July - August 2000

Cover

This issue includes articles on Gatreaux and Chicago Publich Housing, Welfare-to-work, child support, Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 and youth access to health care.

 
  • Getting Credit Where Credit Is Due: Helping Welfare-to-Work Clients Address Credit-Reporting Issues

    Credit-reporting issues are particularly important for people making the transition from welfare to work because a negative report may be the reason why they are turned down for a job, an apartment, or credit. Advocates need to help their clients understand their rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Credit Repair Organization Act. Advocates also can be effective in using the protections in these statutes to help resolve problems with their clients' credit reports and ensure that the reports are used only for permissible purposes.

    By Deanna Kitamura and Deanne Loonin

  • Collecting Child Support: A History of Federal and State Initiatives

    Over the last 25 years, child-support administration and enforcement have become increasingly federalized. In order optimally to serve their clients, family law practitioners in all states should become familiar with federal programs and requirements that affect state management of child-support programs.

    By Naomi R. Cahn and Jane C. Murphy

  • Child-Support Issues for Parents Who Receive Means-Tested Public Assistance

    Establishing and enforcing child-support obligations is particularly complex when one or both parents receive means-tested public assistance. Critical issues for advocates to understand include whether public assistance is countable as "income," whether a court should impute income to a parent with no countable income, whether minimum support awards should be established, and whether support payments in forms other than cash are allowed. Additional issues are the policies to be considered when deviating from child-support guidelines and the approaches to adjusting awards based on visitation.

    By Paula Roberts

  • The Foster Care Independence Act and John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program: New Catalysts for Reform for Young People Aging Out of Foster Care

    Congress has redesigned the federal Independent Living Initiative funded under title IV of the Social Security Act. The Foster Care Independence Program provides new opportunities for state and local programs to support and assist young adults aging out of foster care.

    By MaryLee Allen and Robin Nixon

  • The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999: Enhancing Youth Access to Health Care

    Many young people leaving the foster care system at age 18 not only lack familial, financial and other support but also experience serious unmet physical and mental health needs. The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 gives states the option of expanding Medicaid coverage to these young adults. Advocates and states can take steps to ensure that the health-care-related provisions of the law are effectively implemented.

    By Abigail English and Kathi Grasso

  • Legal Resources on the Internet: Housing

    By Gwendelyn A. Daniels

  • Gautreaux and Chicago's Public Housing Crisis: The Conflict Between Achieving Integration and Providing Decent Housing for Very Low-Income African Americans

    Thirty years after the landmark Gautreaux public housing desegregation case, public housing in Chicago and across the nation remains overwhelmingly segregated. Amid an affordable-housing crisis, the debate rages over which of two important housing goals takes precedence: achieving integration or supplying decent housing for low-income African Americans even if it is in racially identifiable areas. Three lawsuits involving large-scale public housing developments in Chicago may raise doubt as to the efficacy of integration efforts as the best means for improving the quality of life for a substantial number of very low-income African American families.

    By William P. Wilen and Wendy L. Stasell