skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

More WV Kids Growing up in Poor Neighborhoods

play audio
Play

Friday, February 24, 2012   

CHARLESTON, W. Va. – A new KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows the number of children living in high-poverty communities has increased by 25 percent over the last decade.

Laura Speer, associate director of policy reform at the Casey Foundation, says children in these neighborhoods face challenges in almost every aspect of their lives that make it less likely they'll reach full potential as adults.

"Harmful levels of stress; they're more likely to have behavioral and emotional problems; they have more trouble in school; have lower test scores."

In West Virginia, the report says, 5,000 children are living in poor neighborhoods compared to ten years ago, an increase of 18 percent.

The report also stresses the importance of what some are calling social capital, the personal connections that help people maintain healthy families and help kids overcome setbacks. Margie Hale, executive director of West Virginia Kids Count, says while the total number of children in poverty has declined, that poverty is more concentrated in specific places. That's going to make it harder for those children, she explains.

"When you grow up poor, you have a lot stacked against you already, but these children are much more at risk, because they just don't have the social capital to make things different."

It's interesting to note, adds Speer, that about 75 percent of children living in an area of concentrated poverty have at least one parent in the workforce. Yet, those children are still at risk.

"Living in an area of concentrated poverty limits the opportunities that families have available to them in order to get a better job, in order to make sure that the health and the welfare of their children is taken care of."

In the report, communities are considered "high-poverty" when 30 percent or more of the residents live below the federal poverty line.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021