DFCS, schools battle poverty

from The Rome News Tribune

By Andrea Freygang, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer

The number of people living in poverty in Floyd County increased from 12,785 to 17,296 between 1995 to 2005 according to a recent study released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

That means almost 4 percent more, or a total of 19.3 percent of the total population, is living in poverty.

A family of four making less than $20,000 a year or an individual making less than $10,000 annually falls below the poverty line.

The impact of that increase is being seen in agencies across the county that provide services to those in need.

Pat Townley, county nurse manager for the Floyd County Health Department, said the number of people seeking WIC (food supplements for pregnant women and families) stayed steady for years at about 2,700 people but reached 3,400 in 2007.

She also said the free clinic operated at the health department has been forced to expand hours and is expected to eventually be open full-time.

Ross Collins, director of the Floyd County Department of Family and Children Services, said his office has also been impacted. “Seeing an increase in the poverty rate is bad,” he said, adding that there’s been a decrease in food stamp and cash assistance requests but an increase in Medicaid, which has a higher income threshold.

“As a community, we need to look at this comprehensively to combat on every level because, unfortunately, I think we have a lot of people who don’t fall into poverty statistics and are just above, barely making it, because the poverty level has not been adjusted in a number of years, while the cost of everything has increased.”

Collins said the real story is how children are affected by poverty, and according to census figures, more than 6,000 Floyd Countians living in poverty are children.

Children raised in poverty often struggle in school and in the end have fewer opportunities of landing good jobs, he said.

Rome City Schools Superintendent Gayland Cooper agrees. “Poverty affects the learning of the child, so they can be behind in school, which can put a strain on school resources because we have to do more early interventions, and there are often learning deficiencies that have to be addressed,” said Cooper.

“And while we don’t allow poverty to be an excuse for not learning,” Cooper said, “a lot of these children can be a year or two behind and have to catch up.”

Carol Willis, executive director of the Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth, said her organization is looking hard at the issue.

“It puts stress on families because it’s hard to maintain a healthy family when you work so hard or can’t find work,” said Willis. “Our programs address some of that because our goal is to provide what they need so the family situation can be healthy and the child can blossom.

“That rising level — a four percent increase in poverty — can have a huge ripple affect on children and families,” she continued. “Any increase is significant and means a lot of agencies have a lot of additional pressure on them to address the needs of those in poverty.”