Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Raj Singh

Abstract

The State of California aids more than a million individuals under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program at a cost of billions of dollars each year. Although adult recipients are given supportive services and offered various programs in a motivational attempt to achieve self-sufficiency, the needs of children, who are the highest population group living in poverty, are not currently addressed. The absence of programs and services targeted to children may perpetuate the generational cycle of poverty. Yet researchers have not yet examined the underlying reasons behind multiple generations receiving CalWORKs and the continuation of poverty through generations in these low-income families. The purpose of this exploratory descriptive quantitative study was to identify if there are any relationships between growing up with parents who received assistance and receiving assistance as an adult. The theoretical framework consisted of Albert Bandura's social learning theory. A cross-sectional retrospective survey design was used. 116 participants completed the World Health Organization's Adverse Childhood Effects tool. A binomial logistic regression and a Somers'd test, respectively, were performed to determine whether there were any relationships or trends between the variables. The study's results indicated no statistically significant relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Future researchers should include a higher number of participants in the aided program. The impact on social change this study may have is the further identification of relationships in the cycle of multigenerational poverty. Using study findings, policy makers may be able to develop programs targeted to children that reduce the likelihood of their living in poverty in adulthood.

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