| Poverty suggests a family with no food, clothing, or | | | | considered poor: Their parents don't work much, and |
| shelter. In the year 2005, a Poverty Pulse poll was | | | | fathers are absent. The author sites that the typical |
| taken by the Catholic Campaign for Human | | | | poor family with children is supported by only 800 |
| Development (CCHD). It asked the public this | | | | hours of work during a year, which is only 16 hours |
| question: "How would you describe being poor in the | | | | of work per week. If work in each family were |
| United States?" The responses focused on | | | | raised to 2,000 hours per yearthe equivalent of |
| homelessness, hunger and not being able to meet | | | | one adult working 40 hours per week throughout the |
| basic needs. | | | | year nearly 75 percent of poor children would not |
| The U.S. Census Bureau's latest annual report on | | | | be deemed officially "in poverty" in the U.S. |
| poverty in the U.S. states there were 37 million poor | | | | Children of the City's website features an audio |
| individuals (2005) living in this country. That number | | | | presentation that sites the fact that there are 17 |
| has not changed much in recent years -- as the | | | | thousand cases of child abuse or neglect every year, |
| report states 12.6 percent of Americans were poor in | | | | a 48 percent high school drop out rate and the fact |
| 2005. This number has been averaging between 11.3 | | | | that one in three families is living below the poverty |
| percent to 15.1 percent of during the last 20 years. | | | | line. It is all happening in our own back yards. These |
| Once example, in Brooklyn, New York, there is a | | | | individuals continue to need help to keep their kids |
| poverty problem, but to understand poverty in this | | | | out of crime and off drugs. |
| country, is critical to take a look behind these kinds | | | | Children of the City's prevention outreach services |
| of numbers that are lingering in the Census Bureau's | | | | have evolved to include trauma intervention, |
| reports. Look at the actual living conditions of the | | | | counseling, after-school programs, social work, |
| individuals that our government claims are poor. | | | | courtroom and legal advocacy, financial counseling, |
| The reality is that in the U.S. the poor are actually | | | | youth mentoring, and other services that are helping |
| well nourished, but some poor families experience | | | | families and their children achieve success socially, at |
| temporary food shortages. 89 percent of the poor | | | | school and at home. Parents can not only get help |
| report their families have enough food, while only 2 | | | | with their careers, but financially too. |
| percent say they often don't have enough to eat. | | | | One program is called Future Safe -- a monthly event |
| Forty-three percent of what the government calls | | | | attended by about 500 children with a preventative |
| "poor" households actually own their own homes, and | | | | element designed to deter children from drug abuse, |
| a car. | | | | delinquency, gang involvement and teen pregnancy. |
| According to Author Robert E. Rector, in his article, | | | | Often a first step for children from poor families, the |
| "How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the Plague | | | | program helps them engage in after school programs. |
| of Poverty in America," poverty in the U.S. can be | | | | Maybe with more programs like Children of the City, |
| reduced further, particularly poverty among children. | | | | our communities could beat what our government |
| Two main reasons are why American children are | | | | continues to call poverty in America. |