Repor t: Focus on kids

April 21--"We are failing our kids in West Virginia. But we do not have to."

That grim assessment is the opening line of a report "Child Poverty in West Virginia: A Growing and Persistent Problem," released last year by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.

The report is a call to arms of sorts regarding the direction in which the state is heading and the one sure way to turn it around -- through West Virginia's children.

The report says, "Poor kids are five times more likely to have children outside of marriage, twice as likely to be arrested and nearly three times more likely to have severe health problems. Poor kids also end up earning incomes less than half those of their counterparts."

Using a formula generated during a 2007 national review, the report estimates that child poverty cost West Virginia$3.6 billion in 2007, more than 6 percent of the gross state product.

The effect of long-term poverty on a child is considered a substantial contributor to a laundry list of the state's problems, including severe overcrowding of prisons and skyrocketing corrections budgets, the substance abuse epidemic, the obesity rate and related health concerns, high teen birth rate and the high school dropout rate.

Those facts coupled with the knowledge that more than a quarter of West Virginia children live below the federal poverty line doesn't exactly paint an optimistic picture of the state's future.

The report also points out patterns behind the numbers, including the fact that African American children make up 3 percent of the state's youth but 6 percent of the children living in poverty. Nearly half (49.4 percent) of all single-mother families in the state live below the poverty threshold, and in the past seven years, the number of kids being raised by grandparents in West Virginia has jumped by 25 percent.

There is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. It comes by looking at the other end of the spectrum, at West Virginia's senior citizens.

In 1964, a study by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) showed that 40 percent of West Virginia's seniors lived in poverty. Today, through "a host of social changes, tax and entitlement reforms and time," that number stands at 10 percent.

The report asks what West Virginia's future might look like if similar measures could be taken to protect the state's most vulnerable citizens.

To answer that question, one could say it would look more like Monongalia Count y.

According to the same report, between

2007-'11,

Monongalia County was one of nine counties in which the child poverty rate was below 20 percent, the national average.

That's not to say Monongalia County is immune to child poverty.

In 2012, the Rev. John Sonnenday, of the First Presbyterian Church, presented findings from the Morgantown/Monongalia Task Force on Homelessness to area officials.

As part of that report, Sonnenday explained that between 2011 and 2012, the number of children served by Morgantown homeless shelter The Bartlett House doubled, from 42 to 85, far outpacing the 28 percent increase in adults served.

Sonnenday goes on to report "The county school system identified an additional 16 whose residential situations were unstable enough for them to be considered homeless by the Department of Education."

He also explained that a "Point in Time Count" of Morgantown's homeless identified "10 unaccompanied youth under 18 in the c i t y. "

Sonnenday and the fight against homelessness helped bring together many of the agencies that were already aiding those in need.

Among the local initiatives focused on area kids is a backpack nutrition program that serves elementary schools through the efforts of the Scotts Run Settlement House and area churches.

According to Scotts Run Settlement House Director

Julie Harris, the facility provides food to six schools. Teachers discretely place the food in about 850 backpacks while the kids are out of the classroom.

The food is distributed on the last day of the school week to ensure the child has something nutritious to eat during the weekend.

"We have been a growing force behind that program because the need is there," Harris said. "There is a mountain of data that shows how hunger impacts a child."

There are also several national and state policies and programs either already implemented or in the works.

The West Virginia Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) offers free or low-cost health insurance for children of low-income working families who are typically just above the poverty line and not eligible for Medicaid.

Diane Holley-Brown is the communication director for the West Virginia Department of Administration. She said about 25,000 children receive health coverage under CHIP.

Holley-Brown also points to the latest U.S. Census data, which show West Virginia among the states with the lowest rates of uninsured children. She explained that CHIP benefits were expanded in 2011 to cover children in families earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level.

"In 2012, WVCHIP enrollees of all ages accessed preventative dental services and one-third of them had a preventative vision visit," Holley-Brown explained, adding that "enrollees accessed their primary care practitioners at a 90 percent rate."

UNITED WAY of Monongalia and Preston Counties, 278-C Spruce St., partners with many agencies that provide services to those in poverty. For help, call 304-296-7525 or email [email protected].

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