The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are clearly the foundation of a well-functioning and prosperous society, yet America's future is not as secure as it could be because millions of American children live in families with incomes below the poverty line. A wealth of evidence suggests that a lack of adequate economic resources for families with children compromises these children's ability to grow and achieve adult success, hurting them and the broader society. A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty reviews the research on linkages between child poverty and child well-being, and analyzes the poverty-reducing effects of major assistance programs directed at children and families. This report also provides policy and program recommendations for reducing the number of children living in poverty in the United States by half within 10 years.

Children living in poverty are more likely to have mental health problems, and their conditions are more likely to be severe. Of the approximately 1.3 million children who were recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits in 2013, about 50% were disabled primarily due to a mental disorder. An increase in the number of children who are recipients of SSI benefits due to mental disorders has been observed through several decades of the program beginning in 1985 and continuing through 2010. Nevertheless, less than 1% of children in the United States are recipients of SSI disability benefits for a mental disorder. At the request of the Social Security Administration, Mental Disorders and Disability Among Low-Income Children compares national trends in the number of children with mental disorders with the trends in the number of children receiving benefits from the SSI program, and describes the possible factors that may contribute to any differences between the two groups. This report provides an overview of the current status of the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, and the levels of impairment in the U.S. population under age 18. The report focuses on 6 mental disorders, chosen due to their prevalence and the severity of disability attributed to those disorders within the SSI disability program: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, learning disabilities, and mood disorders. While this report is not a comprehensive discussion of these disorders, Mental Disorders and Disability Among Low-Income Children provides the best currently available information regarding demographics, diagnosis, treatment, and expectations for the disorder time course - both the natural course and under treatment.

This paper presents evidence that earned income tax credits, financial work incentive programs, minimum wage standards, unemployment insurance, child care subsidies, housing assistance, public health insurance, and food stamps help working families to achieve economic security and benefit children.

Income Security and Public Assistance for Women and Children provides a progressive perspective on social, political, and economic inequalities in relation to women and children and their income security. Most of the contemporary discourse on income security and public assistance comes from people who have no awareness of what it means to live in poverty. This volume, in contrast, offers those who are in poverty an opportunity to present what they believe they need to have in order to become independent. It also provides pragmatic and politically viable options to ensure the income security of poor women and children, particularly on the federal level. Income Security and Public Assistance for Women and Children challenges prevailing conceptions--that government assistance creates dependency and exacerbates the position of poor women and children--of public assistance and social welfare in American society. You'll gain new perspectives on the “welfare reform” debate as you read informative chapters about: expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit for income security for children inter-state inequities in children's income security feminist methodology welfare mothers’identified needs for becoming economically self-sufficient family caregiving and public assistance health care and the poor poverty and child placement federal protection of vulnerable children possible negative impacts of potential legislative changes The goal of Income Security and Public Assistance for Women and Children is to bring to task the mean-spirited ideas that many politicians are espousing as “welfare reform.” You'll see how recent legislative developments make the situation even more desperate for many women and children who are barely above the poverty level as the book reviews the nature of recently enacted changes, such as block grants, and makes proposals for establishing a national income security program for children. Academics in the fields of sociology, social work, women's studies, and political science; policymakers in social agencies and public welfare organizations; and advocates for women and children will find this book gives invaluable insight and direction for ensuring income security and public assistance for women and children in the future.

Speech and language are central to the human experience; they are the vital means by which people convey and receive knowledge, thoughts, feelings, and other internal experiences. Acquisition of communication skills begins early in childhood and is foundational to the ability to gain access to culturally transmitted knowledge, organize and share thoughts and feelings, and participate in social interactions and relationships. Thus, speech disorders and language disorders-disruptions in communication development-can have wide-ranging and adverse impacts on the ability to communicate and also to acquire new knowledge and fully participate in society. Severe disruptions in speech or language acquisition have both direct and indirect consequences for child and adolescent development, not only in communication, but also in associated abilities such as reading and academic achievement that depend on speech and language skills. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for children provides financial assistance to children from low-income, resource-limited families who are determined to have conditions that meet the disability standard required under law. Between 2000 and 2010, there was an unprecedented rise in the number of applications and the number of children found to meet the disability criteria. The factors that contribute to these changes are a primary focus of this report. Speech and Language Disorders in Children provides an overview of the current status of the diagnosis and treatment of speech and language disorders and levels of impairment in the U.S. population under age 18. This study identifies past and current trends in the prevalence and persistence of speech disorders and language disorders for the general U.S. population under age 18 and compares those trends to trends in the SSI childhood disability population.