Recovery missed large number of Michigan kids
Can you believe the recession ended and nobody told Michigan's children?
Rochelle Riley is alarmed by report on children in poverty.
(Photo: Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press)
Statewide, one in four of our children was living in poverty and one in three qualified for food assistance because their families' incomes are less than $31,000 a year, according to the Michigan League for Public Policy's Kids Count report, which studies economic factors to determine our children's well being. (The league report ends at 2012 because it was the last year for which figures were available).
The state also saw a 53% increase in the rate of young children who qualified for federal food assistance from 2005 to 2012.
According to the report, to be released this morning, poverty's reach is pervasive and knows no limits. Oakland County saw a 70% increase in children living in poverty — 70% — even as the county scored 5th in the state for child well-being.
Wayne County saw a nearly 38% increase in children living in poverty, and most children under age 5 — 53.1% — were eligible for food assistance compared with 37% statewide.
"Though the recession officially ended years ago, the toll on children is still apparent with the persistently high number of children living in need," Jane Zehnder-Merrell, the league's director, said in a statement accompanying the report.
Coming a month after the governor announced plans to merge the state departments of health and community health, the numbers shine a bright spotlight on how big the problem is facing Gov. Rick Snyder and his new Department of Human Services. Snyder said he wanted to move more residents into the mainstream in a "River of Opportunity" — where they eventually can become part of working- and middle-class Michigan.
"What we've done is we've sliced and diced people into programs," Snyder said during his State of the State address. "We've moved away from treating them as real people and, in some cases, we've taken some of their dignity away."
Because poverty begets so many other problems, it was not surprising but still heartbreaking to see increases in children being in danger while in poverty.
The report found a 41% increase in the number of children living in families across the state that were being investigated for abuse and neglect. Wayne County ranked 16th with 80.3 per 1,000 children living in homes being investigated.
The report now lands on the new doorstep of Nick Lyon, a father of two and new director of the new Department of Human Services come April 10.
"We have to get out in front of every one of these situations to prevent harm to children," he said. "It's important to the governor and to me to change history.
"Poverty oftentimes is something that exists within the family from generation to generation. The goal of many of our programs is to interrupt that to make it so kids can improve their own situations and go on a path towards self-sufficiency. The concept of the river is to get all the services to them."
The league, in issuing the bad news, also offered suggested solutions, including: increasing child care subsidies, supporting the Affordable Care Act, raising the minimum wage and expanding state dental programs. The league also recommended reinstating the Earned Income Tax Credit to 20%. The roads bill the governor is pushing includes that restoration.
All that's left to see now is whether and how the governor keeps his word while keeping the River flowing.
Contact Rochelle Riley: rriley22@freepress.com
