Data collected by the Vermont Department of Education shows that poverty levels in most Windham County schools inched upward last year. The Brattleboro Reformer says the data shows that poverty rates across the county far exceed the state average. In the Brattleboro School District, the number of children receiving free and reduced meals increased from 51.8 percent in 2009 to 52.3 percent in 2010.

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The number of low-income students in Vermont’s schools is on the rise, and teachers and administrators reacting to these shifting demographics are struggling to close the achievement gap between low-income students and their higher-income peers. Currently, the only official measure of poverty in schools is the number of students who enroll in the free or reduced lunch program. To qualify for the program, students’ families must meet certain income requirements. According to these measures, a third of Vermont students come from low-income families.

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The Food Research and Action Network's School Breakfast Scorecard 2009 shows that, on average, 15,000 Vermont children receive free school food each day, an increase of 15.5 percent over the previous year.

That puts Vermont near the top of the list of states with a percentage of children receiving free breakfast or lunch in public schools. The Green Mountain State, according to this week's national study, is the third in the country for the number of children, per 100, who participate in the program. Link to full article

Learn more about childhood poverty in Vermont.

Weeks before Christmas, Duncan McDougall sweeps into a rural Vermont day care facility, dropping off a stack of shiny new children’s books.  But he really gets the attention of the 2- and 3-year-olds when he reads two stories to them -- gesturing, raising his voice, then lowering it to a whisper, now asking questions, pointing to the pictures. When one girl clamors for more, he tells the children they can pick out two new books to keep, not just for an hour, or a day, or a week, but forever.

Unlike Santa, the Children’s Literacy Foundation doles out free new books to libraries, shelters, schools and housing projects across Vermont and New Hampshire all year long in an effort to promote reading and writing among children. Link to full article

A new report says Vermont has risen to third in the nation for participation in school breakfast programs.

The Food and Research Action Center's "School Breakfast Scorecard" says nearly 15,000 low-income Vermont children ate breakfast daily at school during the last two school years. That's up 15 percent from the previous year, the largest increase in the nation.

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Vermont Public Radio reports that "more Vermont children will be eligible to receive free breakfasts at school this fall [when] students who previously qualified for reduced-price breakfasts will now be able to get those meals for free." Indeed, "Vermont will become the fourth state to fully-fund free breakfasts to children in families that make up to 180 percent of the poverty level," or $38,000 a year for a family of four. "The legislature appropriated $170,000 to pay for the child's portion of a reduced breakfast-that's 30 cents per meal." Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger's Dorigen Keeney commented, "What we're finding is, and the reason the legislature did this was, because school food service has told us for a long time that reduced prices students often don't have that 70 cents per day to pay for breakfast and lunch. So what they will do is not get breakfast, and save their 40 cents for lunch."

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Vermont Public Radio reports that a new report has found that  "more poor Vermont children are enrolling in programs that provide free or reduced-price lunches in the summer." For example, last summer the state provided 5,700 children will free or reduced-priced meals. According to the national Food Research and Action Center, "Only seven states reach a greater percentage of eligible children."

Meanwhile, nutrition experts say there are still thousands of kids who probably go hungry when the school cafeteria closes each spring." Sarah Kunz, the summer outreach specialist at the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger, noted that despite its summer successes, "Vermont reaches only one in four kids who qualify for free lunches at school."

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The Times Argus reports that 13 sites in central Vermont now offer free summer meals for children. For example, the
city of Barre has just launched a free summer lunch program to combat the rise of childhood hunger. This year, Barre has six drop-in sites open to all children 18 and under: The Aldrich Library, the Hedding United Methodist Church, the Barre City Elementary School, the Highgate Apartments, Green Acres, and the city pool. In addition, the "Northfield Boys and Girls Club and Brown Public Library in Northfield also provide meals that are open to all children" and "meals are being offered for the first time to children enrolled in shorter programs at three other sites: Barre Auditorium (the Frost Heaves camp), the Kellogg-Hubbard library in Montpelier, and Williamstown Elementary School's camp."

Sarah Kunz, the summer nutrition outreach and policy specialist at the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger, noted "that more Vermont families are struggling to put food on the table, based on the increased use of Food Stamps, which is nearing record levels, and the growing number of families turning to food shelves." Her organization "expects that up to 360 children will be fed daily through the Washington Country programs this summer – 150 more than last summer."

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The Times Argus reports that this fall, "Vermont will become the fourth state in the nation to add funding that will allow low-income students to have free breakfasts." Indeed earlier this year, lawmakers added a provision to the state's education budget to pay for each family's share of the reduced-price breakfast program – about 30 cents per meal. This 30 cents is supplemented by the federal government's $1.05 per meal share. During the 2006-2007, "about 21,250 students in Vermont qualified for free meals." This year, that number grew to 21,954, and starting next year, "the state expects to offer 613,338 [free] breakfasts annually."

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WCAX News reports that according to a new report released by the Every Child Matters Education Fund, Vermont "is the safest place for children to grow up." The report entitled Geography Matters - Child Well-Being in the States, "ranks states based on ten wellness indicators: infant mortality, child deaths 1-14, teen deaths 15-19, births to teen mothers, little or no prenatal care, child poverty, uninsured children, juvenile incarceration rates, child abuse deaths and child welfare expenditures." Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire also received high rankings.  Linda Johnson, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, lauded the state for its great work but added that she would like to "see more emphasis on education about shaken baby syndrome." The Department for Children and Families noted that "it would like to see more work in the area of child poverty."

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Boston.com reports that a new report by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law has given "Vermont's congressional delegation high marks for its voting record on poverty issues." Indeed, "U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Peter Welch each got an A+ and Senator Patrick Leahy received an A." Notably, "Vermont is among just four states -- including Hawaii, Massachusetts and Rhode Island -- whose delegation received all As."

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The Rutland Herald reports that the Vermont Community Foundation will award a $200,000 to Building Bright Futures to "improve child care programs around the state." Building Bright Futures has twelve regional directors and runs the STARS program, "an incentive for child-care providers who exceed state certification requirements." Through the STARS program, childcare providers are "evaluated on factors including the educational degrees possessed by staff members, participation in community activities, ongoing professional development and the type of curriculum used for the children." Evaluated programs receive a rating of "one to five stars" and the childcare provider "receives a bonus of $250 to $1,500, depending on the star rating."

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The Burlington Free Press reports that a federal review found that there are some very "serious holes" in Vermont's safety net for children who are at risk of neglect and abuse. For example, the review found that "too few complaints of possible maltreatment were investigated"; "caseworkers didn't have enough contact with children and families to help them before crises arise"; "children are too often bounced around before appropriate placements are found"; and that "new caseworkers and new foster parents haven't always completed their training before being put on the job." In response, the Vermont Department of Children and Families noted that "Vermont has some major work to do" though the state has a "good system when compared nationally." Some legislators worry that improving services for at-risk children may prove difficult especially during a tough budget year.

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The Bennington Banner reports that legislators, service organization employees, and community members convened on December 18, 2007, to talk about poverty in Bennington County.  The meeting is a follow-up to the Child Poverty Council forums held across the state. Issues raised at the meeting include: the cut-off of aid for those working themselves out of poverty, lack of public transportation, insufficient child care, and a need for mentoring in communities.

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The Burlington Free Press reports that Spectrum Youth and Family Services has spent more than 36 years helping Vermont's homeless and at-risk youth by providing housing and support services.  The Vermont Coalition of Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs estimates that more than 1,000 Vermont youth are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.  Of those 1,000 individuals, 238 are helped by programs like Spectrum's. In fact this past year, 125 youths have stayed at Spectrum's co-ed shelter and 62 were turned away because of bed unavailability. The youth who are unable to find space at a shelter sleep in parks, in tents along Lake Champlain, in boxcars, or in basements.

The Burlington Free Press identified several reasons for youth homelessness including family dissolution, abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, and poverty.  Other reasons mentioned included lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth that are kicked out by their family when they reveal their sexual orientation and individuals who are too old for the foster care system or lose services under the child mental health system when they turn eighteen.