Empowering Families in Difficult Times

Abstract

The Women's Economic Stability Initiative developed and evaluated a new model to help low-income, single women with children make progress toward economic stability through vocational training/educational attainment (particularly in fields traditionally dominated by men), financial assistance for reliable childcare, transportation, and housing, and life coaching/case management using an empowerment approach. During the first 3 years of the initiative, participants made progress in attaining academic degrees, maintaining employment, experiencing modest increases in income, some success in building assets, and paying down/eliminating credit card debt. The initiative provided the support needed to help women gain greater stability for themselves and their children.

The Face of a Mother Deprived of Liberty

“…This period of emotional change is marked by the lack of reinsertion programs in the Chilean prison system. Furthermore, the experiences related by this study place an even greater urgency to create prison systems that encourage autonomy and empowerment of women, and such programs are mentioned recently by Scheuler, Diouf, Nevels, and Hughes (2014).…”

Exiting poverty: a systematic review of U.S. postsecondary education and job skills training programs in the post-welfare reform era

“…(3) support groups and community mentoring services (e.g., Women's Economic Stability Initiative) (Butler et al, 2004;Clymer et al, 2005;Fitzgerald, 2000;Maguire et al, 2010;Rademacher et al, 2001;Scheuler et al, 2014;Zeidenberg et al, 2010). Some programs, including the State Workforce Policy Initiative programs, used incentives to encourage program graduates to participate in these post-employment services (e.g., cash benefits for participation in post-program sessions, child care during workshops, time-off from work, and meals) or disincentives (e.g., benefit deductions for non-participation) (Clymer et al, 2005).…”

“…PaS offered financial aid for educational and other living expenses (e.g., child care, transportation, healthcare) for TANF-eligible parents enrolled in 2 or 4-year postsecondary programs (Deprez and Butler, 2001). Similarly, the Women's Economic Stability Initiative provided financial assistance for tuition, educational expenses, and other necessary living costs (e.g., housing, childcare, transportation, health care) for up to 5 years in addition to support services such as case management, financial counseling, and mentoring for women residing in the community (Scheuler et al, 2014). (Schochet et al, 2008).…”

“…The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/0144-333X.htm job prospects and poverty exit of individuals with low-income and employment barriers (Greenberg et al, 2000;Harris, 1993;Scheuler et al, 2014). The urgency to help individuals reskill for higher demand occupations in many Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries has increased since low-skilled, but family-sustaining jobs, such as in the manufacturing sector, continue to be lost (Carnevale et al, 2019;Greenstein, 2015;Manyika et al, 2017).…”

“…In the United States, HCD programs gained some traction at the federal-level during the 1970s and 1980s (Greenberg et al, 2000;Harris, 1993;Scheuler et al, 2014) (Bishop, 2004;Greenberg et al, 2000;Spatz, 1997). As a consequence, heavy reliance on basic cognitive education and short-term job readiness training did not lead to acquisition of a postsecondary degree or occupational certificate, resulting in negligible earnings gains, especially for welfare-to-work program participants (Bloom et al, 1997;Freedman et al, 2000;Hamilton et al, 2001;Michalopoulos and Schwartz, 2000).…”