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Law Librarians of New England

a chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries

CyberCites
Poverty Law

U.S Department of Health and Human Services: Welcome to the Office of Family Assistance Homepage
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ofa/

The website for the federal welfare program, officially known as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), provides the law and policy guidelines for this program, including the annual report to Congress, information about related state programs and links to related federal programs.

The poverty guidelines established by the United States Department of Health and Human Services are used in determining eligibility for various federal need-based programs. This web page currently provides the guidelines for 1996-2003; current year information is posted annually in February or early March. Summary data is available back to 1982. These guidelines are formally referred to as “the poverty guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2).”

The Census Bureau definitions and data for poverty thresholds, used for statistical measures and reports, are presented here. Information from the Current Population Survey, Survey of Income and Program Participation, and the Decennial Census concerning poverty topics is available from this page.

The Center for Law and Social Policy conducts and publishes research on issues related to welfare, childcare and support, workforce issues, reproductive health, family and marriage policy, and civil legal assistance. CLASP reports are available from the website at no charge. Individual projects of CLASP are also detailed in the “Activities” section. This website has a distinct research/policy orientation.

The National Center on Poverty Law (NCPL) focuses its research and advocacy on issues of social and economic law and policy for low-income people. Highlights of the website include the Poverty Law Manual for the New Lawyer, available in both PDF and HTML formats; news on poverty law issues, including a 90 day archive, an email newsletter, and links to more sources; notification of important poverty law cases; and abstracts of Clearinghouse Review articles. Full-text of the cases and Clearinghouse Review articles is available to paid subscribers. Some subscription material is not clearly marked as being fee-based.