Acknowledgments

The authors of this report, Terrence L. Connell, Deborah Devine and Les Rubin of the Policy Studies Division, would like to thank the many individuals and organizations who gave freely of their time and who provided invaluable data, all of which contributed to this study. Special thanks go to Rick Gentry and David Rice, Executive Directors of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, respectively. Special thanks also go to members of their staffs including: Tyrone Curtis, Maude Saunders, Solomon Akinwande, Gerard Windt, and Charles Reynolds in Richmond; and Ray Strutton, Vera Franklin, Ruby Hooks, and Jackie Baker in Norfolk. Although the other HAs included in this study were not visited by the study team, the Executive Directors and staffs at these HAs eagerly participated by providing all the data we requested and by answering all the questions we put to them; their contributions are recognized here.

Special thanks go to staff of the Virginia Department of Social Services (DSS) at its Headquarters in Richmond as well as its branch offices in Richmond and Norfolk. This includes Carol Baron and Mike Theis (at Headquarters), Michael Evans and Pamela Turner (at the Richmond branch), and Suzanne Puryear and Marianne Teasley (at the Norfolk branch). The administrative data and program information they provided are especially appreciated. The contributions of staff at the State Offices of Human Services in Ohio, Texas, and California are also gratefully acknowledged. Invaluable assistance was also provided by many community-based, non-profit service providers including many child care providers, planning experts, market observers, job-skills providers, academicians, and others in all eight of the cities covered in this report.

Finally, we would like to thank Barry Steffen, in HUD's Division of Policy Development, for the work he did preparing and analyzing several data sets, Lynn Rodgers, in HUD's Division of Program Monitoring and Research, for the work she did providing program data, and Martin Abravanel, former Director of HUD's Division of Policy Studies, for the guidance he provided prior to accepting his current position at the Urban Institute.