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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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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.

Pandemic Hits NV Families with Kids Especially Hard

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Tuesday, December 22, 2020   

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Many Nevada kids and their families are struggling with health care coverage, mental health, housing and hunger due to the pandemic.

Seventeen percent of Nevada families with children said they don't have enough to eat, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Twenty-two percent reported only slight or no confidence in making their next rent or mortgage payment on time, and 13% don't have health insurance coverage.

Tara Raines, director of Kids Count initiatives with the Children's Advocacy Alliance in Nevada, urges state lawmakers to protect and strengthen support systems.

"We know that kids need to be in school, but we also know that they need to be healthy and feel safe before they can start to learn," Raines said. "And so making sure that policymakers are considering, how do we get access to high-quality health care options for all children and families?"

Fifteen percent of Nevada households with kids reported feeling down, depressed or hopeless. Raines said it's necessary to make sure schools have enough psychologists with proper resources.

She noted some children may have tutors or an adult sitting with them to help with online learning logistics, whereas others may not have strong internet access, or might share a device with a sibling or parent.

"That disparity, that gap, is widening because of the fact that the kids who have will continue to have, and the kids who did not, have even less now," Raines said.

Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs with the Casey Foundation, noted the data shows racial disparities. For example, 31% of Black respondents nationwide reported being on the verge of failing to pay their rent or mortgage, compared with 26% of Latino, 16% of Asian-American and 12% of Caucasian respondents.

"The pandemic has laid bare and really exacerbated racial and ethnic inequities in this country," Boissiere said. "And we've seen that Black, Latino and Native communities in particular have been hard hit."

The report calls for immediate and meaningful action - from beefing up the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to investing in high-poverty school districts.

Disclosure: Annie E Casey Foundation contributes to our fund for reporting on Children's Issues, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, Education, Juvenile Justice, Welfare Reform. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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