Colleen M Heflin
Biographic Data
| ID | 214615 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Colleen M Heflin |
| GIVEN NAMES | Colleen M |
| FAMILY NAME | Heflin |
| SIGNATURE | HEFLIN C M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 28 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 375 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 28 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Strengthening Snap’s Ability to Address Old Age Food Insecurity
Colleen M. Heflin and Madonna Harrington Meyer on reducing older adults' food strain
Understanding Factors Associated with 911 and 988 Use in Mental Health Crises
The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was launched in July 2022 as an alternative to 911 for mental health crises. However, little is known about the factors influencing decisions to use 911 or 988 among individuals most likely to benefit from 988, including those with suicidal ideation. This study analyzes individual characteristics associated with the likelihood of calling 911 during a mental health crisis and examines awareness of, willingness t…
Current and Future Food Insufficiency During Covid-19
Room to grow
Material Hardship Among Immigrants in the United States
Disability, food insecurity by nativity, citizenship, and duration
Prior research examines the prevalence of either disability or food insecurity among immigrants. We examine whether the presence of a disability operates as a stronger predictor of food insecurity among prime-aged immigrants relative to the US-born. Probit models estimate the relationship of disability with food insecurity among immigrants and distinguish by duration of US residence and citizenship status using nationally representative data from…
When States Align Social Welfare Programs
Objective In the United States, state social services rarely coordinate across departments, a practice that could both increase receipt and reduce administrative burden. The purpose of this article is to investigate the state‐level conditions associated with the adoption of policies that benefit participants in multiple social welfare programs, focusing on the case of the child support income exclusion for SNAP benefit eligibility calculations. M…
Household Food Insecurity and Early Childhood Health and Cognitive Development Among Children of Immigrants
Food insecurity is negatively related to child development and health. In this study, we use Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data to assess the cognitive and health consequences of household food insecurity for children of immigrants compared with children of native-born parents. Results suggest that children of immigrants from food insecure households fare worse than their native peers from food insecure households in health but …
The Role of Social Positioning in Observed Patterns of Material Hardship
Long-term trends in the federal income poverty measure are well documented and researched, but long-term trends in material hardship, as an alternative measure of economic well-being, are much less well known. In part, this is because data limitations have precluded the study of material hardship at multiple data points over time. Using data from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation and repeat observations approximately one year ap…
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Use Among Active-Duty Military Personnel, Veterans, and Reservists
Unemployment insurance effects on child academic outcomes
My Brother's Keeper? The Association Between Having Siblings in Poor Health and Wealth Accumulation
When confronted with the economic costs of addressing a serious health problem, many American households do not possess the ability to deal with the crises on their own and may turn to family members for help. Using longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we examine if the level of wealth held by individuals is related to the health problems of their siblings. We find evidence that having a sibling who has experienced a health …
Clients’ Perspectives on a Technology-Based Food Assistance Application System
The expansion of e-government is reshaping how disadvantaged groups access the social safety net, yet very little is known about clients’ experiences with modernized systems. We examine client experiences applying to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in one state that has recently moved to an “online-only” system. Overall, more than half of the 26 applicants stated a preference for the traditional caseworker model, even though some …
Veteran Status and Material Hardship
Veterans are a sizable and policy-relevant demographic group in the United States, yet little is known about their economic well-being. Although having a work-limiting disability is known to be associated with material hardship, no known study compares material hardship between veteran households and nonveteran households or investigates whether work-limiting disability moderates the association between veteran status and material hardship. This …
Work-Related Disability, Veteran Status, and Poverty
The authors examine the interrelationships between work-related disability, veteran, and poverty statuses using data from the 1992–2004 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. They find that households with nondisabled veterans present have a lower likelihood of poverty, but that advantage is severely eroded when the veteran or another family member has a work-limiting disability. Nevertheless, all veteran households have substa…
Non-income effects of welfare receipt on early childhood cognitive scores
Poverty, Material Hardship, and Depression
Objective. Mental health disorders are of great social, economic, and policy concern. A higher incidence of major depressive disorder has been reported among women living in or near poverty. Our study examines the extent to which the relationship between income and depression is mediated by measures of material hardship. Methods. We use measures of depression at two points in time from the longitudinal Fragile Families Survey to better discern th…
Food Insufficiency, Food Stamp Participation, and Mental Health
Objectives. This study examines whether the mental health consequences associated with food insufficiency vary by food stamp participation status and/or the value of the food stamp benefit received. Methods. We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics along with fixed‐effect methods that control for unobserved heterogeneity to test our hypotheses. Results. We find that, conditional on the food stamp benefit amount, the emotio…
Work Trajectories, Income Changes, and Food Insufficiency in a Michigan Welfare Population
This article examines determinants of changes in food insufficiency status over time in a Michigan welfare sample. The studied determinants include individual constraints on coping abilities, work‐related demands, and resources of households. Analyses use logistic regressions based on data from four waves of the Women's Employment Study. Findings suggest that, without controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, hours worked, transportation expenses…
Dynamics of Material Hardship in the Women’s Employment Study
An abundance of literature examines the dynamics of poverty, but little research considers the dynamics of material hardship. This work analyzes data from a welfare sample to determine how common experiences of material hardship are over time, if some forms of material hardship are more common than others, and if women experience multiple hardships. Data come from five waves of the Women’s Employment Study and measure six different forms of mater…
Poverty in the family
Does Welfare Participation Affect Women's Wages
Objectives. This study examines how welfare participation and employment affect women's wages. Methods. We use longitudinal data from the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation and fixed‐effects regression models to test our hypotheses. Results. Our results indicate that time spent on welfare while unemployed results in a wage penalty that is similar to the penalty associated with nonwelfare work breaks. Time spent on welfare while emplo…
Food insufficiency and women's mental health
Food Insufficiency and Physical and Mental Health in a Longitudinal Survey of Welfare Recipients
Food insufficiency is a significant problem in the United States, and poor African American women with children are at especially high risk. An inadequate household food supply can potentially affect the well-being of household members, but it is difficult to distinguish the effects of food insufficiency from risk factors for poor health that are also common among the food insufficient, such as poverty. We examined food insufficiency and physical…
Does it pay to move from welfare to work
The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act requires welfare recipients to look for work and has made it more difficult for nonworking recipients to remain on the welfare rolls. In addition, the economic boom of the 1990s and changes in federal and state policies have raised the net income gain associated with moving from welfare to work. This paper analyzes data from a panel survey of single mothers, all of whom rece…
Does it pay to move from welfare to work
The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act requires welfare recipients to look for work and has made it more difficult for nonworking recipients to remain on the welfare rolls. In addition, the economic boom of the 1990s and changes in federal and state policies have raised the net income gain associated with moving from welfare to work. This paper analyzes data from a panel survey of single mothers, all of whom rece…
Food insufficiency and women's mental health
Poverty in the family
Poverty, Material Hardship, and Depression
Objective. Mental health disorders are of great social, economic, and policy concern. A higher incidence of major depressive disorder has been reported among women living in or near poverty. Our study examines the extent to which the relationship between income and depression is mediated by measures of material hardship. Methods. We use measures of depression at two points in time from the longitudinal Fragile Families Survey to better discern th…
Food Insufficiency and Physical and Mental Health in a Longitudinal Survey of Welfare Recipients
Food insufficiency is a significant problem in the United States, and poor African American women with children are at especially high risk. An inadequate household food supply can potentially affect the well-being of household members, but it is difficult to distinguish the effects of food insufficiency from risk factors for poor health that are also common among the food insufficient, such as poverty. We examined food insufficiency and physical…
Work Trajectories, Income Changes, and Food Insufficiency in a Michigan Welfare Population
This article examines determinants of changes in food insufficiency status over time in a Michigan welfare sample. The studied determinants include individual constraints on coping abilities, work‐related demands, and resources of households. Analyses use logistic regressions based on data from four waves of the Women's Employment Study. Findings suggest that, without controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, hours worked, transportation expenses…
Dynamics of Material Hardship in the Women’s Employment Study
An abundance of literature examines the dynamics of poverty, but little research considers the dynamics of material hardship. This work analyzes data from a welfare sample to determine how common experiences of material hardship are over time, if some forms of material hardship are more common than others, and if women experience multiple hardships. Data come from five waves of the Women’s Employment Study and measure six different forms of mater…
Kin Effects on Black-White Account and Home Ownership
This article combines the literature on kin networks and racial disparities in asset ownership. Specifically, we examine the effects of kin characteristics-sibling poverty and parental poverty, education, and occupation-on financial account ownership and home ownership. We find that kin matter for these outcomes. Having a poor sibling and coming from a poor family are negatively associated with account and home ownership while mother's education …
The Role of Social Positioning in Observed Patterns of Material Hardship
Long-term trends in the federal income poverty measure are well documented and researched, but long-term trends in material hardship, as an alternative measure of economic well-being, are much less well known. In part, this is because data limitations have precluded the study of material hardship at multiple data points over time. Using data from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation and repeat observations approximately one year ap…
Veteran Status and Material Hardship
Veterans are a sizable and policy-relevant demographic group in the United States, yet little is known about their economic well-being. Although having a work-limiting disability is known to be associated with material hardship, no known study compares material hardship between veteran households and nonveteran households or investigates whether work-limiting disability moderates the association between veteran status and material hardship. This …
Clients’ Perspectives on a Technology-Based Food Assistance Application System
The expansion of e-government is reshaping how disadvantaged groups access the social safety net, yet very little is known about clients’ experiences with modernized systems. We examine client experiences applying to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in one state that has recently moved to an “online-only” system. Overall, more than half of the 26 applicants stated a preference for the traditional caseworker model, even though some …
Work-Related Disability, Veteran Status, and Poverty
The authors examine the interrelationships between work-related disability, veteran, and poverty statuses using data from the 1992–2004 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. They find that households with nondisabled veterans present have a lower likelihood of poverty, but that advantage is severely eroded when the veteran or another family member has a work-limiting disability. Nevertheless, all veteran households have substa…
Food Insufficiency, Food Stamp Participation, and Mental Health
Objectives. This study examines whether the mental health consequences associated with food insufficiency vary by food stamp participation status and/or the value of the food stamp benefit received. Methods. We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics along with fixed‐effect methods that control for unobserved heterogeneity to test our hypotheses. Results. We find that, conditional on the food stamp benefit amount, the emotio…
Material Hardship Among Immigrants in the United States
Room to grow
Household Food Insecurity and Early Childhood Health and Cognitive Development Among Children of Immigrants
Food insecurity is negatively related to child development and health. In this study, we use Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data to assess the cognitive and health consequences of household food insecurity for children of immigrants compared with children of native-born parents. Results suggest that children of immigrants from food insecure households fare worse than their native peers from food insecure households in health but …
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Use Among Active-Duty Military Personnel, Veterans, and Reservists
Non-income effects of welfare receipt on early childhood cognitive scores
When States Align Social Welfare Programs
Objective In the United States, state social services rarely coordinate across departments, a practice that could both increase receipt and reduce administrative burden. The purpose of this article is to investigate the state‐level conditions associated with the adoption of policies that benefit participants in multiple social welfare programs, focusing on the case of the child support income exclusion for SNAP benefit eligibility calculations. M…
Unemployment insurance effects on child academic outcomes
Does Welfare Participation Affect Women's Wages
Objectives. This study examines how welfare participation and employment affect women's wages. Methods. We use longitudinal data from the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation and fixed‐effects regression models to test our hypotheses. Results. Our results indicate that time spent on welfare while unemployed results in a wage penalty that is similar to the penalty associated with nonwelfare work breaks. Time spent on welfare while emplo…
Social and environmental predictors of maternal depression in current and recent welfare recipients
Depression is highly prevalent in welfare recipients, and is associated with failure to move from welfare to work. This paper examines the relationship between social and environmental factors in a large, community-based sample of mothers who currently or recently received welfare benefits. Specific and modifiable risk factors related to poverty, gender, and race were found to predict major depression beyond traditional risk factors. Research and…
Food Insufficiency and the Physical and Mental Health of Low-Income Women
Poor women with children are disproportionately represented among the food insufficient. Recent research has linked food insufficiency with dietary deficiencies, but further research linking this problem to health and mental health problems is needed to inform health and social policy. We analyzed the relationship between food insufficiency and physical and mental health in a random sample of 724 single women who were welfare recipients in Februa…
Does it pay to move from welfare to work
The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act requires welfare recipients to look for work and has made it more difficult for nonworking recipients to remain on the welfare rolls. In addition, the economic boom of the 1990s and changes in federal and state policies have raised the net income gain associated with moving from welfare to work. This paper analyzes data from a panel survey of single mothers, all of whom rece…
Kin Effects on Black-White Account and Home Ownership
This article combines the literature on kin networks and racial disparities in asset ownership. Specifically, we examine the effects of kin characteristics-sibling poverty and parental poverty, education, and occupation-on financial account ownership and home ownership. We find that kin matter for these outcomes. Having a poor sibling and coming from a poor family are negatively associated with account and home ownership while mother's education …
Food Insufficiency and Physical and Mental Health in a Longitudinal Survey of Welfare Recipients
Food insufficiency is a significant problem in the United States, and poor African American women with children are at especially high risk. An inadequate household food supply can potentially affect the well-being of household members, but it is difficult to distinguish the effects of food insufficiency from risk factors for poor health that are also common among the food insufficient, such as poverty. We examined food insufficiency and physical…
Does Welfare Participation Affect Women's Wages
Objectives. This study examines how welfare participation and employment affect women's wages. Methods. We use longitudinal data from the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation and fixed‐effects regression models to test our hypotheses. Results. Our results indicate that time spent on welfare while unemployed results in a wage penalty that is similar to the penalty associated with nonwelfare work breaks. Time spent on welfare while emplo…
Food insufficiency and women's mental health
Dynamics of Material Hardship in the Women’s Employment Study
An abundance of literature examines the dynamics of poverty, but little research considers the dynamics of material hardship. This work analyzes data from a welfare sample to determine how common experiences of material hardship are over time, if some forms of material hardship are more common than others, and if women experience multiple hardships. Data come from five waves of the Women’s Employment Study and measure six different forms of mater…
Poverty in the family
Work Trajectories, Income Changes, and Food Insufficiency in a Michigan Welfare Population
This article examines determinants of changes in food insufficiency status over time in a Michigan welfare sample. The studied determinants include individual constraints on coping abilities, work‐related demands, and resources of households. Analyses use logistic regressions based on data from four waves of the Women's Employment Study. Findings suggest that, without controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, hours worked, transportation expenses…
Food Insufficiency, Food Stamp Participation, and Mental Health
Objectives. This study examines whether the mental health consequences associated with food insufficiency vary by food stamp participation status and/or the value of the food stamp benefit received. Methods. We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics along with fixed‐effect methods that control for unobserved heterogeneity to test our hypotheses. Results. We find that, conditional on the food stamp benefit amount, the emotio…
Poverty, Material Hardship, and Depression
Objective. Mental health disorders are of great social, economic, and policy concern. A higher incidence of major depressive disorder has been reported among women living in or near poverty. Our study examines the extent to which the relationship between income and depression is mediated by measures of material hardship. Methods. We use measures of depression at two points in time from the longitudinal Fragile Families Survey to better discern th…
Work-Related Disability, Veteran Status, and Poverty
The authors examine the interrelationships between work-related disability, veteran, and poverty statuses using data from the 1992–2004 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. They find that households with nondisabled veterans present have a lower likelihood of poverty, but that advantage is severely eroded when the veteran or another family member has a work-limiting disability. Nevertheless, all veteran households have substa…
Non-income effects of welfare receipt on early childhood cognitive scores
Clients’ Perspectives on a Technology-Based Food Assistance Application System
The expansion of e-government is reshaping how disadvantaged groups access the social safety net, yet very little is known about clients’ experiences with modernized systems. We examine client experiences applying to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in one state that has recently moved to an “online-only” system. Overall, more than half of the 26 applicants stated a preference for the traditional caseworker model, even though some …
Veteran Status and Material Hardship
Veterans are a sizable and policy-relevant demographic group in the United States, yet little is known about their economic well-being. Although having a work-limiting disability is known to be associated with material hardship, no known study compares material hardship between veteran households and nonveteran households or investigates whether work-limiting disability moderates the association between veteran status and material hardship. This …
Unemployment insurance effects on child academic outcomes
My Brother's Keeper? The Association Between Having Siblings in Poor Health and Wealth Accumulation
When confronted with the economic costs of addressing a serious health problem, many American households do not possess the ability to deal with the crises on their own and may turn to family members for help. Using longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we examine if the level of wealth held by individuals is related to the health problems of their siblings. We find evidence that having a sibling who has experienced a health …
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Use Among Active-Duty Military Personnel, Veterans, and Reservists
The Role of Social Positioning in Observed Patterns of Material Hardship
Long-term trends in the federal income poverty measure are well documented and researched, but long-term trends in material hardship, as an alternative measure of economic well-being, are much less well known. In part, this is because data limitations have precluded the study of material hardship at multiple data points over time. Using data from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation and repeat observations approximately one year ap…
Household Food Insecurity and Early Childhood Health and Cognitive Development Among Children of Immigrants
Food insecurity is negatively related to child development and health. In this study, we use Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data to assess the cognitive and health consequences of household food insecurity for children of immigrants compared with children of native-born parents. Results suggest that children of immigrants from food insecure households fare worse than their native peers from food insecure households in health but …
Disability, food insecurity by nativity, citizenship, and duration
Prior research examines the prevalence of either disability or food insecurity among immigrants. We examine whether the presence of a disability operates as a stronger predictor of food insecurity among prime-aged immigrants relative to the US-born. Probit models estimate the relationship of disability with food insecurity among immigrants and distinguish by duration of US residence and citizenship status using nationally representative data from…
When States Align Social Welfare Programs
Objective In the United States, state social services rarely coordinate across departments, a practice that could both increase receipt and reduce administrative burden. The purpose of this article is to investigate the state‐level conditions associated with the adoption of policies that benefit participants in multiple social welfare programs, focusing on the case of the child support income exclusion for SNAP benefit eligibility calculations. M…
Material Hardship Among Immigrants in the United States
Current and Future Food Insufficiency During Covid-19
Economics (23 works) · Psychology (19 works) · Demographic economics (17 works) · Medicine (16 works) · Economic growth (15 works) · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations (14 works) · Poverty (12 works) · Political science (11 works) · Demography (10 works) · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics (10 works)