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KiDS COUNT Indicator Brief

Reducing the Child Poverty Rate

In 2007, nearly one in five or 18 percent of children in the U.S. lived in poverty (KIDS

COUNT Data Center, 2009).

 Many of these children come from minority backgrounds.

African American (35 percent), American Indian (33 percent) and Latino (27 percent)

children are more likely to live in poverty than their white (11 percent) and Asian (12

percent) counterparts (KIDS COUNT Data Center, 2009).

 Although many children live

in poverty, many more lack a decent standard of living as their families hover near the

poverty line or move in and out of official poverty from year to year.

The trend is worsening. Between 2000 and 2007, the number of children living in poverty

increased by 14.7 percent, from 12.2 million to 13.1 million.

This means that in 2007,

898,000 more children lived in families with incomes below the federal poverty line than

five years earlier (KIDS COUNT Data Center, 2009).

The percentage of children facing economic hardship is actually much higher. There is now broad consensus among researchers that the federal poverty line is set too low, and that even families with incomes that are twice the poverty line struggle to make ends meet and should be considered “low-income.”

By this standard, 39 percent of children are economically disadvantaged

The National Center on Family Homelessness released a report today that estimates that one in every 50 American children was homeless between 2005 and 2006. That totals roughly 1.5 million kids.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1883966,00.html#ixzz27gS4LSeK

Chicago public school officials report the number of its 405,000 students deemed homeless soared to 11,143 last month from 9,182 in February 2006

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1883966,00.html#ixzz27gSEwk00

According to the new report, the states with the highest number of homeless children in the period studied were Texas (337,105), California (292,624), Louisiana (204,053), Georgia (58,397) and Florida (49,886).

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1883966,00.html#ixzz27gSMX2gI

Families with children comprise roughly one-third of the nation's homeless population. Poverty continues to be a core reason for the crisis, though the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina combined to swell the numbers in Louisiana, Texas and Georgia. Since the 1980s, single mothers have accounted for an increasing share of the homeless population, partly because of increased divorced rates, gender and wage disparities, and the shrinking supply of affordable housing.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1883966,00.html#ixzz27gSWI9MH

Pre-School Children and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act

• The McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth program,  reauthorized as part of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, entitles homeless children to a free, appropriate public education,  including a pre-school education. [721(1)]

• States must ensure that homeless children have equal access to the same public preschool programs, administered by the State agency, as provided to other children in the State. [722(g)(i)(F)(i)]

• Under the McKinney-Vento Act, every LEA must designate a liaison for students in homeless situations. [722(g)(1)(J)(ii)]

• LEA homeless liaisons must ensure that ensure that homeless children are identified, immediately enrolled in school, informed about educational rights, including transportation, and receive educational services for which they are eligible, including Head Start, Even Start programs and preschool programs administered by the LEA. [722(g)(6)(A)(iii)]

• State Coordinators for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth must coordinate with social services agencies, child development and preschool program personnel and other agencies to provide comprehensive services to preschoolers [722(f)(4) and (5)(A)]