongoing commitment–in partnership with The Urban Institute–to providing information and resources related to the goals of Stepping Stones, please find below summary of recent research on issues of economic security and financial independence for women and their families.

This research is summarized and compiled for The Women’s Foundation by Kerstin Gentsch of The Urban Institute, NeighborhoodInfo DC.

Financial Education and Wealth Creation

Some Thoughts About New and Old Asset-Promotion Policies
By Robert I. Lerman
Urban Institute
June 2007

Provides methodological guidance about how to best view and evaluate policies on helping people build assets.

Despite a plethora of proposals for helping people build assets, policy researchers have provided little methodological guidance about how best to view and evaluate these policies. This paper is an initial attempt to move in this direction, drawing on methods for assessing income-tested and social insurance programs and on analyses of public policies dealing with savings, investments, and risks. It examines whether and in what ways the traditional criteria of incentives, progressivity, and equity apply to an assessment of asset-building policies. Further, it discusses how to design an asset policy to deal with the potential social dislocations arising from gentrification.

For abstract and introduction.  
For full report. 

Eligibility for Child Tax Credit by Age of Child
By Leonard E. Burman and Laura Wheaton
Urban Institute
May 22, 2007

Examines child tax credit eligibility by age of child.

The child tax credit (CTC) is a $1,000 partially refundable federal income tax credit for each qualifying child under age 17. In 2007, tax filers may claim a refundable credit (over and above any tax liability) equal to 15 percent of the excess of earnings over $11,750, up to the $1,000 maximum per child. The earnings threshold means that families with very low incomes get no benefit from the credit, and others will receive only a partial credit. This brief analysis shows that many families with young children tend have lower incomes and are thus left out. In 2007, 30 percent of qualifying children under age 2 in working families had family incomes too low to benefit from the full credit, compared with 27 percent of children overall and 24 percent of children 10 and older.

For abstract and excerpt.  
For full report.   

Jobs and Business Ownership News

Reducing Poverty in Washington, D.C. and Rebuilding the Middle Class from Within
By Martha Ross and Brooke DeRenzis
The Brookings Institution
March 2007

Makes a set of recommendations for a workforce development strategy that will increase the skills, earnings, and employment of at least 10,500 low-income, low-skilled residents over the next seven years.

Washington D.C. has experienced job growth, increases in city revenues, and a development boom over the past several years, but too many residents are excluded from local and regional prosperity. Ensuring the District’s future as a vibrant, inclusive city depends on a commitment to increase the middle class from within. This paper from Brookings Greater Washington makes a set of focused recommendations for a workforce development strategy that will increase the skills, earnings, and employment of at least 10,500 low-income, low-skilled residents over the next seven years.

Workforce development, however, should be seen as part of a broader strategy to move the working poor into the middle class. Even with enhanced education and job placement services, many residents will continue to work in low-wage jobs. Polices and programs that support employment and create financial incentives to work can help residents in low-wage jobs make ends meet.

Additionally, an unstable housing situation can make it difficult to find and keep a job or participate in workforce programs. This paper proposes increasing assistance to alleviate the severe housing shortage experienced by the lowest-wage workers. To help working households stay in the city as their incomes increase, this paper also recommends developing workforce rental housing for middle-income families.

By helping more residents enter and advance in the workforce, the city can begin to steady its fiscal base while blurring economic, racial, and geographic divides.

For summary.  
For full report.  

An Economy that puts families first: Expanding the social contract to include family care
By Heidi Hartmann, Aariane Hegewisch, and Vicky Llovell
Economic Policy Institute
May 24, 2007

Focuses on the policy gaps that must be filled to make U.S. workplaces more family friendly.

A comprehensive family policy program is needed to make the U.S. economy more family friendly and to enable workers to combine work and family responsibilities more easily. Such a program is part of a new social contract that should spread the costs of family care beyond the immediate family and help redistribute the burden of care more equitably between men and women within the family. The comprehensive program laid out throughout this briefing paper is ambitious and complex. Here we offer our priorities for policy making in the United States during the next five to 10 years. We present these priorities using our framework of three types of policies: those that subsidize the cost of care; those that provide income replacement while workers are providing care; and those that lead employers to change their behavior and make the jobs they offer more family friendly. We select these priorities based on need and practicality. In virtually all cases workable models exist. Most are not especially expensive, costing less, for example, than the deductibility of mortgage interest costs on owner-occupied housing in the federal personal income tax system.

For full report.

Framework for a New Safety Net for Low-Income Working Families
By Olivia Golden, Pamela Winston, Gregory Acs, Ajay Chaudry
Urban Institute
June 2007

Conceptualizes a framework for a new safety net for low-income working families that is rooted in their most essential needs.

The report is organized around five key goals:

1. Enabling parents to meet their family’s needs while working in lower-wage jobs.
2. Helping families weather gaps in parental employment.
3. Supporting parents’ job advancement.
4. Helping parents combine work and child-rearing.
5. Improving children’s well-being and development.

The paper describes these families’ circumstances, discusses gaps in current safety-net programs, and explores possible alternative approaches to meeting families’ most pressing needs.

For abstract and introduction.  
For full report. 

Child Care and Early Education News

Making Pre-kindergarten Work for Low-income Working Families
By Rachel Schumacher, Katie Hamm, and Danielle Ewen
Center for Law and Social Policy
June 2007

Based on a review of the first in-depth national research on the 29 states that, as of 2004, allowed mixed delivery in their pre- kindergarten programs. The review focused on promising practices and ideas for improvement.

• Provides evidence that policymakers need to review their pre-kindergarten initiatives to ensure maximum access for children in working families, especially low income children.
• Describes some models states and localities are using to be responsive to low-income working families’ needs by delivering pre-kindergarten in community-based settings.
• Highlights key strategies to address the needs of low income working families and examines the extent to which state pre-kindergarten policies currently do so.

For full report.

Reforming the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
By Jeff Rohaly
Urban Institute
June 11, 2007

Examines the revenue and distributional implications of making the CDCTC fully refundable.

The child and dependent care tax credit (CDCTC) is a nonrefundable tax credit designed to help offset the expenses of providing care for children under the age of 13 or disabled dependents as long as a parent or caretaker is working or searching for work. In theory, a low-income family can qualify for a maximum $2,100 credit. The credit is not refundable, however, and families with low incomes generally owe little or no income tax. Thus, the theoretical maximum rarely applies in practice. This paper examines the revenue and distributional implications of making the CDCTC fully refundable.

For abstract and introduction. 
For full report.   

Early Head Start and Teen Parent Families: Partnerships for Success
Center for Law and Social Policy
June 2007

Examines the special needs of eligible low-income pregnant women and mothers with infants and toddlers, many of whom are teen parent families, and highlights promising Early Head Start programs.

Teen parent families may face increased risks for child abuse and neglect and for disabilities and developmental delays in children. Studies have shown that teen parent participation in EHS programs helps improve child development and parenting behavior and increases economic self-sufficiency and the family’s ability to access support services.

The report highlights the importance of increased collaboration between EHS programs and other systems serving teen parent families, especially child protective services and early intervention programs. EHS can collaborate with the child welfare system to prevent child abuse and neglect by teaching teenage parents appropriate parenting techniques, improving their knowledge of child development, and connecting them to support services. EHS programs can also identify children who may have disabilities and facilitate access to appropriate services.

The full report is based on discussion and findings from a 2-day meeting of EHS providers

For Department of Health & Human Services summary.
For full report.   

Men’s Pregnancy Intentions and Prenatal Behaviors: What They Mean for Fathers’ Involvement With Their Children
By Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew, Allison Horowitz, Elena Kennedy, and Kate Perper
Child Trends
June 2007

Presents information on what men report about their pregnancy intentions and their prenatal involvement, and examines the effects of these intentions and behaviors on men’s involvement with very young children following birth.

We found that although most resident fathers report that they wanted the pregnancy at the time or sooner, one in four reported that he did not want the pregnancy at all.

We also found that both fathers’ pregnancy intentions and their prenatal involvement differ by age and race/ethnicity. For example, teen fathers were the least likely to report that the pregnancy occurred at the right time and were the most likely to report that they had not wanted the pregnancy. Non-Hispanic black fathers and fathers of other ethnicities were more likely to report not wanting the pregnancy than were Hispanic or non-Hispanic white fathers. In addition, teen fathers and Hispanic fathers were less likely to demonstrate specific prenatal behaviors, compared with other fathers.

We also found that an unwanted pregnancy was associated with less warmth towards the infant but that a pregnancy that occurred later than the father wanted it to occur was associated with more nurturing behaviors.

Another important finding was that fathers who were more involved during pregnancy were also more likely to be involved in helping to rear the child in the first year of life. These fathers engaged in a higher level of cognitively stimulating activities with their very young children, showed more warmth and nurturing in their interactions with them, and provided more hands-on physical care.

For full report. 

Other News and Research

What is Evidence-Based Practice?
By Allison J. R. Metz, Rachele Espiritu, and Kristin A. Moore
Child Trends
June 2007

Part 1 in a Series on Fostering the Adoption of Evidence-Based Practices in
Out-Of-School Time Programs.

The lag between discovering effective practices and using them “on the ground” can be unnecessarily long, sometimes taking 15 to 20 years! The purpose of this brief is to provide practitioners with a better understanding of evidence-based practice, and to share resources that can help bridge the research-to practice gap and reduce the lag time between the identification and application of evidence-based practice. Forthcoming briefs in this series will provide additional information on key aspects of adopting evidence-based practices including replication, program fidelity, and specific implementation strategies.

For full brief.    

Last Friday, I attended Goodwill of Greater Washington’s Female Construction Employment Training Program’s graduation ceremony, because Goodwill is a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation. 

Since 2005, Goodwill has received funds from the Stepping Stones Jobs Fund that allow them to continue helping women in the Stepping Stones target population–women-headed families with annual incomes of $15,000 to $35,000, a working population still struggling to make ends meet because of the high cost of living in the region–strive towards success via attaining jobs that pay a living wage.

I’m so glad I had the opportunity to see the women graduate.  Their proud faces mirrored those of their families and the Goodwill employees and supporters who helped them through the program. There’s nothing as satisfying as seeing the tangible results coming from The Women’s Foundation’s grantmaking process.

The first few words that came to my mind during the ceremony: hope, pride, struggling, overcoming, nontraditional, and daring.

Many graduates gave brief stories when rising for their certificates, and reflected on how they came to the program with low confidence and doubt about how the program would work for them, but upon completion, were more confident, happy and armed with the hard and soft skills necessary for work (such as time management), and some even heartily exclaimed that they had landed jobs!

A big theme was confidence. 

Entering the construction program was more than just a way to land another job and paycheck for these women.  It started with a desire to be something.

One of the Goodwill employees gave a great rendition of Linda Rabbitt’s story.  Linda Rabbitt is the founder and CEO of Rand, the third largest female owned construction company in the world.  When Linda reentered the workforce as a secretary, her boss noticed her strong entrepreneurial spirit and urged her to start her own business.  And just look at Rand now. 

The women sitting in that room on Friday now have the potential to be a motivation like Rabbit.

I especially enjoyed one story by a Latina graduate, because it was also reflective of the gender stereotypes and sexism women challenge.  Her story set the light-hearted and down-to-earth vibe of the room with a comical (but serious) story about her adventure with Goodwill.  She had learned about the program when she spotted the word "free" while looking at advertisements in an unemployment office.  Upon calling, she was encouraged to come in.  With the the language barrier, she had a hard time finding Goodwill, but she made it there. 

But, when she found out it was for construction, she had some doubts. 

Even though over 1.1 million women in the U.S. work in construction at a steadily rising rate, it’s still more the exception than the rule to spot women toiling away in hardhats. 

Nevertheless, she joined the program despite her and her family’s skepticism. In her family (as in many others), the natural thought was that females belonged in the kitchen.  But, she persevered and showed her family that she did know a thing or two about construction, and is on her way to finding a construction job!

These women illustrated how women in construction isn’t just another job. 

It represents a challenge we are making to the status quo.  It is representative of our resilience, smarts and true ab