Many Polk County children live in poverty

AUSTIN — A recent analysis by the Center for Public Policy Priorities shows that about one in three children in Polk County live in poverty, at least partly due to cuts in unemployment. Accompanying budget cuts have reduced the number of children who receive other cash benefi ts by about three-fourths according to Texas KIDS COUNT. Since 2003, reductions to cash assistance programs mean a family of three may make less than $2,300 a year. “Positive or negative outcomes for kids don’t just happen,” says Texas KIDS COUNT Director Frances Deviney. “They are the inevitable results of positive or negative policy choices.” The tug of war over access to health care has also affected children living in low-income families. In Polk County 278 kids (146,00 statewide) were cut from the Children’s Health Insurance Program over the past decade. Between 2009 and 2011 Texas improved the application and approval system for Medicaid, which resulting in the addition of 855 Polk County children. Polk County made some educational gains, according to the 2012 report. Public school enrollment grew 1.4 percent, but the number of 3 and 4-year-olds enrolled in pre-kindergarten grew by 31.2 percent. Attrition in public high schools dropped from 33 percent in 2001 to 27 percent in 2011, a reduction in dropout by 18.2 percent. The number of children in foster care has grown from 4.5 kids per 1,000 to 9.7 per 1,000. More than 12 kids per 1,000 are confi rmed victims of child abuse. As of 2008, 40 percent of the children born in the county received late or no prenatal care. Nearly 20 percent are both to mothers age 19 or younger. Thirty-eight percent of local children receive Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps.)