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"Epigenesis" is the biochemical process through which some genes are expressed and others remain silent, and it reinforces and explains the powerful impact that the environment has on human development. Epigenetic effects occur not only through diet, chemical exposure, and high levels of environmental stress, but also through chronic poverty and racism. Epigenesis provides a mandate for social workers to intervene at the policy level, both for today's children and for those in future generations.

As the United States' economy continues to experience challenges, more families at or near the poverty level fall prey to predatory financial practices. Their vulnerability to these operations is increased by a lack of knowledge of asset-building resources and alternative financial services. This article focuses on Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)--a free income tax preparation program, which is a vital resource available to low-income families. Unfortunately, VITA is largely underused and often unknown to economically strained families and to the social workers and other professionals to whom these families turn for assistance. This article concludes with policy and practice implications for social workers and other professionals engaged in providing services to financially vulnerable families.

Native Hawaiians constitute 401,000 or 0.1 percent of the total U.S. population, with approximately 60 percent residing in the state of Hawai'i. In Hawai'i, Native Hawaiian elders ("na kupuna") face a number of social and health disparities when compared with their non-Native Hawaiian counterparts: higher rates of poverty, greater disability rates, higher rates of specific life-threatening diseases, shorter life expectancies, and lower utilization rates of some services. Integrating life course literature and resiliency theory, the authors propose a model that provides a context from which to analyze and understand social and health disparities found among older Native Hawaiians. The authors introduce a historical timeline that identifies key cultural and historical markers in the lives of "na kupuna" and then link this timeline to health and social-health delivery strategies. This model offers a rationale for the development and implementation of culturally based solutions for "na kupuna" and underscores the need for social workers to intervene at the micro, meso, and macro levels to affect the well-being for this and other ethnic populations.

Mexican Americans have as much as a six-times greater risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) than non-Hispanic white Americans, and women show a faster rate of decline in diabetic renal functioning. The leading treatment for ESRD is hemodialysis, an intensive, complex treatment regimen associated with high levels of patient nonadherence. Previous studies of patient adherence have adopted a biomedical, practitioner-oriented approach focused on performance of fixed behaviors and ignoring contextual and motivational factors. The author describes a social constructivist approach to understanding how female Mexican American dialysis patients experience their disease, the treatment regimen, and the consequences of that experience. Mexican American women's perceptions and psychosocial factors were examined to understand what these women viewed as important to their realities as dialysis patients. Poverty, longer treatment history, and immigrant status emerged as factors that appeared to influence treatment nonadherence. Perceived identity losses, heightened awareness of mortality, and family dysfunction emerged as themes that participants viewed as preeminent in their day-to-day lives. A social constructivist perspective is highly compatible with social work principles of person-in-environment and starting where the client is. This perspective provides a valuable framework for informing social work practice with this special population of Mexican American dialysis patients.

The disproportionate number of racial and ethnic minority children in the child welfare system concerns many child welfare professionals. Few studies have investigated how neighborhood processes may contribute to this disparity. This study examined how neighborhood characteristics are associated with rates of child maltreatment for black, Hispanic, and white children. Spatial regression procedures were used to analyze data from 940 census tracts in California. For black children, higher rates of poverty and higher densities of off-premise alcohol outlets were positively associated with maltreatment rates, but increases in population since 1990, a higher percentage of residents who had moved, and a higher percentage of black residents were associated with lower rates. Percentage of female-headed families, poverty, and unemployment were positively related to maltreatment rates among Hispanic children. For white children, the percentage of elderly people, percentage of poverty, ratio of children to adults, and percentage of Hispanic residents were positively associated with neighborhood rates. Reducing neighborhood poverty may reduce rates of child maltreatment for all children, but additional efforts to prevent maltreatment at the neighborhood level may need to be tailored to the specific demographic characteristics to be most effective.

This article considers issues of educational inequality in the U.S. South from a social work/social justice perspective. After a review of existing literature and discussion of cultural versus structural explanations for race and socioeconomic status gaps in academic achievement, findings are presented from a study examining child-, classroom-, and school-level factors that influence academic achievement among public school children in the South. Although a sizeable minority of southern children attend schools that are segregated along racial and socioeconomic lines, and although these schools are different in various aspects of educational environment, once family structure, parental characteristics, the use of ability grouping, and rural school location were taken into account, no influence of race on achievement remained. Implications for social work policy and practice are discussed.

Young children with disabilities are significantly more likely to live in poverty than their peers without disabilities. Exposure to poverty creates additional risk of adverse outcomes for these vulnerable children. In this article, the following key circumstances contributing to this increased risk of impoverishment are analyzed: elevated costs of raising children with disabilities, low levels of public income transfer benefits, difficulty balancing parental employment and caregiving responsibilities, unavailable or high-cost child care, and inadequate leave time to permit parents to meet their children's episodic care needs. The implications of these issues for social work practice and advocacy needs are discussed.

This article documents the prevalence and national profile of American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, based on data from the American Community Survey/Census 2000 Supplementary Survey. In 2000 there were estimated to be nearly 53,000 AI/AN grandparent caregivers age 45 and older in the United States. Almost half of the caregiving grandparents had been raising a grandchild for five years or longer. The findings reveal a portrait of grandparents committed to raising their grandchildren despite the fact that many were living in extreme poverty, with ill health, and with limited resources and services. One-third of grandparent caregivers were living below the poverty line, and only one-quarter of these were receiving public assistance. Even when compared with their noncaregiving AI/AN peers, grandparents raising grandchildren were disproportionately female, poor, living with a functional disability, and living in overcrowded conditions. Implications for social work practice are presented and recommendations for policy and research are discussed.

This article reports findings from a cross-national comparative study that examined the commonalities and differences in professional ideology among social work graduates in 10 countries by studying their attitudes toward poverty and the goals of social work. The major finding is the substantial similarity in the students' professional ideology despite the different contexts of their professional socialization process. Students in all the countries attributed poverty to structural causes and supported the extension of state social welfare as a way of dealing with poverty. They expressed a large degree of support for individual well-being and social justice as major goals of social work. Differences were also identified. The similarities and differences reflect the interplay of centrifugal and centripetal forces that fashion the characteristics of global social work.

This article describes the process of developing an empowerment approach in a comprehensive child development program that defined its mission as empowerment of families living in poverty. Findings concerning empowerment are presented in two areas: resolution of contrasts and dichotomies, and lessons learned for program effectiveness. (Author)

Bronfenbrenner's process-person-context-time model is used to examine theories that explain adverse effects of economic deprivation on children's socioemotional development. Processes of not only the family, but also those of the peer group and school, and in other levels of the ecological environment may also explain the relation between economic deprivation and socioemotional functioning. (BF)

Examined the effects of economic need and self-esteem on attitudes toward and use of instrumental and psychotherapeutic services (N=224). Findings show that self-esteem was associated with help-seeking behavior, but attitudes were not. However, when economic need was included in the analyses, the effect of self-esteem disappeared. (Author/EMK)

Examines the Phipps Houses Group, a nonprofit housing developer, in its attempt to foster a sense of community and family well-being in housing developments. Discusses the community development program and gives a profile of tenants. Suggests that this model should become more common as direct federal housing development diminishes. (RJM)

Describes an evaluation of an innovative site-based service program, the Growth and Achievement Program (GAP). Results show that GAP clients had significantly higher gain scores than did the comparison group and were less likely to rely on public financial assistance as their primary source of income. (RJM)

Notes that Sweden has been making continuing progress in its conquest of poverty. Examines the Swedish strategy and discusses its successes in the areas of poverty, slums and housing, health conditions, and unemployment and the labor force. (NB)

Defines and discusses characteristics of economically insecure individuals and families and provides estimates of the numbers of individuals and families affected by economic insecurity. Recommends that social workers be more cognizant of economic insecurity and its effects on clients. (Author/NB)

Reports on the effects of job loss and unemployment on a group of female garment workers (N=61) and their families. Reports problems with loss of income, loss of personal meaning, changes in family organization, loss of social support, and in time management. Suggests guidelines for service programs and future research. (Author/ABL)

Discusses evolution of current welfare system. Suggests in light of postindustrial economy priorities of welfare system need to be reexamined. Notes need to address the "pauperization" of women. Analyzes poverty rates for women from 1978-1983. Provides proposals for helping women in the labor market. Contends social workers must be prepared to address problems of dependency and need. (ABL)

Contends traditional debate on whether a social services program should be universalistic or selective limits the policy options. Reviews current debate on policy options including a policy package that can permit income testing without stigmatizing the poor. Reports findings of a comparative sudy of eight countries that examined income transfers affecting the incomes of families with children. (Author/ABL)

Reviews current research on Black families headed by a single mother indicating that economic insecurity of Black males is an important causal factor in explaining both the numbers and the impoverishment of this family type. Contends social workers must advocate for policies to assist these groups economically. (Author/ABL)