A Pittsburgh program tries to get barbershops in African-American neighborhoods to help spread preventative-health messages. NPR's Rachel Jones reports.
Rachel Jones reports on education, social policy, and welfare reform issues at NPR. She has also covered children’s health and development, as well as well as racial disparities in health care.
At the end of his second term, former President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, making good on his promise of "ending welfare as we know it." Ten years later, millions of American women have moved off of welfare and into the workforce.
Putting welfare recipients to work is at the heart of the federal welfare law passed 10 years ago. But while the original law allowed states to decide how best to meet federal goals, some officials fear that the Bush administration will remove some of the flexibility that they say has made the law a success.
One-third of poor Americans live in suburbs. In Holly, Mich., Joy and Chris Hardenburgh found their dreams derailed after an on-the-job accident forced Chris to take sick leave. Soon, the family of three found themselves overwhelmed with medical bills and struggling to provide themselves with basic necessities.