Hardship grows amid wealth: Residents face unexpected need in communities across North Jersey, By Harvy Lipman, June 24, 2012, The Record: “Karen Levi doesn’t think of herself as being poor. After all, she has a condo in Mahwah, 10 years’ experience in marketing and publishing and, before the recession struck, she was making $75,000 a year. But the fact of the matter is that Levi hasn’t had a full-time job in three years, even after returning to school last year to get her certification as a paralegal. A divorcée who supports a 20-year-old daughter in college, she took in $31,000 last year working a range of part-time jobs and collecting unemployment checks. When her jobless benefits run out for good at the end of this month, she’ll lose nearly two-thirds of her income. That will pretty much land her at the official federal poverty level of $11,170 for a single person – an amount that experts agree greatly underestimates the cost of living in a place like North Jersey…”
Tag: New Jersey
Civil Legal Assistance – New Jersey
Report: Greater number of Hudson County’s poor not receiving representation in civil cases, By Daniel Reyes, June 19, 2012, Jersey Journal: “An increasing number of the poor in Hudson County and across the state are finding themselves without legal assistance in civil cases, according to a recent report. The Civil Legal Assistance Gap, an annual report compiled by the Legal Services of New Jersey, says that cuts in funding combined with an increase in poverty has led to a higher percentage of people going without legal representation in civil cases…”
Foster Care and Kinship Families – New Jersey
N.J. foster children placed in homes with relatives more often than in other states, report says, By Megan DeMarco, May 23, 2012, Star-Ledger: “A higher percentage of children in New Jersey’s foster care system are being placed with relatives and close friends than in nearly every other state, a report released today found. About 35 percent of kids in New Jersey foster care are being raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles or close friends – which child advocates call ‘kinship families,’ according to the Annie E. Casey foundation report. Nationally, 26 percent of kids in foster care were placed in kinship families from 2009 through last year. Only Hawaii, Florida and Arizona place a higher percentage than New Jersey, which was in a three-way tie with Illinois and Michigan…”