Strengthening Families
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Featured Publications

Good Debt, Bad Debt, and Upward Mobility: An Analysis of San Antonio's West Side Families
2009
This report analyses the data collected by Making Connections-San Antonio about the debt, credit, and assets of low-income families living in the West Side of San Antonio, Texas. Based on the data, the Center for Public Policy Priorities recommends policies to increase savings rates and provide low-income, urban families in Texas access to short-term capital to meet unexpected needs while protecting them from usurious interest rates
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Community Change: Lessons Learned from Making Connections
2013
This report provides an overview of Making Connections, a major community development initiative led by the Casey Foundation. The report provides several big-picture lessons that can help inform community development work moving forward.
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Sharpening Leadership Skills to Improve Child Outcomes in Baltimore, Maryland
2011
This case study gives an example of how a results-based leadership program within the Baltimore City Department of Social Services helped leaders work more collaboratively and produce measurable results to improve the lives of children in their community.
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Building an Alliance around the Needs of Women and Girls
2008
A Des Moines-based group called the Women's Alliance has built an effective collaboration among nonprofits serving women and girls in this city. This publication tells the story of how this collaboration was built and what others can learn from this experience.
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Child Trends Fact Sheet: Neighborhood Support and Children’s Connectedness
2008
This fact sheets provides information as to whether children’s outcomes are better if they live in environments that are supportive in terms of family, peers, and community. Results indicate that children from supportive neighborhoods are more likely to have stronger connections compared to their counterparts from less supportive neighborhoods.
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Finding New Ways To Get Beyond Welfare
2007
A small group in Ames, Iowa, is exploring a very different approach to helping poor people, one that links people across income levels. The group’s founder, Lois Smidt, raises some provocative questions about how we try to reduce poverty and measure our success.
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