Marcia Nielsen, PhD, MPH, Dept of Health Policy and Management, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd, Mail Stop 3044, Kansas City, KS 64109, 913-588-1872, mnielsen@kumc.edu

One important omission of the 1996 welfare reform legislation was a federal mandate to lift all children out of poverty as a means to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and government assistance. Congress is scheduled to reauthorize the law this year and thus there is an opportunity for policymakers to strengthen provisions that focus on preventing long term welfare receipt. This session will: (1) explore whether early poor health and poverty predict later long term welfare use (more than five years of welfare receipt) among women in an urban African American community; and (2) make recommendations for improving US federal welfare policy.

Learning Objectives:

(
• To explore whether early poor health and poverty predict later long term welfare use (more than five years of welfare receipt) among women in an urban African American community; and (
• To make recommendations for improving US federal welfare policy.

Keywords: Welfare Reform, Women's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.