Income erodes, poverty gains in Minnesota

from the Star Tribune

Now it's Minnesota's turn. The census bureau also found that the medium income in Minnesota dropped. - Kale

By WARREN WOLFE, Star Tribune

The results reflect the downturn in Minnesota's economy that began two years ago, while the national figures were still improving, said state economist Tom Stinson.

"It's not a surprise," he said. "But the census report does reflect the reality that Minnesota hit the wall in job formation early in 2006 and pretty much stayed there. We probably won't begin to recover until next year."

Even though the report shows Minnesota was declining while national measures were improving, the state remained among the highest in income and lowest in poverty.

Using two-year averages, the report said Minnesota's median income dropped from $59,583 in 2004-2005 to $57,932 in 2006-2007.

That compares with $49,901 nationally, putting Minnesota eighth-highest.

There were about 482,000 Minnesotans in poverty last year, up 60,000 from 2006. The poverty rate rose from 8.2 percent to 9.3 percent.

That dropped Minnesota from fifth-lowest in 2006 to ninth-lowest last year, still well below the national rate of 12.4 percent. The poverty guideline in 2007 was $13,690 for a family of two, or $20,650 for four.

"Our hope is that next year's report won't show any worsening of the situation in Minnesota," Stinson said. "This quarter is probably the strongest of the year, and it will probably be next spring -- my crystal ball's a little cloudy here -- that we begin to see improvement nationally and in Minnesota."

The Legislature responded to recent economic problems with budget cuts "that made it hard for low- to moderate-income workers to make ends meet," said Katherine Blauvelt, policy analyst with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. She urged lawmakers to find different solutions as they face another deficit next year.

There was a bright spot in Tuesday's census report.

The number of Minnesotans without health insurance dropped by about 42,000 people to 433,000, from 9.2 percent of the population to 8.3 percent.

With the national rate at 15.3 percent, Minnesota ranked fourth-lowest in the percentage of uninsured.

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More Kentuckians living in poverty

from the Lexington Herald Leader

Kentucky regressed in some areas in the census bureau stats. - Kale

By Valarie Honeycutt Spears

The number of Kentuckians living in poverty last year increased only slightly, from 17 percent of the population in 2006 to 17.3 percent in 2007, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report.

A much bigger increase was seen in the percentage of people without health insurance, rising from 13 percent in 2004-2005 to 14.6 percent in 2006-2007. Insurance rates are measured over two-year periods.

Overall, Kentucky ranks 48th among states in income, compared with 45th in 2006. It is the fifth-highest state in terms of the number of people living in poverty.

In reaction to the report, the state's leading child-advocacy group says that families in the state are faring far worse over time. Kentucky's poverty rate has risen significantly since 2001, when it was 15.4 percent, Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, said in a press release.

Median household income in the state also dropped last year and is below the national average of $50,233, according to census figures released Tuesday.

However, Kenneth Troske, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Kentucky, said that although Kentucky is a poor state, he doubts we've grown poorer this past year.

"I don't know whether or not the census numbers are correct, but they just don't fit with other data we have on the state's economy," Troske said.

Troske said there was a 2.3 percent increase in the amount of goods and services produced in Kentucky in 2007, according to national figures.

Brooks, of Kentucky Youth Advocates, said the census numbers on poverty are cause for alarm.

"Despite several years of economic growth, Kentucky's families actually lost ground in reducing poverty, improving health coverage or increasing family incomes," Brooks said.

"Now that the economy has weakened, things are likely to get worse ... for the most vulnerable of Kentuckians," he said.

More children younger than 18 were living in poverty in 2007, 23.4 percent, compared with 22.3 percent in 2006.

Kentucky's median household income decreased from $40,489 in 2006 to $40,267 in 2007.

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Cleveland has second highest poverty rank in US

from Business Week

If you are curious, Detroit was number one. - Kale

By M.R. KROPKO

Cleveland was the nation's second most impoverished big city in 2007, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey released Tuesday.

The northeast Ohio city along Lake Erie is among U.S. cities which have suffered from job losses and a rising tide of foreclosures.

The data indicates Ohio has pockets of poverty statewide. Ohio's poverty rate was 13.1 percent, ranking it 19th among states nationally and tied with South Dakota, just a tenth of a percentage point above the national average.

Cleveland, with an estimated 29.5 percent of its population in poverty, is ranked only behind Detroit among cities with 250,000 or more people. Detroit had an estimated 33.8 percent in poverty last year.

The Census data put Cleveland's total up 2.5 percentage points from last year's report. A year ago, the American Community Survey using 2006 data ranked Cleveland as the fourth most impoverished city, with a 27 percent poverty rate.

Two of the three years before that, Cleveland had the highest poverty ranking in the nation.

In the Census data released Tuesday, Cincinnati ranked 10th nationally, with an estimated 23.5 percent of its population in poverty. In last year's report, Cincinnati's estimated poverty rate was 27.8 percent, or third highest nationally among big cities.

Two smaller Ohio cities, Youngstown and Dayton, were estimated to have poverty rates higher than Cleveland's but less that Detroit's.

According to the Census estimates, Youngstown's poverty rate in 2007 was 32.6 percent and Dayton's was 30.2 percent.

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Incomes fall in Michigan, number in poverty rises

from the Galveston Daily News

While most states had steady poverty rates, the news wasn't good for our home state of Michigan. - Kale

By JOHN FLESHER

TRAVERSE CITY -- Government data painted a bleak economic picture for Michigan, where the auto industry's downward plunge has rippled across the state.

Michigan was the only state where poverty rose last year, as well as the only one where incomes fell, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics released Tuesday that illustrate the uniqueness of the state's economic swoon.

"It's really a depressing picture," said Amy Rynell, director of the Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty, an advocacy group based in Chicago.

Michigan's poverty rate was 14 percent, up from 13.5 percent in 2006 and more than a full percentage point above the national rate, which was virtually unchanged during the same period. The state's rate has grown steadily since 2000, when it was just above 10 percent. The number of people in poverty increased by 45,000 during 2006-07.

The 2007 median income in Michigan was $47,950, down 1.2 percent or $596 from the 2006 median of $48,546. The state's nationwide ranking slid from 24th to 27th.

Nationwide, the median household income rose to $50,233, a modest increase of $665 from the previous year, although it was the third consecutive annual rise. While the overall poverty rate held steady at 12.5 percent, Latinos, children and the foreign-born - demographic categories that overlap considerably - experienced significant increases.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has emphasized diversifying the state's economy, promoting growth of industries such as defense contracting, alternative energy and film production. The Democratic governor and lawmakers this year boosted tax incentives for businesses adding jobs.

Last week, Granholm announced 20 new business expansions or relocations expected to bring $658 million in new investment to the state.

Whether such improvements will be enough to offset continued gloomy news from the automotive sector remains to be seen. But the 2007 statistics, reported in the Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey, offer little reason for optimism.

They also showed Michigan's rate of "extreme poverty" - a yearly income of less than half the poverty threshold, or $10,325 for a family of four - jumped from 6 percent in 2006 to 6.5 percent last year. Eight years ago, the rate was 4.8 percent.

"We know that people with incomes that low are living in unsafe conditions," Rynell said. "Children probably are not getting enough healthy food to eat. People may be living in shelters. Seniors are likely skipping dosages of medication to make ends meet."

The child poverty rate increased from 17.8 percent to 19 percent between 2006-07, while the national rate stood at 17.6 percent.

Detroit's poverty rate of 33.8 percent was highest among cities of 250,000 or more, while Kalamazoo and Flint tied for fifth among cities of 65,000 to 249,999 people. Both had rates of 35.5 percent.

"We know that many people are struggling harder and harder just to get by, and more vulnerable people are turning to public services for help," said Sharon Parks, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Human Services. "This reinforces the need to strengthen our strained safety net, and policymakers must pay attention to these startling figures."

In another report released Tuesday, the Census Bureau said 11 percent of Michigan residents had no health insurance coverage in 2007 - up from 10.4 percent in 2006 and 9.1 percent at the beginning of the decade.

But that was one category in which Michigan fared better than most other states. The national average of uninsured citizens was 15.5 percent, and Michigan ranked 11th best nationally in providing health coverage.

More than 18 percent of Michigan residents get some type of assistance through the state Department of Human Services, said Sheryl Thompson, acting director of outstate operations.

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557,000 Oklahomans lived in poverty last year

from the Boston Globe

Here are the census stats in regards to the state of Oklahoma. - Kale

By Justin Juozapavicius,

TULSA, Okla. --Nearly one in six Oklahomans lived in poverty last year, even as the state's economy continued to do well, according to figures released Tuesday from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

The survey, which provides statistics on income, earnings and housing, among others, found that 557,000 Oklahomans -- 15.9 percent -- were in poverty in 2007, slightly lower than the 17 percent of residents who lived in poverty in 2006.

Twelve states, including Oklahoma, all had lower poverty rates in the 2007 survey than in 2006.

Even with the slight improvement, the survey found that Oklahoma's poverty rate still remained above the national average of 13 percent in 2007.

Nationally, the survey estimated more than 38 million Americans lived in poverty last year. New Hampshire had the lowest poverty rate in the nation with 7.1 percent, while Mississippi had the highest with 20.6 percent.

The situation in Oklahoma, where continued expansion of the oil and gas industry helped personal income grow by nearly 1 percent in the first quarter of 2008, is a "classic glass half-full, half-empty story," said David Blatt, director of policy for the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

"We have to remember that there is a substantial part of the population that has not enjoyed the boom," Blatt said. "People frequently say a rising tide lifts all boats. We see here with these numbers that a substantial part of the population has been left off the boat and left, frankly, floundering in the water."

Those hit the hardest by poverty in Oklahoma include children, people without high school degrees, ethnic minorities and single-parent families, Blatt said.

The community survey also found that the state's median household income was $41,567 in 2007, an increase of $1,802 from the year before. The figure is still $9,173 below the national median.

Another survey released by the bureau Tuesday, along with data from Oklahoma's Insurance Department, found that more than 661,000, or more than 18 percent, of Oklahomans did not have health insurance from 2006-2007. Oklahoma also has the fifth-highest uninsured rate in the U.S. for residents ages 19-64.

Kim Holland, the state's insurance commissioner, described the situation here as one that's "not gotten much worse or gotten much better," and added that funding for programs remains the challenge.

"How do we generate more revenue that can be dedicated to expanding access for health insurance?" Holland said. "If we could finance what the Legislature has approved, we could go from fifth in the nation to last in the nation in terms of uninsured. We just have to find the funding mechanism."

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U.S. uninsured numbers drop, poverty flat

from Reuters

Here are some of the raw stats and facts from the census bureau. - Kale

The U.S. Census Bureau released 2007 figures on Tuesday showing fewer Americans went without health insurance and the official poverty rate remained steady.

Following are some key numbers issued by the agency.

HEALTH INSURANCE

-- A total of 45.7 million or 15.3 percent of people lacked public or private health insurance in 2007, down from from 47 million or 15.8 percent in 2006.

-- In 2007, 27.8 percent of people had government insurance such as Medicare or Medicaid, up from 27 percent in 2006, while 67.5 percent had private health plans, down from 67.9 percent a year earlier.

POVERTY RATE

-- In 2007, 37.3 million people were defined as living in poverty, up from 36.5 million in 2006, but the official poverty rate was 12.5 percent, unchanged from 2006. Eighteen percent of children (13.3 million) were impoverished in 2007, up from 17.4 percent (12.8 million) in 2006.

-- The poverty threshold in 2007 was $21,203 for a family of four; for a family of three, $16,530; for a family of two, $13,540; and for individuals $10,590.

-- Among large cities, Detroit had the highest poverty rate (33.8 percent). Among the 50 states, poverty rates ranged from 7.1 percent in New Hampshire to 20.6 percent in Mississippi.

-- Among foreign-born people, the poverty rate increased to 16.5 percent from 15.2 percent in 2006. Of U.S.-born people, 11.9 percent were in poverty in 2007, unchanged from 2006.

HOUSEHOLD INCOME

-- Real median household income gained 1.3 percent between 2006 and 2007, from $49,568 to $50,233. It rose in the Midwest ($50,277) and the South ($46,186) from 2006 to 2007, fell in the Northeast ($52,274) and was steady in the West ($54,138).

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More people in Nebraska, Iowa lacking health insurance

from the Omaha World Herald

The perspective from the farm belt. The numbers with health insurance dropped by 1 million since the Bush administration began. - Kale

BY CINDY GONZALEZ

The percentage of people in Nebraska and Iowa lacking health insurance is rising, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

The figures compare the 2006-2007 average with the average of 2004-2005.

The census figures show that 12.8 percent of Nebraskans were without health insurance coverage in the most current two years, up from 10.5 percent.

In Iowa, the percentage of uninsured went from 8.7 percent to 9.9 percent.

Nebraska and Iowa were among 10 states that had a rate increase.

Both states' rates of uninsured still falls below the nationwide 2006-2007 average of 15.5 percent. The percentage of Americans without insurance in 2005-2004 was 15.1 percent.

The data are part of a new census report on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States.

The report says both the number and percentage of people without health insurance nationally decreased in the one year period between 2006 and 2007.

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Household income up, poverty level falls in Colorado

from the Denver Business Journal

Here they come! The US census bureau figures generally remain the same for the nation. Here is a look at Colorado.

The median household income of Colorado residents has increased by more than 8 percent since 2004, or four times the national average.

The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday reported the median income in Colorado has risen to $59,209 (based on a two-year average from 2006-07) from $54,719 (based on a two-year average from 2004-2005).

The 8.2 percent increase is considered statistically significant, according to the Census Bureau.

Nationally, the median income rose by 2 percent during the same period, to $49,901 from $48,934.

During the same period, the percentage of Coloradans -— and Americans as a whole — living in poverty dipped. A family of four earning less than $21,203 a year is considered to be living in poverty.

The percentage of Coloradans in poverty dropped to 9.8 percent during the 2006-07 period from 10.7 percent in 2004-05. Nationally, the poverty figure fell to 12.4 percent from 12.7 percent.

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Appalachian poverty rate may dip slightly

from the Evening Sun

The census bureau in the US will release the new poverty figures today. So you will see quite a bit mentioned about it here today, and how it relates to certain states or areas of the US. - Kale

By P.J. DICKERSCHEID

The number of Appalachian residents living in poverty is expected to fall slightly.

But anti-poverty experts say the slight improvement should be short-lived as wages drop, the job market weakens and household expenses rise.

The U.S. Census Bureau plans to release figures Tuesday on income, poverty and health insurance coverage from 2007.

In 2006, America's poverty rate was 12.3 percent, down from 12.6 percent the year before.

Appalachia includes all of West Virginia and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

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Thousands of CA Children Could Lose Heath Insurance

from KTLA

The state of California has been trying in insure all children. But that process may take some steps backward. this explains some of the effects that may have. - Kale

By Jordan Rau,

SACRAMENTO -- California's promising strides toward extending medical coverage to all its children, a longtime goal of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and one advocates believed was in reach by decade's end, has stalled -- and thousands of kids are in danger of losing insurance.

The trend is likely to further destabilize California's already shaky healthcare system. Studies have found that children without insurance are less likely to go to the doctor for routine visits that allow early diagnoses and treatment for diabetes, obesity and other increasingly common ailments.

Uninsured children are more likely to end up in the hospital or in the state's clogged emergency rooms, where much of the cost of their care is passed along to insured people through higher premiums. Uninsured children tend to perform worse in school and miss more classes than those with coverage, several studies have found.

Between 2001 and 2005, the number of Californians younger than 19 who were uninsured at any given time decreased 25% to about 763,000, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

Most of the drop came through aggressive enrollment efforts in state and private healthcare programs and despite the erosion of employer-based insurance, which was leaving more adults without coverage.

But legislative budget negotiators this year have decided to increase premiums for the state's Healthy Families program, which pays for medical care for more than 850,000 children of low-income workers who are above the federal poverty line.

The state estimates that the parents of 19,000 children will end up dropping out of the program by July because of the $2 or $3 monthly increases. A family with three or more children, earning between two and 2 1/2 times the federal poverty level of $24,800 a year, would see the monthly premium rise to $51.

Lawmakers also have decided to require the parents of 3.4 million Californians who are below the federal poverty line to renew their Medi-Cal health coverage every six months.

The Schwarzenegger administration expects that rule will pare Medi-Cal rolls by about 196,000 children over the next two years.

State officials say some of those families would leave the program anyway either because they moved or found jobs, but advocates believe many who are entitled to the program will fail to file the paperwork and will fall off the rolls.

The changes to subsidized or free health programs come as private health initiatives that pay for the care of children are running out of money, causing them to limit the number they cover.

Altogether, "thousands of California children are likely to lose health insurance coverage they now have," said E. Richard Brown, the director of UCLA's research center.

These privately run initiatives exist in 30 counties, arranging medical care for children who are not legal residents or whose families earn slightly more than the threshold for public programs.

Enrollment in the initiatives has dropped by 8,000 in the last two years, to 80,000, according to Wendy Lazarus, co-president of the Children's Partnership, a nonprofit advocacy group.

Alameda County's initiative, which insures 1,023 children, is ending next month after one of its funders pulled out. The Children's Health Initiative of Greater Los Angeles has not added any children older than 5 since October and is scrambling to secure more funding to continue operating through the fall.

Its enrollment dropped 27% in the last three years, to 33,000 children. There are about 200,000 uninsured children in the county.

"We're certainly disappointed that Alameda will close down," said Elaine Batchlor, chief medical officer at L.A. Care, a nonprofit health plan that runs the program.

"We certainly hope we won't have to."

With its large numbers of poor and undocumented children, California has lagged behind most other states in several indicators of health.

For instance, a quarter of the state's children under age 12 had never visited a dentist, according to a report issued last year by the California HealthCare Foundation, an Oakland philanthropy.

The report is based on data from 2005, the most recent year for which information is available.

In 2005, California toddlers were less likely than the national average to receive the recommended doses of five key vaccines, according to a report from the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit healthcare foundation in New York.

Karen Davis, the foundation's president, said the rankings suggest that California does not have enough healthcare providers regularly serving its low-income people.

"I know the state has made a concerted effort to cover children, but even in that, it ranks 42nd," she said.

State officials fear that children with insurance may have a harder time finding doctors willing to treat them, because lawmakers cut Medi-Cal reimbursements by 10% this year.

During the 2003 recall campaign against then-Gov. Gray Davis, Schwarzenegger said he wanted all children to have medical coverage. Enrollment in the state's children's programs grew steadily during his early tenure.

Then, shortly after his 2006 reelection, Schwarzenegger unveiled a proposal to cover all children and most adults.

But the California Senate in January rejected a $14.9-billion deal between Schwarzenegger and Assembly Democrats.

Lawmakers also declined advocates' appeal to cover all children, saying the roughly $500-million annual cost was too much, given the state's $15.2-billion budget gap.

The state Health and Human Services Agency estimates several thousand children will be newly covered next year because of population increases and families enrolling their children in the state programs after losing private coverage.

"We continue to do outreach; we continue to enroll kids at a rapid rate," said Amy Palmer, an agency spokeswoman.

The privately run initiatives are underwritten primarily by First 5 commissions, which are funded by cigarette taxes; nonprofit foundations devoted to healthcare; and some local health plans and governments. But the foundations and governments supported the initiatives with the idea that they were stop-gaps until the state or Washington devised a comprehensive solution.

Dr. Robert Ross, president of the California Endowment, a Los Angeles-based healthcare philanthropy, said that his foundation's directors have agreed to continue underwriting some of the private insurance efforts for a few more years, but that they expect government to ultimately shoulder the responsibility.

"They're not willing to fund this forever," he said of his directors.



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Poverty's punch: Stress, uncertainty haunt children in poverty

from the Janesville Gazette

This profiles some children in the Janesviille Wisconsin area who are growing up poor. It is part of the newspapers series on poverty. - Kale

By STACY VOGEL

JANESVILLE — Cullen McAdory’s eyes flashed as he stood on the front porch, arms crossed over his basketball jersey. He wanted to play outside, but his mom wouldn’t let him because he was suspended from school.

“Cullen, please, let’s not argue today,” his mother, Kathy Patrick, said wearily. “Right now, you’re supposed to be in school, and because you made bad choices, and decided not to go to school today, or they made you not go to school today, that means you need to stay in the house today until 3 o’clock.”

“You grounded me yesterday,” he replied with a lisp that made “grounded” sound like “gwounded.” “You said for one day you’d ground me.”

“From yesterday, that was something different. I’m not gonna argue.”

“You’re the one who starts everything!” Cullen stamped his feet. “You lie to me about, like, everything!”

Cullen has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and when he isn’t on the right medications, his temper can get violent, Kathy explained. His doctor is trying to find the right combination of medicine for him, but meanwhile, the whole family suffers from Cullen’s outbursts.

A few minutes later, Kathy answered her cell phone, and Cullen took his chance to sneak out with his bike.

Children hit hard

Poverty can have profound effects on children, especially those who experience it early in life, according to a report from the National Center for Children in Poverty. Chronic hardship can hinder children’s development and their ability to learn and contribute to behavioral, social and emotional problems, the report states.

Kathy, 36, has seen those effects in her own children as she struggles to pull her family out of poverty.

Carl, 10, and Cullen, 8, have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorders. Neither has a male guardian or role model in his life, and Kathy believes their behavioral problems might have something to do with stress caused by her failed relationship with their father.

Though Carl does well in school, he refuses to do his homework—to the point that he almost failed fourth grade last year. Kathy tries and tries to discipline him, but she’s not sure how. Besides, her own studies and jobs leave her little time to make sure the children attend to their schoolwork.

All four of the children—Carl, Cullen, Kiara, 7, and Keegan, 5,—have trouble trusting Kathy since they were sent to foster homes five years ago. Even little Keegan accused his mother of “lying” to him when she told him she’d make pancakes and didn’t make them right away.

Jessica Grandt is a social worker at Wilson Elementary School, where Kathy’s three oldest children attend and where Keegan will start kindergarten next month. She has seen different reactions from children in poverty to the stress in their lives.

Some, like Cullen, act out. Others withdraw, ashamed of their situations, or worry incessantly. Stress can affect their health, sleeping patterns and schoolwork, she said.

“(Cullen’s) behavioral problems are definitely part of the chaos that is part of their household,” Grandt said. “Being a single parent, and the stress Kathy goes through, I definitely think that contributes to that.”

The children pick up on Kathy’s financial problems, Grandt said. Kathy has struggled to find transportation after an acquaintance crashed her car last fall. Even if she had a car, she probably couldn’t afford the gas to run it, Kathy said.

The family usually has to walk or take the bus. As a result, the children are often late to school, making their days even more hectic, Grandt said.

Kiara and Carl both seem well-adjusted, though, and have solid friendships. And Cullen is a good kid at heart, Grandt said.

“With everything, even with Cullen’s behavioral struggles and all that, everybody at Wilson adores those kids,” she said. “I think despite all the stress and the chaos that exists in their lives, they’re great kids.”

Lack of stability

It’s not just a lack of income that affects children in poverty, the National Center for Children in Poverty writes. These children often experience chaotic and unpredictable home lives. Income rises and falls as parents change jobs or lose them suddenly. Families in poverty tend to move a lot, searching for lower rent or fresh starts, further uprooting the children.

Parents in poverty are more likely to experience severe stress and depression, which also affects their children, the report says.

Children crave stability, and they often don’t find it in low-income homes, Grandt said.

“Kids can be pretty resilient, but it’s hard,” she said. “They’re kids, and they’re dealing with things they should never have to deal with.”

The McAdory children have already been through a lot in their young lives. Kathy had an on-again, off-again relationship with their father, who did drugs and occasionally abused Kathy, she said.

When Keegan was just a few months old, all four children were sent to foster care. Their father was still using drugs, and Kathy didn’t have a job or electricity in her home. Kathy ended the relationship for good after she lost her children, she said.

The children bounced around between relatives and foster parents for more than two years before Kathy got them back.

“That’s affected their behavior completely. I know it has,” Kathy said. “You’re taken from your family at a young age and placed in a complete stranger’s home; you’re thinking, why in the heck are you there?”

Kathy was thrilled to get her children back, but it’s been tough, she said. They’re too young to understand what happened, and she thinks they subconsciously blame her for giving them up.

Meanwhile, Kathy struggles to care for the children on her own while attending school and working part-time jobs.

“I have so much going on in my head and so much going on at home, it’s like very overwhelming,” she said. “It’s like I try to do one thing, and while I’m doing this one thing, something else is going on over here. It’s constantly back and forth, back and forth …

“Families need that two-parent thing; I really, truly believe that.”

So Kathy looks for role models for her children elsewhere. Carl and Cullen both attend weekly counseling sessions, and Cullen has a special counselor assigned to him from the Janesville School District.

She’s eager to get Carl, Cullen and Kiara into the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, but the waiting list is long, she said.

Long-term effects

Life isn’t always stressful in the Patrick household. Keegan and Kiara are friendly and affectionate, especially with their mother, while Carl and Cullen often seem like typical pre-teen boys, running around with their friends, playing games and getting into mischief.

Still, the stress the children go through can have permanent results. Children who grow up in poverty are more likely to drop out of school, have poor adolescent and adult health and struggle with poverty as adults, the National Center for Children in Poverty report states.

Kathy doesn’t want that to happen to her children. That’s why she decided to get her family in order this summer, especially because she was on a break from her work-study jobs. She’s going to have some tough classes in the fall, and she and the children can’t go through another year like they just had, she said.

“That’s why I’m not too stressed about getting a job,” she said. “Yeah, I really want one. Do we financially need one? No. We’ll just have to struggle like we have been doing. But my most important thing now is focusing on getting our family and my kids’ heads straight.”

At a counselor’s suggestion, Kathy put a piece of cardboard on the wall listing the children’s names with space for stickers for when they do their chores. A few days after she put it up, only Kiara had a sticker.

Weathering the storm

A few weeks after Cullen’s bike outburst, a new, hand-written sign hung on Kathy’s front door:

“No smoking!! Take your shoes off!! or don’t come in!!”

Kathy and Cullen sat curled on the couch watching TV as rain poured outside. Cullen was sent home from summer school earlier that day because he didn’t want to participate.

Kiara and Carl were still at summer school; Keegan had gone with a family friend to the Rock County Job Center to play in the day care while the friend collected food assistance.

Cullen wanted to go to a neighbor’s house, but Kathy told him to stay inside.

“Why can’t you stay here and snuggle with me?” she teased as thunder rolled in the distance. “We never get to spend time together.”

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Paying for Performance

from the Washington Post

The experiment of giving cash for good grades is expanding in the US. The hope is that cash can help motivate students in districts with high povcerty rates. This snip from the Washington Post story explains the new program starting in the nations capitol.

Costs of the incentive will be split almost equally between the school system and Harvard's American Inequity Lab, which studies poverty and race issues. The program, Capital Gains, will be run by Roland G. Fryer Jr., an economics professor with the lab. Fryer also operates a pilot program in New York City public schools.

In justifying the program, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said the city has spent an inordinate amount on a school bureaucracy over the years that has failed students. Instead, he said, why not direct some of the cash to the students.

"If it seems outside of the box, it is," Fenty said.

A cash-incentive program that pays high school students as much as $500 for earning a 3 or more on an Advanced Placement test has been launched in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky and Virginia.

A study of the program released yesterday by a Cornell University economist said the incentive resulted in higher scores and an increase in the number of students attending college.

Alfie Kohn, an independent researcher whose book, "Punished by Rewards," details the downside of such programs, said incentives "undermine the very thing you're trying to promote by getting them hooked on the rewards."

Rhee said she is targeting sixth- through eighth-graders because some students in the group typically have had intractable behavior and academic problems. She said middle school is a pivotal time because many students are setting the patterns to become high school scholars or dropouts.

District middle-schoolers, often trapped in violent and academically weak campuses, typically flee the system in higher proportions than other groups, school officials said. Thirty-six percent of the city's middle-grade students are proficient in reading, and 33 percent are proficient in math, Rhee said.

The schools need to focus on "how we can ensure that students are engaged, that they are invested in their education," Rhee said. "I think it's incredibly important to make sure students take ownership of their learning."

Parents had mixed reactions to the program. Some said it was an understandable solution to an intractable problem. Others said students should not receive money to go to class. "I just totally disagree with this," said Dionne Davis, whose daughter attends seventh grade at Hardy Middle School. "I think the incentive should come from within, just to want to do well, rather than doing it for a dollar." Her daughter was not so sure.

"I think it's a good idea," said Samantha, 11. "I think middle schoolers should have rewards for getting good grades and stuff on their tests. . . . I would save it for college and maybe give some to charity."

Some school activists expressed shock and anger at the incentive.

"That's pretty pitiful," said Mary Levy, director of the Public Education Reform Project for the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. "It makes me sad to see we've sunk so low that we have to pay kids to show up."

Rhee said that if the incentive program is successful she could expand it to 14 other middle schools and possibly high schools. Parents can choose not to allow children to participate in the program.

Fryer said D.C. school officials will establish criteria for the program and he will track the progress. "The key is innovation, not just sitting around watching the test scores dwindle," he said.

Fryer is working with 62 schools in New York, which provides as much as $500 for fourth- and seventh-graders who perform well on a standardized test.

He said his staff is collecting data to gauge progress. Surveys of students and parents show support for the concept, he said. Results showed that 96 percent of the schools participating in the program reported that they were excited about the money; 91 percent reported an increased focus on exams; and 59 percent reported better classroom performance.

"The kids unquestionably love it. Whether that is translating into higher performance, I can't tell you for a fact" until a report is released in October, said David Cantor, spokesman for the New York Department of Education. The program, funded by private donations, cost $400,000 last year.

A program in Virginia is paying students for passing AP scores at 14 high schools in rural and high-poverty areas across the state.

Students who receive grades of 3 or more receive $100 per test, said Paul Nichols, president of Virginia Advanced Study Strategies. The program also trains AP teachers, subsidizes test costs and provides extra materials to AP classes. It began in spring, but has had an immediate effect on enrollment.

"The numbers of students in these schools that have signed up to take AP classes has more than doubled," Nichols said. "In the small rural schools, it has tripled."

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Dormont Couple Living Without Natural Gas

from KDKA

The link below has the video story. - Kale

DORMONT ― With prices of food and gas rising, more people are struggling to keep up with the cost of the necessities, including those monthly natural gas rates that have gone up as much as 65 percent.

When you think of going without natural gas, you think of those cold winters, but even in the summer, getting your gas shut off makes life very difficult.

"We had our gas shut off - had to be at least three months ago or so," John Semplice said.

Since then, life on the second floor of their duplex in Dormont hasn't been easy for John and Caryl.

"I hate it. You know I just wish they could help us more than what they have," Caryl said. " They say you don't miss something until you don't have it."

Not having natural gas not only means the gas stove won't work - the hot water tank doesn't work either.

"We take cold showers. It's not so bad now with the humidity, but even then you come out of a cold shower and you are cold," Caryl said.

The Semplices are among thousands of area families facing this winter without natural gas.

"What I make a month and what my wife makes a month right now on these two jobs alone," John says, "we can't afford to pay what Equitable Gas wants us to pay for a monthly budget."

Those monthly payments are $274 - a payment the Public Utility Commission had helped arrange after the Semplices fell behind in payments once before. The PUC won't help them again and Equitable says if they want their gas turned back on, they have to come up with over $2,000.

"I'm starting to work my second job today so I'll have two jobs ... and he has a fulltime job and he's thinking about getting a second part-time job," Caryl said.

Because the Semplice's gross income is just under 250 percent of poverty level, there is little if any help available.

Starting in November, the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, and Crisis will offer help to families whose income is at or less than 150 percent of the poverty level. Starting in October, Dollar Energy provides help to families whose income is at or below 200 percent of the poverty level.

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Fort Collins Officials Unveil Plan to End Homelessness

from Fort Collins Now

An effort in Colorado to end homelessness. Their goal is to end it in 10 years. - Kale

By Matt Brady

Philip Mangano, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, made a special appearance in Fort Collins at a press conference held at 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 21 to rally locals as the city announced its commitment to ending homelessness in ten years.

In the first step toward that goal, UniverCity Connections' Homelessness Initiative Task Group unveiled a comprehensive report, over six months in the making, that lays out in detail the numbers and makeup of Fort Collins' homeless population. The report also provides recommendations, specially tailored for Fort Collins, for how to end homelessness.

Recommendations include determining how many new units of permanent and supportive housing are needed to shelter the homeless population, and to develop coordinated plans with local medical and detox centers to close gaps in connecting the homeless to services.

The investigative report, funded by an anonymous donor through the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, was spearheaded by Dr. Jamie Van Leeuwen, who was selected by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper to head up Denver's Road Home. The Road Home is Denver's manifestation of its own 10-year-plan to end homelessness; since its implementation four years ago, Denver has seen a 36% reduction in chronic homelessness.

Dr. Van Leeuwen was brought in to head the report as an objective, outside observer. He said in an interview that it's now Fort Collins task to take the report and put it to action, whereas he will continue on separately with his work in Denver.

"It's not my opinion you need," he said. 'The community needs to say this is what we need and here's where we need it."

Fort Collins Mayor Doug Hutchinson spoke alongside Mangano and Van Leeuwen to announce Fort Collins resolve to join Denver in cities that are choosing to make strides to eradicate homelessness.

He threw his support behind the new initiative by becoming one of nearly 400 Mayor and county officials across the country to sign the America's Road Home Statement of Principles and Action, which was co-convened last October by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and has been adopted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and National Association of Counties.

"The hardest part of solving a problem is finding it," Mayor Hutchinson said to the crowd. He went on to express enthusiasm for the report, which he believes has successfully mapped out the homeless problem in Fort Collins, making it easier to know the tools and efforts needed to address it. "This sets a very solid foundation to build on. It's a tremendous step, a springboard and a foundation."

Mangano praised Fort Collins' initiative in forging the report, saying that the local community has done a great and rare thing by addressing the problem of homelessness before it becomes a local epidemic.

"I'm proud to be in your city today," he said to the crowd. "Many cities that are so beautiful and affluent as yours could be in denial about poverty. You should be so proud to be a citizen of your great community. Your intent is to make it a livable and beautiful community for every citizen."

Mangano went on to say that Fort Collins is now part of a national conspiracy to end homelessness. He said that the methods of "maintaining" homelessness over the last 25 years haven't been working, and that in the last seven years--since he began spearheading government efforts on homelessness--efforts have shifted not toward maintaining but abolishing homelessness.

The philosophy has met success, resulting in nationwide reductions in homelessness. Furthermore, it revolves around the numbers-driven philosophy that it costs the state more in shelter and medical costs to allow a homeless person to drift outside than to set them up in permanent housing and bring medical services to them.


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AIDS in America: Advocates try to help black victims

from the Delaware Online

We talk so much about AIDS in Africa, here is an article on AIDS in America. The story touches on how it effects people in poverty here in the states. - Kale

By HIRAN RATNAYAKE,

Some blacks engage in risky behavior -- such as unprotected sex -- because they believe HIV/AIDS strikes only gay white men. Others say the risks don't faze them because their lives of poverty can't get much worse.

These are reasons cited by advocates in the ongoing struggle among blacks with HIV/AIDS.

They say one of every two Americans infected with HIV or AIDS is black. In Delaware, about 67 percent of the people with it are black.

"You get to a point where you don't care. There's a lack of hope. The future is bleak," said the Rev. Christopher Bullock, pastor of Canaan Baptist Church, a black congregation with an AIDS ministry. Despite the grim news, a positive trend is taking place in Delaware. The number of new HIV/AIDS cases among blacks in the First State dropped from 226 in 2001 to 113 last year.

About $1.3 million in federal money was used last year to support a dozen state organizations in the fight against HIV/AIDS. That was almost $300,000 more than was given in 2002. And nearly 7,500 HIV tests were given to blacks in Delaware last year -- more than the amount given to all other races combined.

But the infection rate among blacks would be closer to that of whites if resources were aimed at eliminating poverty, advocates say.

"If you teach people who are impoverished how to get out of poverty, that gives them hope and that breaks the cycle of impoverishment," Bullock said. "The money needs to be focused on poverty in Delaware."

Renee Beaman has seen the budget of her organization -- Beautiful Gate Outreach Center of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington -- expand to $169,000 last year, compared to $60,000 in 2002.

And more people will get HIV tests if the center's budget continues to increase, she said.

But she said the community also needs interconnected programs to address poverty. She is sure that some of the women she counsels, who are reluctant to ask their partners to use condoms, would take a stand if they weren't struggling to survive.

"If someone feels good about themselves, they'll be less likely to engage in risky behavior," she said.

When people have something to lose, they're more likely to heed warnings, said Bobby Dillard, an outreach worker for Brandywine Counseling, a substance abuse treatment agency.

"How you live determines how you care about yourself," he said. "Most people who have a decent job, invest in their homes, invest in the things that a job provides, they won't make the same risky decisions. But if you ain't got that job, and that steady income, it's not as important."

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Food pantries in Maine

from the Ellsworth American

This profiles two leaders of a network of food pantries in the state of Maine

Written by Carrie Jones,

Last week Jackie Thurber perched on a chair at a long, narrow table. Political officials and candidates, activists and bureaucrats surrounded her. She talked. She laughed. She listened, but mostly she pressed upon them the importance of her passion: feeding the hungry.

Thurber is a coordinator of Loaves and Fishes, which is the food pantry based in Ellsworth. It serves much of Hancock County. She and her compatriot, Nancy Hunt, of the Emmaus Center, are my heroes.

Why?

Because they’re making a difference.

Between 2004 and 2005 the rate of children in poverty rose 16.5 percent in Hancock County. It rose 13.9 percent throughout the state. Between 2002 and 2005 food stamp participation increased to 60.1 percent. More and more people are using assistance programs. Food pantry workers say more and more people need help.

You have to wonder why.

According to a presentation by the Food Pantry Network of Hancock County there are a lot of factors. It costs more to live in a home. There is seasonal unemployment. Food costs more. Gas costs more. Medicine costs more. There’s a lack of access to fresh food for people on the islands. Even people who qualify for food assistance (food stamps) aren’t getting all the food they need.

Jackie and Nancy know that.

They know all about that need. They see it every day. They see it and they keep working, keep hoping, keep trying to make it better. That’s why they and the other volunteers at the food pantries across Hancock County are heroes.

There are 12 food pantries in our county and they serve about 3,090 people, which is about 6 percent of the population.

The scariest number are these: 18 % of Hancock County children are on food stamps. 40 % are on Maine Care.

Those are the numbers, Jackie and Nancy, and dozens of volunteers know more than the numbers. They know the faces. They know the stories.

A 63-year-old lady from Northeast Harbor told them, “I live on $787 a month and out of that I have to pay rent, two insurances – one life, one car – phone and I do have basic cable, which is only $17,95, so that’s not too extravagant. But then I have a drugstore bill, which is exorbitant because I take about $2,000 worth of medicine a month. So, it’s a struggle.”

How much of a struggle? Sometimes her meal is a can of tuna without the mayonnaise.

“I can’t afford that either,” she told a team of interviewers from Healthy Acadia.

Those are the kind of things Jackie and Nancy see and hear all the time. They hear and see that and they are still cheerful. They don’t grouse about insurmountable odds. They just keep chugging along, feeding one elderly person, one child, one family at a time, working and working to make it a little bit better. They go to meetings. They create networks. They think of strategies to get more food and better, healthier food to the people who need it.

That’s why they are heroes. They’re heroes because they are making a difference. We all need to be heroes like that.

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Albany cuts funds in half to Rochester poverty fighter

from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

The state government in New York cut funds to a children's poverty fighter. The organization called the Rochester Surround Care Community Corp. will see it's budget slashed by 2 million dollars. - Kale

by David Andreatta

The significance of the reduction is difficult to overstate for the fledgling social services organization, which has faced a string of setbacks and false starts in launching its grand vision to revitalize the impoverished northeast section of the city.

As of last week, the organization had received just $700,000 of its original state Department of Education grant but had committed to disburse over $1.1 million to local nonprofit agencies, according to financial records examined by the Democrat and Chronicle.

The agency is designed to bring a holistic array of services to poor neighborhoods. Nearly $884,000 of the earmarked money, intended to cover a wide array of health care, community safety, youth and financial literacy services provided by 20 different agencies, has yet to be delivered.

The depth of the cut stunned the newly named executive director, Iris Banister, who learned of it from a reporter. She said it would undoubtedly force the group to curtail some commitments.

"It is our intent to try to uphold as many of the promises we have made to people as possible," Banister said. "But I can't give you a clear pathway how we're going to do that right now."

Banister, who started her $125,000-a-year job five weeks ago, dismissed the suggestion that the cut could sink Rochester Surround Care altogether. She acknowledged, though, that the news was crushing.

"We are devastated but not discouraged," she said. "We will survive because it's about these children and this community, so we will survive."

The $2 million was among $427 million cut by the Legislature and Gov. David Paterson, who persuaded lawmakers to reopen the budget adopted in April as a first step toward reducing state spending by $1 billion over the next year and a half. The amended spending plan now stands at $120.9 billion.

Surround Care was not the only local nonprofit bloodied by the budget ax. The $980,000 slated for the Hillside Work Scholarship program was cut in half to $490,000. The Rochester Summer Youth program and the Catholic Family Center of Rochester also took hits.

But none of those cuts is arguably as potentially destructive as that sustained by Rochester Surround Care.

"It's an enormous blow because it's half of a lot of money," said Nancy Ares, an associate professor of teaching and curriculum at the University of Rochester's Warner School of Education, who has been studying the organization since its inception in 2005.

"Four million was going to go toward a lot of important things," Ares said. "They have operated on a shoestring for a while, so I wouldn't anticipate that this will stop them, but to have to figure out how to continue their work with half of what they expected will be quite a challenge."

Indeed, many of the organizations that Surround Care pledged to support have received only a small fraction, or nothing, of what was promised.

A group called Slater's Raiders for Peace, an anti-crime and youth mentoring program operated by Grace Community Village in memory of slain Rochester resident James Slater, was granted $181,580. It has received just $46,000.

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Survey: Many Wash. farmworkers indigenous Mexicans

from the Wichita Eagle

A quarter of the farmhands in Washington state are Mexicans according to a new survey. Many came to the states because their small farms could not compete with the bigger ones up north.

By MANUEL VALDES

The survey - "A Sustainable Bounty: Investing in Our Agricultural Future" - was conducted by the Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust and released last week. More than 2,800 farmworkers in 14 Washington counties were interviewed for the survey in 2006.

The number of indigenous workers "shows the dire economic situation for indigenous people in Latin America," said Rosalinda Guillen, one of the survey coordinators.

She echoed an argument suggesting that an overflow of American goods - specifically corn - drove the indigenous from their lands after many could not compete with cheap goods from the north. Many were self-sustainable farmers, working small plots of land.

The survey also found that nearly half of the workers say they don't know if they'll continue working the fields, citing sub-par housing conditions plagued by mice, cockroaches and lack of electricity or water.

Moreover, workers have an average annual household income of around $17,500 - below the federal poverty line. Nearly 6 percent of the 2,800 workers described themselves as homeless, living in cars or sheds. That figure jumps to 15 percent for those workers who migrate from community to community in search of work.

"Recruiting and retaining a stable and skilled work force is becoming increasingly difficult," said Brien Thane, trust executive director. "The survey makes it clear housing is a key factor in stabilizing and sustaining that work force."

For the state's key crops - such as apples and cherries - a lack of hands to pick would mean lost harvests. The state has already seen periodic labor shortages.

The survey reports 91 percent of those questioned said better housing would encourage them to continue working in the fields. They also detailed problems with current housing: 32 percent live in overcrowded units, 23 percent reported rodent infestation and others reported lack of heat and poor water quality.

The issue of farmworker housing is contentious. Some farmers and local government officials want the state to relax housing regulations. The state, meanwhile, has to inspect hundreds of housing units and respond to calls of unlicensed camps.

In Douglas County, more than 350 cherry pickers live in military-type tents in a field next to the airport in East Wenatchee.

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Eligibility for free school lunches up in Oklahoma

from the Edmond Sun

The umbers of students in Oklahoma who are eligible to receive low cost or free meals is rising. This article gets some reaction educators. - Kale

Statistics show that the number of Oklahoma students who are eligible to receive free or reduced-cost school meals is rising.

According to the state Department of Education, about 640,000 students in Oklahoma are eligible for the program, or about 55.5 percent. In the Tulsa school district, the state's largest, 82.6 percent of students are eligible, based on their parents' income.

Those numbers have caught the attention of state Superintendent Sandy Garrett.

"Serving two meals a day makes us the largest restaurant in Oklahoma," Garrett said.
Anne Roberts, the executive director of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, said that it's often difficult for schools to serve the needs of students who qualify for the program. She said such students often must deal not only with nutritional issues, but with stress at home and gaps in vocabulary and life experiences.

"The free and reduced numbers are the canary in the minefield for me, because they are an indication of poverty, and poverty does bad things to children," Roberts said.

"We happen to be a state that benefits from high oil prices, but at the same time high oil prices are driving some of the poverty that is going on," she said.

Garrett said that in some cases, state agencies, local educators and community civic and faith-based organizations are working to help students who come from poverty-stricken families.

The Camp Fire USA Green Country Council in Tulsa provides services including after-school programming to more than 25 schools.

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Numbers of children born in poverty on the rise in pockets of the US

from Newsmax

A new survey that counts women having children, has one result that invoulves poverty. The US Census Bureau released the results. Among the results it shows that more women between the ages of 40 and 44 are childless. One result was on our topic, stating a rise in numbers of childbirths in poverty. - Kale

Differences among states also emerged. California, Nevada, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, New York and New Jersey had a greater percentage of foreign-born women who became mothers in 2006. A bigger share of women in the Southeast and Southwest who gave birth in the year prior to the survey did so in poverty.

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