Story after story of former welfare recipients who now hold jobs have created the dominant media metaphor—women formerly leading hopeless, dead-end lives are required by welfare reform to become employed and now are thrilled with their independence and new sense of self-worth. But the public is little aware of the upcoming reauthorization of the 1996 “Welfare Reform Act”—formally the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). This Act replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children assistance to poor and low-income women with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.

Monica Driggers, research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women, has been working on court and criminal justice reform for nearly a decade. Driggers joined the team working on the Battered Mothers’ Testimony Project in 2002 and was one of the authors of its ground-breaking report released that year. She continues to advocate for the reforms proposed in the report. Her current projects include research and reform of parole processes in Massachusetts and an investigation of female prisoners’ connections to their children.

The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) at the Wellesley Centers for Women recently completed work on a comprehensive, three-year study on afterschool programs in Massachusetts, in partnership with the Intercultural Center for Research in Education (INCRE). One of the first studies of this scope nationally, the Massachusetts Afterschool Research Study (MARS) stands as a primary opportunity for researchers to examine the relationships between program characteristics and indicators of program quality, and how these relate to youth development outcomes.

This past June, the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute (JBMTI) at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) held Research Forum 2005, a professional development program that showcased “Relational-Cultural Research in the Real World” and provided resources for investigators who seek practical examples to inform and advance their work.

The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) is proud to announce the relaunch of Women’s Review of Books! Founded by WCW in 1983, Women’s Review was published monthly for 22 years before suspending publication in December, 2004, due to rising debt. Women’s Review will return in January, 2006, as a bimonthly tabloid.