101209: The Difficulty of Obtaining a Child Care Subsidy: Implications for Policy and Practice

About the Course:

Single mothers leaving welfare face a web of obstacles in accessing child care subsidies. This paper develops a model of child care selection and subsidy use among welfare leavers. Findings suggest that the level of trust between parents and child care providers and the availability of information about facilities were important decision-making criteria. Efforts to work with this population need to address their lack of information about subsidies to increase the range of child care alternatives and quality and also to promote trusting relationships between social workers and welfare leavers. Specific recommendations include combining ongoing case management with education about child care alternatives and subsidies. However, child care information services should be separated from subsidies to promote trust in relationships with clients. COURSE SYLLABUS I. High Rates of Return, Low Earnings, and Job Instability II. The Policy Implementations III. Methodology IV. Findings V. Discussion Tree Model VI. Conclusions and Implications

Journal/Publisher:

Families in Society

Publication Date:

2007/Vol. 88, No. 3

Author

Mona Basta, LSW, ABD

About the Authors:

Assistant Professor, Binghamton University

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for social workers, counselors, psychologists, and other human services and behavioral health professionals who seek knowledge about child care subsidies and working with single mothers leaving welfare. It is appropriate for participants with beginning and intermediate levels of knowledge about the topic.

Course Objectives:

1. 1. Provide current trends on child care subsidies and address the difficulties single mothers face when accessing these subsidies.

2. 2. Identify practice and policy implications to promote trust between social workers and welfare leavers in order to increase employment retention and access to high-quality child care for the client.