RSG | Press Page: Council Targets Child Poverty

The Connecticut Child Poverty Council will hold a public hearing today on its strategies to reduce child poverty by half over the next 10 years. The council's chairman, however, doesn't see much chance of securing funding for most of the plan, which he estimates would cost up to $1 billion.

The state legislature created the council last session and charged it with coming up with a plan, but it did not empower the group to implement its ideas. That will be up to lawmakers, who will consider the group's proposals in the upcoming session.

Connecticut ranks third in the nation for children living above the poverty level. Still, 80,000 children live in poverty in the state, and most of them are in the cities.

The child poverty rate in Hartford is the second worst of any major city in America, according to the council. And while the home ownership rate for families with children is close to 70 percent in the state, that rate falls to 19 percent in Hartford, 26 percent in New Haven and 36 percent in Bridgeport.

The council, which has been meeting since July, produced a nine-page document outlining a series of measures that could help improve family incomes by 2014.

Proposals focus on assisting families with health care, child care, early childhood education, creating safety net programs and finding ways to help low income families build assets and increase their earning potential.

The great challenge will be funding the proposals.

For example, a proposal to establish an earned income tax credit could cost $20 million to $40 million. Also carrying hefty price tags are proposals to increase and improve adult education and literacy, provide incentives for businesses to locate in areas accessible to low-income workers, create public jobs programs and increase assistance to towns to help poor residents.

Marc Ryan, the council's chairman and secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, estimated the proposals could cost $500 million to $1 billion. And that, he said, could doom the document.

"I actually object to a lot of what is included in the recommendations," Ryan said. "Some members are trying to hijack the purpose of the council."

If the council winnows its proposals to a small number of affordable and effective plans, Ryan said, then it could make progress. As it stands, he said, "this is just a laundry list of every complaint people have about the budget in general."

Elizabeth C. Brown, legislative director for the Connecticut Commission on Children and a member of the poverty council, conceded that the plan is expansive and costly. Later this month, she said, the group will meet to "develop a realistic strategy to roll this out."

But Brown argues that the state would save money in the long term by reducing the amount it pays to house prisoners and abused children and by instituting programs to help make families financially stable, thus reducing the costs of welfare and assistance to homeless families.

"A big part of our budget is for people who have failed. Why not spend money to help them succeed," Brown said.

Jim Horan, executive director of the Connecticut Association for Human Services, a nonprofit organization that publishes an annual data book on the well-being of children called "Kids Count," said that if the state succeeds in its goal, it will lead the nation in reducing child poverty. "To my knowledge, no other state has set a goal of reducing child poverty," he said.

Horan, who attended the poverty council's meetings but is not a member, said the idea is exciting. But he said he's tempering his enthusiasm until the state follows through on the plans.

"I'm skeptical as to what will really be implemented from the council's recommendations because a lot of the same issues have been neglected under the administration of [former Gov.] John Rowland," he said.

The best thing the state can do to help the long-term economy of families is to focus on preschool for low-income children, Horan said. That will help "get those kids the education they need so they can help themselves and contribute to the economy," he said.

Ryan agreed that a focus on preschool would be effective and noted that Gov. M. Jodi Rell supports expanding preschool education. Other ideas that could help poor families and have a chance of securing some funding, Ryan said, include changing the eligibility requirements for child care and increasing vocational and job training for people with little education.

The hearing, which is open to the public, will be from 5 to 7 p.m. in Room 2C of the Legislative Office Building.