A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Abuse and Neglect. The harm or threat of harm to a child's physical or mental health or welfare caused by acts or omissions of the child's parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child's welfare.

Act / Law / Statute. Term for legislation that passed through the General Assembly and was signed by the Governor or passed over his veto.

Advocate. One who speaks out for or champions the cause of others

AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children). The federal welfare program—enacted as part of the Social Security Act of 1935 and replaced by TANF after 1996-that gave states grants that were, together with required state matching monies, used to provide cash assistance primarily to low-income single-parent families with children (See TANF.)

Affordable Housing. A unit that costs no more than 30% of the renter's income.

Assisted Housing. Housing for the poor that is subsidized by the federal government.

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B

Benchmarking. Identifying measures against which an organization's progress can be compared.

Birth cohort. A birth cohort is a group of people who were born in a specified calendar period.

Birth Defects. An abnormality of structure, function, or metabolism (body chemistry) present at birth that results in physical or mental disability, or is fatal. Currently, birth defects rank as the leading cause of death for infants during the first year of life.

Block Grant. Grants of a fixed size that are given to states or local governments for broad purposes and that have fewer strings (or requirements) than do categorical grants.

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C

Capitation. Fixed per patient payments made in advance each month to health plans or providers in return for delivering necessary healthcare services. This payment method (versus fee-for-service) is used by governments, insurers, and managed care organizations to control health care costs.

Charitable Choice. Provision under PRWORA that enables religiously affiliated organizations to compete for government contracts (or accept government vouchers) on an equal basis with secular service providers, without giving up the religious character of the faith-based programs. (See PRWORA.)

Charter School. Public schools that are freed from many of the rules and regulations that apply to regular public schools in exchange for accountability, as specified in their "charter." The legislation establishing charter schools varies from state to state, as does the chartering authority (state, school district, university).

Children. All persons under 18 years of age.

Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDGB) program that funds state child care subsidy programs that support low-income families.

Child Support - Money paid by non-custodial parent for the support of his or her natural children. Data are reported by county of residence of the non-custodial parent.

CHIP - The Children's Health Insurance Program was established by the federal government to bridge the insurance gap for low-income working families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford to buy insurance on their own or through an employer. In SC, the CHIP program is Partners for Healthy Children (PHC). Children can be eligible if their families make no more than 150% of the Federal Poverty Level ($27,600 for a family of 4). For more information visit www.dhhs.state.sc.us

Circuit-breakers. Devices that provide relief for an individual's property tax obligation on the basis of a person's age, income level, or disability.

Community Development Corporation. A corporation established to promote economic growth and provide financial support for community development.

Community Reinvestment Act. A law that encourages banks to provide capital for low-income housing projects.

Consumer Price Index. A measure of the change over time in the prices, inclusive of sales and excise taxes, paid by urban households for a representative market basket of consumer goods and services.

Cost-Benefit Analysis. (Compare Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.) Comparison of the costs and benefits of a project or program, which can be used to determine whether the benefits exceed the costs and which project or program maximizes net benefits.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis. (Compare Cost-Benefit Analysis.) An analytic technique used to compare the cost and effectiveness of a project or program and thus to choose the most effective method for achieving a certain result (a.k.a. Program Analysis).

Crowd Out. A reduction in private insurance coverage caused by the expansion of public health coverage.

Current Population Survey. Monthly survey of roughly 50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; primary source on labor force characteristics of the U.S. population; official source of the U.S. unemployment rate and poverty estimates.

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D

Devolution. A shift in the locus of responsibility, decisionmaking, or control from a higher level of government to a lower level of government (e.g., the federal government to state or local levels of government).

Disproportionate Share Hospitals. (Dish) Hospitals that serve a disproportionate number of Medicaid and uninsured patients. Also a program legislated in the early 1980s that mandated that states consider special payments to those hospitals.

Dropouts - Calculated two ways: (1) Number of students who were enrolled in the 8th grade but were not enrolled in the 12th grade 4 years later. Enrollment is based on average daily attendance for the school year; (2) 8th to graduation. The 1st calculation provides breakout of race and gender data; second is available only for all students.

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E

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). A refundable tax credit that is targeted to benefit low-income, working individuals and families. It has been described as the most effective anti-poverty program in America, helping more working families and more children move out of poverty than any other government assistance program.

EGTRRA (Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001). The tax legislation enacted in 2001 that phased in lower tax rates, created a 10-percent tax bracket, increased the child credit, reduced marriage tax penalties, pared and then eliminated the estate tax, and included tax incentives for education expenses, retirement savings, and other purposes. EGTRRA's provisions are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, at which time the tax code will revert to its 2000 form.

EPSDT - Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment is a package of comprehensive and preventive child health services that states are required to provide to Medicaid-eligible individuals below the age of 21.

Entitlements. Payments to individuals, governments, or businesses which, under law, must be made to all those eligible and for which funds do not have to be appropriated in advance. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and TANF are among the entitlement programs.

Equity Stripping. The encumbering of valuable assets, usually real property, to take the value out of the property so that little or nothing is left for creditors.

Estate Tax. A tax levied on large estates at the time of the owner's death. In 2003, about 2 percent of estates (those worth more than one million dollars) were subject to the tax. Special provisions apply to farms and small businesses. Under EGTRRA, the tax will be phased out by 2010, but then reinstated in 2011.

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F

Failures - Number of students who were designated as "not passing" their grade and required to repeat that grade. Failures for grades one to three is calculated as the sum of failures in grades one, two, and three in a given year.

Faith-based Organizations. There is no standard or accepted definition of a faith-based organization, but the term generally denotes religious congregations, religion-based social service organizations (e.g., Catholic Charities or the Salvation Army), and other types of organizations that might have a religious affiliation or identity.

Family - A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is designated as the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family.

Family Cap. A feature of some states' welfare programs that denies additional benefits to mothers who give birth while on welfare.

Family Support Act of 1998. Law creating two childcare entitlements for current and former welfare recipients, both of which rely on combined federal and state funds.

Federalism. A system of government in which power and fiscal responsibility are divided between a central authority and constituent political units (federal government and state governments); usually identified with giving more power to the states.

Federal Poverty Guidelines. (See Poverty Guidelines)

Federal Poverty Level. (See Poverty Threshold)

First Steps to School Readiness - A results oriented, statewide, early childhood education initiative designed to ensure that South Carolina children arrive in the first grade healthy and ready to succeed. First Steps (Children First) was initially advocated for by the Alliance for SC's Children as a model of the North Carolina Smart Start early childhood education program.

Fluoridation - The practice of adding fluoride to the public water supply to reduce dental decay. Fluoridation is currently not available in all community water systems in SC.

Foster Care - Temporary placement of children with families other than relatives for their own well being as determined by the Department of Social Services because of abuse, neglect, or threat of harm.

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H

Head Start - A comprehensive, federally funded child development program, which serves children from birth to age 5, pregnant women and their families. They are child-focused programs and have the overall goal of increasing the school readiness of young children in low-income families.

Horizontal Equity. (Compare Vertical Equity.) The concept that equals should be treated equally by taxes and transfer payments. For the personal income tax, equality is measured by income received within any one year.

Household. A household consists of all the people who occupy a housing unit. There are two major categories of households, "family" and "nonfamily".

Housing Wage. The amount a full time (40 hours per week) worker must earn per hour in order to afford a two-bedroom unit at the area's Fair Market Rent ($548). South Carolina's housing wage is $10.53. This is 205% of the minimum wage ($5.15 per hour).

Human Capital. Knowledge and skills that workers acquire through education, training, and experience.

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I

Idle - Tabulation of data on enrollment, educational attainment, and labor force status for the population 16 to 19 years old allows for calculation of the proportion of the age group who are not enrolled in school and not high school graduates or "dropouts" and an unemployment rate for the "dropout" population. Persons were classified as enrolled in school if they reported attending a "regular" public or private school or college at any time between Feb. 1, 1990 and the time of enumeration.

Immunization - The process of rendering a person immune, or of becoming immune through an inoculation or vaccination.

Income Disregards. Welfare policy that ignores a portion of a family's income when calculating their benefits, thereby allowing families with some earning to continue receiving assistance.

Income Supports. Benefits that come in the form of cash or are similar to cash.

Infant Mortality Percent - Number of deaths occurring to infants under 1 year of age, per 100 live births.

Infant Mortality Rate - Number of deaths occurring to infants under 1 year of age, per 1,000 live births.

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J

Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 (JTPA). The federal law that authorized and funded job-training programs to help economically disadvantaged adults, youth, dislocated workers, and others with barriers to employment increase their earnings and employment. Replaced by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

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K

Kessner Index - A classification of the adequacy of prenatal care. The levels of prenatal care are determined by the trimester prenatal care began, the number of prenatal care visits and the period of gestation.

L

Learning Disability - A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not apply to students who have learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

Less Than Adequate Prenatal Care - Adequacy of prenatal care is measured by the Kessner Index, based on timeliness of the first doctor's visit, frequency of prenatal visits, and the gestational age at birth.

Low Birthweight - Low birth weight is a weight at birth, which is less than 2,500 grams (5 pounds, 8 ounces) regardless of the period of gestation. Low birthweight babies have a high probability of experiencing developmental problems.

Low-income. Between 100 percent and 200 percent of federal poverty thresholds. (Ex. A family of three that made between $14,494 and $28,988 in 2002)

Loan Flipping. Repeated refinancing of an existing loan to generate additional fee income. This practice results in high fees, including prepayment penalties, that strip the equity in the borrower's home.

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M

Managing for Results. Managing an agency with concern for the quality, outcomes, and efficiency of the services it provides, usually including a formal performance measurement process that provides information on these factors.

Marginal Tax Rate. The tax rate that would have to be paid on an additional dollar of income. Marginal tax rates affect individuals' incentives to work, save, and shelter income from tax.

Managed Care. Refers to the prepaid health care sector (e.g., HMOs) in which care is provided under a fixed budget so costs can be "managed."

Marital Status on Birth Certificate -

1. Unmarried- A birth which occurs to a woman who has never been married or who has been widowed or legally divorced from her husband in excess of 280 days.

2. Married - A birth, which occurs to a woman who has been married or was married within 280 days from conception.

3. Paternity Acknowledgement - It gives authorization to list the name of the father on the birth certificate of a child born to an unmarried mother with written consent of the father and mother by means of an affidavit as required by South Carolina Law, Section 44-63-165.

Marriage Data - It is recorded for the county in South Carolina where the marriage license was issued.

Marriage Penalty. Occurs when a couple filing joint returns experiences a greater tax liability than they would have if each of the two people were to file as single individuals; results from provisions throughout the federal income tax code designed to tax household income-whether the household consists of a married couple filing jointly or a single individual.

Match rate - The rate at which the Federal Government reimburses a state for health expenses. For example: SC is paid about $4.00 (80%) for every $1.00 (20%) that it spends for a child enrolled in PHC.

Mean Income - The amount obtained by dividing the total aggregate income of a group by the number of units in that group. The means for households, families and unrelated individuals are based on all households, families, and unrelated individuals, respectively.

Median income. Median income is the amount which divides the income distribution into two equal groups, half having incomes above the median, half having incomes below the median. The medians for households, families, and unrelated individuals are based on all households, families, and unrelated individuals, respectively. The medians for people are based on people 15 years old and over with income.

Medicaid - Government programs that pay for health care services for some low-income people. The program was authorized by Title XIX of the Social Security Act that was signed into law by the President on July 30, 1965. South Carolina began participation in the Medicaid Program in July 1968. Medicaid covers about 50% of all births in SC.

Medical home - A primary care provider or other source of ongoing health care that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Mental Retardation - is defined as significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects a student's educational and overall performance. When measured by IQ, retardation is classified into the following categories and ranges:

*Assumes mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). An economically integrated region including and surrounding a central city; areas in an MSA outside the central city are suburbs.

Mothers Not Completing High School - Women who had not completed the twelfth grade at the time of delivery of a live birth.

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N

NAEYC - National Association for the Education of Young Children provides the standards for national accreditation, which indicates the highest level of quality in a child care facility.

National Survey of America's Families (NSAF). A survey, conducted by the Urban Institute as part of the Assessing the New Federalism project, that provides state-specific and national estimates on a wide range of child, adult, and family well-being measures, with particularly precise estimates for people in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold.

Noncustodial Parent. Parent who does not live with his/her minor children.

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O

Obesity. Having a high amount of body fat. A person is considered obese if he or she has is more than 30 pounds overweight or a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2. Body Mass Index can be calculated using pounds and inches with this equation

For example, a person who weighs 220 pounds and is 6 feet 3 inches (75 inches) tall has a BMI of 27.5.             220 lbs.             x 703 = 27.5
(75 inches) x (75 inches)

Oral Health. Means being free of chronic oral-facial pain conditions, oral and pharyngeal (throat) cancers, oral soft tissue lesions, birth defects such as cleft lip and palate, and scores of other diseases and disorders that affect the oral, dental, and craniofacial tissues, collectively known as the craniofacial complex.

Overweight. Being too heavy for one's height. It is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 25 up to 30 kg/m2. Body weight comes from fat, muscle, bone, and body water. Overweight does not always mean over fat.

Outcomes. The effects, the results, or the consequences of program activities; term denoting the effects of programs (e.g., crime reduction of cleaner streets) as opposed to the immediate "outputs" of programs (such as number of reports completed).

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P

PACT (Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test) - Standardized test given to students in grades 3 through 8 in the areas of math and language arts in effort to measure student improvement in mastering more rigorous classroom curriculum. The PACT is designed to be more challenging than the Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) test, which it replaced in 1999. PACT rates student performance as follows:

Below basic - A student who performs at below the basic level on the PACT has not met minimum expectations for student performance based on the curriculum standards approved by the State Board of Education. The student is not prepared for work at the next grade.

Basic - Performance at the basic level means a student has passed the test. A student who performs at the basic level at the PACT has met minimum expectations for student performance based on the curriculum standards approved by the State Board of Education. The student is minimally prepared for work at the next grade.

Proficient - A student who performs at the proficient level on the PACT has met expectations for student performance based on the curriculum standards approved by the State Board of Education. The student is well prepared for work at the next grade. The proficient level represents the long term goal for student performance in South Carolina.

Advanced - A student who performs at the advanced level on the PACT has exceeded expectation for student performance based on the curriculum standards approved by the State Board of Education. The student is very well prepared for work at the next grade. Source: SC Department of Education.

Partners for Healthy Children. (PHC) is a health insurance program for children who live in South Carolina. It provides free health care to children in families with low income.

Pay-as-you-go Systems. A social contract in which each generation of workers agrees to turn over a fraction of its wages to retirees in return for a promise that when its members retire, they will have a similar claim on the wages of those who are still working for it; Social Security operates largely on this system.

Per Capita Income - The average income computed for every man, women, and child in a particular group.

Performance Indicators. Data-based measurements that indicate progress toward achieving outcomes. (See Outcomes.)

Performance Measurement. Measurement on a regular basis of the results and efficiency of services or programs.

Physical Abuse- Physical harm inflicted upon a child by a parent or person in loco parentis, including injuries sustained as a result of excessive corporal punishment, but excluding corporal punishment or physical discipline which:
(i) is administered by a parent or person in loco parentis;
(ii) is perpetrated for the sole purpose of restraining or correcting the child;
(iii) is reasonable in manner and moderate in degree;
(iv) has not brought about permanent or lasting damage to the child;
(v) is not reckless or grossly negligent behavior by the parents.

Physical Neglect- Failure of a parent or person in loco parentis to supply the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or supervision appropriate to the child's age and development even though financially able to do so or with access to financial or other reasonable means to do so; the failure to provide these things has caused or is likely to cause physical or mental injury to the child.

PILOTS (Payments in Lieu of Taxes). Cash and in-kind contributions that a tax-exempt entity makes more or less voluntarily to a taxing body. Also known as Fee

Poverty Guidelines. The guidelines are a simplification of the Census Bureau's poverty thresholds for use for administrative purposes such as determining financial eligibility for certain federal programs such as: Community Services Block Grant, Head Start, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance, Children's Health Insurance Program, Food Stamps, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs, Weatherization Assistance, Job Corps, Senior Community Service Employment Program, National Farmworker Jobs Program, Legal services for the poor. Major means-tested programs that do NOT use the poverty guidelines in determining eligibility include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (and its predecessor, Aid to Families with Dependent Children), Supplemental Security Income, the Earned Income Tax Credit program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's means-tested housing assistance programs, and the Social Services Block Grant. The guidelines are issued each year in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Poverty Thresholds. The income cutoffs used by the Census Bureau to determine the poverty status of families and unrelated individuals include a set of 48 thresholds arranged in a two dimensional matrix consisting of family size (from one person to nine or more persons) cross-classified by presence and number of family members under 18 years old (from no children present to 8 or more children present). The total income of each family or unrelated individual in the sample was tested against the appropriate poverty threshold to determine the poverty status of that family or unrelated individual. If the total income was less than the corresponding cutoff, the family or unrelated individual was classified as "below the poverty level." The 2002 Poverty level for a single parent with two children was $14,494.

Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). Managed care entity that consists of hospitals, physicians, and other providers on contract to an insurer, employer, third-party administrator, or other sponsoring group to provide health care services to covered individuals.

Presumptive eligibility. A preliminary determination can be made that a child is eligible for Medicaid based on the family's declaration that its income is below the income eligibility guidelines.

Primary Care. The Institute Of Medicine in a 1994 report defines primary care as "the provision of integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community." Primary care physicians are usually defined as Family Practice, General Practice, Pediatricians, and general internal medicine. Some studies have also included Obstetrics/Gynecology physicians. Other primary care providers are nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

PRWORA (Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996). Welfare reform act under the Clinton Administration that had the primary goal of helping welfare recipients become self-supporting; abolished open-ended funding of welfare and replaced it with the TANF block grant. (See TANF.)

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R

Reauthorization. Federal term to refund certain programs. The funding for TANF expired 9-30-02, requiring the program to be "reauthorized" by Congress and the President.

Residence Data. Data is recorded for the county where the person normally resided, regardless of where the event occurred. Live births are allocated to the place of the mother's residence.

Revenue Neutral. A term applied to tax proposals that have no net cost—in other words, proposals in which provisions that raise revenues offset in equal value provisions that lose revenues.

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S

Safety Net. Broad set of welfare policies that make up the income-support system.

Section 8. Tenant-based assistance program that supplements what very low-income families and individuals can afford to pay for housing in the private market.

Sexual Abuse. The commitment of a sexual offense against a child by a parent or person in loco parentis, including the encouragement or facilitation of sexual offenses against a child.

Single Parent Family. Families with "own children" under age 18 living in the household, who are headed by a person, male or female, without a spouse present in the home. "Own children" are never-married children under 18 who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption.

Social Capital. Cooperative networks that permit individuals to work together for mutual goals.

Social Security. Includes social security pensions and survivors' benefits and permanent disability insurance payments made by the Social Security Administration prior to deductions for medical insurance. The Census Bureau does not include medicare reimbursements for health services as social security benefits.

Special Education. Education and related services for children with disabilities provided according to an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) developed by all members of the multidisciplinary team, which could include school psychologists, speech-language clinicians and other persons responsible for the identification and evaluation of students with disabilities.

SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance). Social insurance that provides benefits to the disabled who qualify on the basis of years of work covered by social security.

SSI (Supplemental Security Income). Provides a floor of protection as cash for those who become disabled or reach age 65 and have very low incomes and assets.

Standard Deduction. A minimum deduction that may be taken in lieu of itemizing deductions on a tax return, such as charitable contributions, mortgage interest, or state and local taxes. Typically, taxpayers with small deductible amounts that could be itemized choose to take the standard deduction. There are different standard deductions for single, head of household, and joint returns.

State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Grants to states to cover children with family incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or 50 percent above existing eligibility, whichever is higher.

Statistical Significance. Probably true (not due to chance). A measure of the likelihood that a relationship would occur purely by chance. Thus, a statistical estimate of the effects of a program may be said to be significantly different from zero at the 5 percent level if there is less than a 1 in 20 chance that the effects could have occurred purely by chance.

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T

Tax Expenditures. Revenue loss attributable to a provision of tax laws that allows special exclusion, exemption, or deduction from gross income or provides a special credit, preferential tax rate, or deferral of tax liability.

TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) - Created by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, TANF became effective in South Carolina on December 1, 1996, and replaced what was then commonly known as "welfare": Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) programs. TANF provides financial support to needy families with children and provides parents with job preparation, work, and support services to enable them to leave the program and become self-sufficient.

Teen Pregnancy Percent - The number of births, abortions and fetal deaths to teenage girls 14-17 years old as a percentage on per 100 females in this age group.

Teen Pregnancy Rate - The number of births, abortions and fetal deaths to teenage girls 14-17 years old as a percentage on per 1000 females in this age group.

Threat of Harm- Substantial risk of harm to a child. The potential for abuse/neglect exists, but the actual occurrence of harm has not been substantiated.

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U

Uncompensated Care. Healthcare delivered free of charge to the user for charity's sake.

User Fees. Charges for goods and services provided.

User Surveys. Surveys of all, or of a representative sample of, customers who have used a particular service or product.

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V

Value-for-Money Auditing. Audits in which the auditors examine the outcomes that a service or program has achieved in relation to the funds expended.

Vertical Equity. (See Horizontal Equity.) The idea that those with greater needs should receive more from the government, and those with greater means should pay more in taxes as a proportion of their income or wealth.

Very Low Birthweight - Very low birthweight is a weight at birth, which is less that 1,500 grams (3 pounds, 4 ounces) regardless of the period of gestation.

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W

Work Supports. (Compare Income Supports.) Assistance programs that promote employment, such as childcare, transportation, education, and training.

Terms included in this glossary come from the Urban Institute, SC Kids Count and others.

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