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Purpose: This article describes the development and validation of the Undergraduate Perceptions of Poverty Tracking Survey (UPPTS). Method: Data were collected from 301 undergraduates at a small university in the Northeast and analyzed using exploratory factor analysis augmented by random qualitative validation. Results: The resulting survey contains 39 questions and has six factors that meet empirical standards for validity and reliability. The UPPTS provides information regarding undergraduate students' perceptions of those living in poverty in three areas: (1) general attitudes toward those living in poverty, including a sense of the students' underlying explanation for why someone may be poor; (2) understanding of and empathy for those living in poverty; and (3) commitment to addressing poverty via direct action or support for programs/services that aid those in poverty. Discussion: The UPPTS builds upon the concepts of a lack of social empathy and cognitive distancing as principal reasons why people fail to do more to help the poor via either direct action or support for programs that will aid the poor. Further, social work and other educators may use the UPPTS to guide their efforts in poverty education and to track the progress of their efforts with undergraduate students.

Only in the last few years have researchers begun to pay close attention to the child-only cases that fall under the provision of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. Few attempts have been made to talk directly to kinship caregivers to understand their day-to-day lives. This triangulated study utilizes multiple strategies to assess the needs of child-only recipient caregivers in one northeast county. There are two distinct child-only recipient caregiving populations: (1) Caregivers who have been designated as disabled and who are receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments; and (2) those caregivers who are not receiving SSI payments. Results find that the two populations are distinct and require different kinds of services and treatment. Overall, however, both groups receive very little in the way of support from the county Department of Social Services (DSS). Essential to the success of these families will be the ability of DSS to recognize their unique needs and to provide the necessary case management services required to meet both the needs of the caregivers and the children in their care. Implications for practice, caseload administration and case management are discussed. (Contains 4 notes, 2 tables, and 1 figure.)