Longitudinal Surveys of Children (1998)

• and children of immigrants; (3) the resource needs of families with children with disabilities; (4) neighborhood and community impacts, including data on service availability and utilization; and (5) the gathering of information needed to consider genetic influences. Adding these and other topics to datasets may involve supplementing the original survey team with, for example, behavioral geneticists, urban planners, and experts in special education to assure a more interdisciplinary approach. New research initiatives may also involve collaborative secondary analytical work focused on specific questions, including those that address the topics listed above.
• Collecting data to measure the effects of program and policy changes. Workshop participants expressed concern that existing national longitudinal surveys do not collect sufficient data to assess the impacts of program and policy changes, such as changes in welfare programs, food assistance and nutrition programs, or health insurance coverage. They cited the 1996 federal welfare reform legislation as a case in point. They were highly supportive of ongoing efforts to monitor the effects of this legislation on children and youth but expressed concern about the lack of a nationally representative longitudinal survey designed with the assessment of welfare reform on children and youth as one of its goals. Participants thought that a workshop on this topic alone would be fruitful.

National Research Council and Institute of Medicine 1995 Integrating Federal Statistics on Children: Report of a Workshop. Committee on National Statistics and Board on Children, Youth, and Families, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

1998 New Findings on Poverty and Child Health and Nutrition: Summary of a Research Briefing. Anne Bridgman and Deborah Phillips, eds. Board on Children, Youth, and Families. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Peters, H. Elizabeth, L. Argys, J. Brooks-Gunn, and J. Smith 1996 Contributions of Absent Fathers to Child Well-being: The Impact of Child Support Dollars and Father-Child Contact. Paper presented at the Conference on Father Involvement, October 10-11. NICHD Family and Child Well-being Network, Bethesda, Md.