Sue Crull, assistant professor of human development and family studies, has received a $16,000 university research grant for a study focusing on housing issues among welfare families in Iowa.

The new faculty member grant will act as “seed” money to develop a qualitative study of 30 families in five different Iowa communities.

Crull was hired in 1995 and is in her last year of eligibility for this type of grant. The grant is designed to give professors an opportunity to start research that may attract other grants and result in further studies.

She will be collaborating with Christine Cook, associate professor of human development and family studies, and two Extension specialists, Mary Yearns and Cynthia Fletcher.

“I’m really glad the university supports their new faculty in this manner; it’s a great opportunity,” Crull said.

The research will “piggy-back” an existing study of welfare reform currently being performed by the family and consumer science faculty in conjunction with local Extension field staff. Crull’s study will add a housing component and use the subjects in the current study.

In 1996, the U.S. welfare system went from a federally controlled program to a state-administrated program; however, it said little about housing, Crull said.

“Housing is one of the largest expenditures that any family can have,” she said. “Many times, housing takes up most of a low-income family’s budget.”

The study is designed to examine how these families are housing themselves while receiving very little money from the welfare system. Through interviews with the families, the proposed study will look at the outcomes of rural low-income families after they have been dropped from the welfare program.

The researchers plan to talk to housing providers and see how they view housing availability to low-income families in their community. It also will include community leaders responsible for welfare reform where the families live.

“We want to ask them, ‘How do you house low-income people in your community?'” Crull said. “Do they even consider it a priority?”

People earning minimum wage often are not able to afford living in the area they work, she said.

“Ames is a perfect example,” Crull said. “Many people who work in Ames, at the university, etc., cannot afford to live in Ames.”

They have to live in small towns in surrounding communities because the housing is much cheaper, she said.

Crull hopes the research done this summer will lead to further support for an in-depth study in the future to cover all of Iowa or even include surrounding states.