Welfare reform, family support, and child development: Perspectives from policy analysis and developmental psychopathology

This article explores the implications of recent welfare-related policy cha nge for the well-being of children in low-income families, and for research investigating child development processes and outcomes. It provides an ove rview of current welfare-related policies and explores the implications for developmental researchers. The article also synthesizes early findings fro m research, highlighting both overall impacts and the mon nuanced evidence that while families are transitioning off welfare, only a small number are transitioning out of poverty, and a subgroup of families at risk are not fa ring well. It then examines, from a theoretical and methodological framewor k, what developmental psychopathology might bring to the study of welfare-r elated impacts on children in the context of this complex and changing poli cy landscape, and what welfare researchers might bring to the field of deve lopmental psychopathology. The article concludes with broad recommendations for both research and policy.