Struggling families depend more on school lunches, By Heather Hollingsworth (AP), March 27, 2010, Washington Post: “For a couple tight weeks after taking in her sixth-grade stepson, Lisa Lewis fretted about how to pay for his school lunches. Unable to find a full-time job, the 37-year-old works part-time at a Kansas City, Kan., daycare, earning minimum wage. On that money alone, she supports herself, her unemployed husband, her stepson and her 11th-grade son. ‘I sometimes cry myself to sleep wondering how I am going to keep my family fed and things like that,’ Lewis said. ‘I’m making it but barely.’ Her worries were eased when she found out she could get government assistance to pay for the younger boy’s meals. Her older son already is part of the subsidized lunch program. In the midst of a blistering recession, more families are flocking to the federal program that gives students free or reduced-priced lunches. Schools are watching for who enrolls in the program because it gives teachers insight into life at home and officials consider it a barometer of poverty…”
Day: March 29, 2010
Kids Count Report – Maine
A quarter of children in 3 counties at high risk level, By Meg Haskell, March 29, 2010, Bangor Daily News: “Children in Maine continue to live at unacceptable levels of poverty, according to the latest edition of Maine Kids Count, the annual survey of the physical, social, economic and educational well-being of the state’s youngsters. The report, now in its 16th year, is used to identify public policy issues and to guide change in matters affecting children. Other problems affecting Maine children and underscored in this year’s report are the state’s low median household income – $46,419 compared to $52,029 nationally – and a high incidence of juvenile mental and behavioral health problems…”
Foster Care Cuts – Indiana
Foster parents would get less cash under proposed Indiana cuts, By Charles D. Wilson and Carly Everson, March 29, 2010, Zanesville Times Recorder: “Indiana is trying to shift hundreds of foster children with medical, emotional or behavioral problems into cheaper care for children without special needs, a move that cuts payments to families who care for the state’s most challenged children. The change would give foster families less money to pay for therapy, food and clothing and other costs. And some fear that fewer families could volunteer for the job in the future because they’d have to cover the bills themselves. Foster parents who provide homes for special-needs children are paid up to $100 a day. Under the state’s new plan, many would receive $25 or less…”