Now, for $73 a month, McDougall and her children — ages 9, 8, 4 and 3 — live in a home in the Sugar House area. Without the assistance, which was secured through the help of staff at the Road Home, McDougall said her family would be in much worse shape.

"We'd be on the street probably," McDougall said. "I'm really lucky."

According to the 2005 KIDS COUNT report, of the 65 percent of Utah children in low-income families, parents spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

McDougall also takes advantages of other resources, such as Medicaid and child care services, which allows her to keep her job at a Salt Lake City restaurant.

Today's report indicates these types of services, which remove barriers to employment for parents, are critical to enhancing the overall well-being of children in the nation. It identifies four main obstacles to employment for parents — substance abuse, domestic violence, prior incarceration and depression — and urges changes to the way in which states approach these issues.

"The reality is that children do better in households that are economically stable," Haven said. "In order to make sure our children are doing well and are going to succeed, we need to make sure the parents are doing well and are going to succeed, as well."

McDougall agreed.

"That's true. I think they kind of ignore the parents," she said. "They do all these things for kids, which kids need, but the parents need help, too."

According to the report, the number of children in low-income households where no adult worked jumped from 2.9 million to 3.9 million between 2000 and 2004. In Utah, 26 percent of children in 2003 lived in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment.

University of Utah social work professor MaryBeth Vogel-Ferguson has spent several years studying Utahns who reach the 36-month welfare limit and "time out" of the system. The research has revealed the need for proper assessment of welfare recipients' needs in order to overcome the barriers to permanent employment.

To that end, she said, the survey will hopefully help educate state and national officials of the needs to address all areas of child well-being — including the well-being of parents — when making public policy decisions.

"It's always good that we continue to try and help people understand (that) when these things exist it's very difficult for somebody to just jump up and get their kids off to school and head off to a job," Vogel-Ferguson said. "When parents are struggling, kids suffer. So addressing the needs of parents are is really critical."

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com