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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Category: Children and Families

Kids Count Report – Colorado

Colorado kids doing better in many areas, but face problems with suicide, school funding, infant mortality, report says, By Monte Whaley, March 22, 2018, Denver Post: “Colorado kids are doing better on several fronts than they were 25 years ago, including in areas of public health, early development and education, according to a report released Thursday. In 2016, Colorado’s infant mortality rate was nearly half of what it was in 1991, the teen birth rate plummeted by nearly 70 percent and the uninsured rate for kids reached a record low…”

Foster Care Payments to Relatives – Kentucky

Kentucky wrongly rejecting families for foster care payments despite ruling, critics say, By Deborah Yetter, March 21, 2018, Louisville Courier Journal: “Paula Grant, a disabled grandmother raising three children removed from a meth home, was excited to learn she might be eligible for foster care payments under a federal court ruling that became final in October. But Grant said she was crushed when Kentucky recently rejected her request for payments of up to $750 per month per child because of a technicality — her grandchildren had been determined to be ‘dependent’ rather than neglected or abused, classifications used in removing a child from a home…”

Student Homelessness – New York City

New York City is failing homeless students, reports say, By Elizabeth A. Harris, March 15, 2018, New York Times: “City workers assigned to help homeless students are desperately overwhelmed, leaving many of those children, among the most vulnerable in the public school system, to miss enormous amounts of school and fall far behind their classmates, two reports say.  Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has been scrambling for years to stanch the cascade of families falling into homelessness, a wave that has become a crisis for the city, his administration and, most of all, the tens of thousands of people with no place to live. The two reports, scheduled to be released on Thursday, highlight how far the city has to go in addressing their needs…”