RICHMOND, Va. – Despite a long period of economic expansion since the Great Recession, the state of Virginia saw no progress in reducing child poverty since 2008, according to a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The Kids Count data snapshot shows that 5% of children in the state, totaling 91,000 kids, still live in concentrated poverty.

African-American and Latinx children in the state are more likely to live in poverty because of systemic racism and policies that disproportionately affect their communities, says Margaret Nimmo Holland, executive director of Voices for Virginia's Children.

"It results in concentrated poverty in certain neighborhoods,” says Nimmo Holland. “And we're now seeing the result that even generations later, children in these neighborhoods are continuing to struggle because their families are struggling economically."

Nimmo Holland says policymakers need to focus on early childhood education and increasing the state's Earned Income Tax Credit to make a difference.

Children in high-poverty areas don't have access to quality health care or healthy foods – which they need to thrive, according to Scot Spencer, associate state director of advocacy at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

He says living in poor neighborhoods often comes hand in hand with fear of violence, which can cause chronic stress linked to diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

"Living in high-poverty neighborhoods really puts young people at risk,” says Spencer. “And we think that they really deserve to live in communities where they can learn, play and grow."

Spencer says having quality schools, accessible job opportunities and safe places to play helps children become more successful adults.

A bill to increase tax credits in the Commonwealth is backed up by research showing the credits lead to better nutrition for working families and better long-term health outcomes for children. Lawmakers want to expand the state Earned Income Tax Credit and streamline other existing dependent tax credits to help put even a few hundred dollars back in the pockets of working people, including immigrants and many essential workers.

Democratic State Senator Jamie Eldridge said while food, energy and housing prices are up significantly, the bill is about more than just rebates.

"It's also about their health care," Eldridge said. "It's about taking care of kids and making sure they have adequate nutrition, and it's something that really has a tremendous impact on the entire Commonwealth. "

Eldridge added the legislation will help decrease food insecurity and ensure a basic standard of living for people to survive in an increasingly expensive Commonwealth.

Expansion of the Child Tax Credit is credited with cutting child poverty in the U.S. by more than 40% during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies show the tax credits improve the health of mothers, decrease low birth weights in infants, and even lead to improved academic outcomes for children.

Charlotte Bruce, senior research and policy analyst with Children's Health Watch at Boston Medical Center, said the tax credits provide direct cash payments to those in need.

"When you look at the data of how families spend tax credits, particularly if they're done periodically, they're really being used to afford basic needs and other enrichments for their child," she said.

Bruce added the extra income allows people to spend money on healthy meals and necessary medical care.

But tax credits cannot help families if they don't know they exist. MASSCAP, a coalition of Community Action Agencies, operates 40 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance centers to help people receive the benefits to which they are entitled.

Ancel Tejada, Financial Empowerment Program Manager with MASSCAP, called the tax credits "course changing."

"A lot of our families do take that time and opportunity to get that money, and they do start their emergency savings account and they do start to pay back some back debt, Tejada said."

Tejada added the expanded tax credits recently helped one mother take her daughter to the beach for the first time, providing a healthy respite for both mother and child.

Advocates for low-income workers in the Commonwealth said today is a reminder of the need to continue to advance Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of economic justice for all, including an increase to the minimum wage and more affordable housing.

The Poor People's Campaign was mobilized by Dr. King in 1967 and helped low income workers in cities like Boston to demand better wages, unemployment insurance and education.

Shailly Gupta-Barnes, policy director at the Kairos Center and the Poor People's Campaign, said Massachusetts has seen decades of little progress, and still has a long way to go.

"People are living in the state of almost constant, precarious insecurity, and that's about two-and-a-half million people in the state of Massachusetts," Gupta-Barnes pointed out.

Gupta-Barnes argued lawmakers need to renew the successful pandemic-related programs that led to a dramatic decline in poverty in the Commonwealth, including the expanded Child Tax Credit.

In his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, King said, "There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we have the resources to get rid of it."

Gupta-Barnes sees last year's passage of the Fair Share Amendment, which created a new tax on million-dollar incomes to pay for public education and transportation, as one example of those resources, and the organizing efforts it took to make it happen.

"Building up the power and organizing, and the leadership of poor and low-income people, and becoming the kind of force - what he called a 'new and unsettling force' - to wake this nation up," Gupta-Barnes urged.

Gupta-Barnes added Dr. King was ahead of his time in uniting various communities to work for economic justice and equity, and today the Poor People's Campaign works to continue his legacy.

Community service agencies say many low- and moderate-income homes in the Commonwealth are unprepared for the winter cold and could benefit from a number of free weatherization and heating services, including window sealing, attic insulation, new appliances and repairing or replacing home heating systems.

Eva Haynes, who lives in Brockton, said she is grateful for the help she received two years ago, when her furnace stopped working, and she spent nine days at home alone in the cold.

"I had googled, 'How to keep your house warm when you have no heat,' " Haynes recounted. "I mean, people didn't know what I was going through. I just was ashamed."

Homeowners like Haynes, as well as renters who are eligible for heating assistance, are also automatically eligible for the energy audits and can find out more heatinghelpma.org.

The website is run by the Massachusetts Association for Community Action, a coalition of more than 20 agencies throughout the Commonwealth, which are reporting unprecedented requests for home heating assistance, and have found many people are unaware of the free home energy audits.

Jonathan Carlson, CEO of Self Help, which serves communities in southeastern Massachusetts, said both the audits and the savings are extensive.

"You know when we leave, that house is about as efficient as it can get, as far as holding in heat," Carlson asserted.

Carlson pointed out it also keeps homes cool in the summer, adding up to even more savings over time. The average single-family, weatherized home saves at least $283 a year on energy costs.

The benefits of weatherizing a home go beyond the pocketbook. Improving the energy efficiency of older homes in low-income neighborhoods means more jobs and a cleaner environment.

Research indicates for every dollar invested in weatherization programs, nearly three go back into the community.

Liz Berube, executive director of Citizens for Citizens, serving the greater Fall River and Taunton area, said agencies statewide have jobs to offer.

"Electricians, plumbers, there's a lot of money in energy efficiency," Berube noted.

Berube added weatherizing older homes means people, especially seniors, can stay in their homes longer and communities stay intact. In addition to federal funding, the group has requested an additional $50 million from the state to ensure people have access to energy-saving programs.