AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & DENTISTRY
Childhood Poverty, Disabilities and Supplemental Security Income In October 2012, SSI provided monthly cash benefits to 1.3 million children with disabilities under age 18 whose families have low incomes and few assets –or about 1.7% percent of all children in the United States. BY H. BARRY WALDMAN, DDS, MPH, PHD, JO ANN SIMONS, MSW, KRISTIN COMPTON, DMD, DOLORES CANNELLA, PHD, STEVEN P. PERLMAN, DDS, MSCD, DHL (HON) POVERTY In 2011, 16.1 million children (21.9% of all children) less than 18 years of age lived in poverty; including: • 38.8% (4.3 million) of black nonHispanic children. • 21.9% (4.8 million) of white nonHispanic children. • 34.1% (6.0 million) of Hispanic children (of any race). • 13.3% (.6 million) of Asian children.1 "As we look to identify and institute effective interventions, we should be careful not to lose sight of the safety net’s considerable accomplishments or the progress that has been made in improving the lives of tens of millions of less fortunate Americans (of all ages).”2 (See chart) Nevertheless, the gaps between the incomes of the richest households and poor and middle-income households are wide and growing in most states, according to a major new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute that examines inequality at the state level.3 Across all states, the average income of the richest fifth of households was eight times that of the poorest fifth as of the late 2000s. New
Mexico (largest gap), Arizona, California, Georgia, New York, Louisiana, Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Mississippi face major gaps.3, 4 (See map) “Many low-income children never reach the starting line…”2 Too many children start kindergarten already far behind, and their future opportunities — including going to college and succeeding in a job — are seriously constrained. Children whose families live well below the poverty line or who live in very disadvantaged neighborhoods can face particularly difficult challenges.2 In the past, teams of medical researchers found rates of childhood malnutrition and nutrition-related conditions
in various poor areas of the United States that rivaled those in some developing countries. These findings helped create a bipartisan consensus to improve and expand nutrition programs, and when the researchers returned to the same poor areas a decade later, they found dramatic improvement. Child malnutrition and related conditions had become rare (and have remained so ever since). The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is the nation’s largest child nutrition program. SNAP provides families with an estimated 22 million children with resources to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet. This represents close to 1 in 3 children (29 percent) in the United States. Almost half of all SNAP recipients are children (47 percent), and an additional 26 percent are adults living with children. As such, SNAP is crucially important to children’s health and well-being.5 (See figure 1) • In 2011, SNAP provided an estimated $51 billion in benefits to families with children, over half of which went to families with preschool-age children. • A typical family with children that is
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY The American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD) was organized in 2002 to provide a forum for healthcare professionals who provide clinical care to people with neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities (ND/ID). The mission of the organization is to improve the quality and assure the parity of healthcare for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities throughout the lifespan.
12 October 2013 • EP MAGAZINE/www.eparent.com