39% of New Orleans children live in poverty, well above national average, report says, By Rebecca Catalanello, February 26, 2015, New Orleans Times-Picayune: “Poverty is depriving New Orleans children of healthy brain development and increasing the likelihood that their lives will be steeped in trauma and lifelong learning difficulties. That’s according to new research from The Data Center, a New Orleans-based research organization that compiles and analyzes data for the purposes of informing public policy discussion. Thirty-nine percent of New Orleans children live in poverty. That is more than 17 percentage points higher than the national average — and the ninth highest child poverty rate among 39 cities with populations between 275,000 and 600,000, according to the report…”
Month: February 2015
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Deep cuts could be on table as Congress re-evaluates food stamp program, By Michael Marks, February 24, 2015, Dallas Morning News: “Eat or fix the car. That was one of the choices Dylan Carter faced before signing up for the federal Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. The 24-year-old from Frisco received $200 per month while looking for a job until, after two months, he became a door-to-door salesman. ‘You can actually pay your bills,’ Carter said. ‘It’s $200 in your pocket that normally you wouldn’t have. It’s tough out there, so every little bit helps.’ Advocates say that’s the kind of assistance the program is designed to provide: helping people stay on their feet in tough times. And they’re concerned about potential cuts and changes as the U.S. House begins a series of hearings Wednesday to re-evaluate the program…”
School Breakfast Program
How our schools fail poor kids before they even arrive for class, By Roberto A. Ferdman, February 18, 2015, Washington Post: “One of the simplest ways to put poor kids in a position to succeed is to make sure they eat breakfast. Studies have shown that eating the day’s first meal is not only associated with nutritional benefits, but also cognitive ones — especially for children.A 2013 study, for instance, linked breakfast consumption among children to higher IQs later in life. A group of researchers in 1989 found that students who ate breakfast tended to perform better on standardized tests…”