- Legislature advances push for higher child care subsidies, By Martha Stoddard, May 23, 2013, Omaha World-Herald: “Nebraska ranks among the top states in number of working parents but dead last when it comes to helping those parents pay for child care. The state would climb to No. 44 under a bill that won second-round approval Wednesday in the Legislature. Legislative Bill 507 would allow Nebraska parents to qualify for child care subsidies at incomes up to 130 percent of the federal poverty level…”
- In D.C., parents miss work, lose jobs trying to get child-care subsidy, By Brigid Schulte, May 15, 2013, Washington Post: “At 6:30 a.m. on a Wednesday early this month, Andria Swanson, dressed in a bright-pink terry cloth jumpsuit, joined a line that was already snaking down South Capitol Street in Congress Heights. She nervously counted the people ahead of her. ‘I’m number 19,’ she said. ‘That means I’ll get in today.’ At number 20, she said, caseworkers close the doors and tell you to come back another day…”
- Grandparents urge state to reconsider cuts to child care assistance programs, By Beth Musgrave, May 21, 2013, Lexington Herald-Leader: “Grandparents pleaded with state officials Tuesday to reverse a freeze on new applications for a program that provides $300 in monthly assistance to relatives who take custody of abused and neglected children. Among those testifying at a public hearing Tuesday was Sandra Flynn of Lexington, who has been caring for five grandchildren — including a set of twins who were born addicted to drugs — for two years. Flynn said she relies on the $300 check per child and a little less than $300 in food stamps to provide for her family of seven…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty