Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Scholars Network

Policies that improve family self-sufficiency and stability are critical to helping families with young children succeed. The Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Network is a five-year initiative funded by the Office of Planning Research and Evaluation (OPRE)within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The scholar network supports the larger work of OPRE’s Family Self Sufficiency and Stability Research Consortium (FSSRC), which was established to improve the lives of low-income families and children by filling gaps in family self-sufficiency and stability research and data activities.

NCCP health and mental health director Yumiko Aratani is one of seven Family Self-Sufficiency Research scholars to form collaborations with state and local governments and undertake scientifically rigorous research in family self-sufficiency and stability that is highly relevant to social safety net programs. She is working closely with other FSSRC scholars and teams, including the Advancing Welfare & Family Self-Sufficiency Research Project (a.k.a. Project AWESOME) and the Family Self-Sufficiency Data Center.

During this five-year project, Dr. Aratani is analyzing data from the Illinois Department of Human Services to examine how state policy changes in child care subsidies affect child care stability among young children. The project is examining: (1) how policy changes (increases in family income eligibility, increases in provider payment rates, and unionization of home-based providers) affect continuity of child care subsidy receipt; (2) how such policy changes affect stability in child care arrangements; and (3) how such policy changes affect families with a history of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) receipt.  As an FSSRC scholar, Dr. Aratani also works with the District of Columbia Department of Human Services to analyze TANF administrative data and understand why some long-term TANF recipients in the District are less likely than others to meet work requirements.

Funded by the Office of Planning Research and Evaluation (OPRE), the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Project Staff
  • Yumiko Aratani, PhD, Principal Investigator
  • Yang Jiang, PhD, Collaborator
Contact

For more information about Examining the Impact of Rental Assistance Demonstration on Children Living in Public Housing Communities, please contact:

Yumiko Aratani, PhD
215 West 125th St, 3rd floor
New York, NY 10027
(646) 284-9642
aratani@nccp.org