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This study is the product of many individuals in many communities, and we would like to express our appreciation to them all. Most especially we wish to thank the numerous individuals who accepted us into their homes and graciously shared their experiences as participants in various Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (tanf) programs. Without their generosity and forthright responses to our questions this research would have been impossible . Through their cooperation we are able to prepare this monograph, which we hope will convey their concerns and those of millions of other tanf participants. In addition we wish to acknowledge our indebtedness to our interviewers and to community residents who assisted us in the conduct of our fieldwork. We wish to acknowledge our gratitude to Robert Lee Maril for his guidance in the overall design of this research. His expertise, garnered from years of ethnographic research in low-income communities in Texas and Oklahoma, was extremely valuable. To the many faceless, and sometimes nameless, toilers in the offices of local, state, and national agencies who produced for us hundreds of data tables from administrative records, we want to acknowledge our great debt and deep sense of gratitude. In Texas, Mark Harvey thanks his interview assistants, who shall remain anonymous, for their invaluable assistance. He also thanks Sabino Garza and the staff at Community Action, Social Services, and Education (casse), Blanca Juarez and the staff at Colonias Unidas, Amada Villarreal and the staff at Community Resource Group, and other workers at numerous community -based agencies who should also remain anonymous for providing information and putting us in contact with tanf participants. He also thanks Romelia Cardoña, John Flores, Eduardo Fuentes, Yvonne “Bonnie” Gonzales, Kelley Goran, Troy Heller, David LaGrange, Gloria Franco Lopez, Ricky McNeil, Elizabeth Cristina Miranda, Patricia Richards, South Texas Community College, and Southwest Texas Junior College. In South Dakota, Kathleen Pickering thanks Jean Bedell-Bailey, Annabelle Between Lodges, Elaine Rodriguez, Janet Routzen, and Heather Schwartz for their interview assistance. She also thanks Connie Horse Looking, John Hotz, Terry Albers, Joyce Wheeler, Angie Eagle Bull, Elsie Meeks, Tina ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Merdanian, Mark St. Pierre, the business owners in the Pine Ridge Area Chamber of Commerce, Marlese White Hat, Nora Antoine, Dr. Bordeaux, Lydia Whirlwind Soldier, Sandy Bordeaux, Matilda Black Bear, Monica Drapeaux , Monica Terkildsen, Joe Blue Legs, Imogene Stoneman, Betty O’Keefe, Jill Sells, Richard Sherman, and Viola Burnette. In Kentucky, Gene Summers thanks Michael Loiacono, Stella Marshall, and Beverly Woliver for conducting the participant interviews and Peggy Barrett, Nelson Bobrowski, Mary Bowman, Kathy Brannon, Rev. Jamie Brunk, Ronnie Callahan, Joyce Corder, Marilyn Frye, Judge Jimmie Green, Judge Jimmie Herald, Lorette Jones, Juanita Kidd, Saunda King, Rev. Jerry Lacefield, Sister Lorraine, Bruce Murphy, Susan Ramos, Jeanette Rogers, Paul Sizemore, Charlotte Smith, Susan Stepp, Dr. Larry Taylor, Dr. Peg Taylor , Harold Terry, Tanya Treadway, Cal Turner, Lorrie Turner, and Audry Waters for their help with local affairs. In Mississippi, Gene Summers thanks Mary Tullis for interviewing the tanf participants and Lilly Barner, Clanton Beamon, Tissi Brock, Ann Brown, Rev. Robert Brown, Yvonne Browne, Julia Carpenter, Jean Carson, Linda Day, Anita Hayes, Coy Henderson, Ethel Jean Hill, Ed Wilburn Hooker, Dr. Tony Honeycutt, Dr. Perry Jenkins, Janet Land, Dr. David Lee, Henry Lucket, Diane McCool, Jim Murphy, Judge A. Nelson, Dr. Auwilda Polk, Sylvester Roberts, Mickie Rodgers, Cynthia Stovall, and Clementine Williams for their assistance in numerous matters regarding their communities. David Mushinski would like to thank Valerie Kepner, csu Economics, for all of her help as a graduate research assistant and Stella Coleman of the Social Security Administration for data regarding ssi use in the counties and states in the study. This study was made possible through the financial support of the National Research Initiative of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, usda, Grant No. 0190121, an Annie E. Casey Foundation Grant No. 201.1855, a grant from the Southern Regional Development Center at Mississippi State University Subcontract No. 01800 280211-01, a Rural Poverty Dissertation Fellowship from the Rural Policy Research Institute’s Rural Poverty Research Center, a National Science Foundation Career Award No. 0092527, and the Monfort Family Foundation’s Colorado State University Monfort Professorship. x Acknowledgments ...

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