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<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>1 in 5 or
20% of California's youth (under the age of 18) live in
poverty in the eighth largest economy and one of the richest regions in the
world.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>As the article points out, that's 2.1 million young
people currently in poverty before more massive budget cuts on the
already flimsy and moth-eaten social safety net. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>Most of these youth, per capita, are Latino/a. Budget
cuts will not only increase the poverty rate </FONT><FONT
face=Calibri>substantially over the next decade, but will also likely accelerate
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>racial re-segregation, a process well underway for some
time now. The bipartisan vision for </FONT><FONT
face=Calibri>the "Golden State" of the future is going to be
filled with prisons on one side of the tracks </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>and gated communities on the other. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5"><BR> </DIV>
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<DIV class=date cufid="30"><FONT face=Calibri>
<H3 class=articleTitle><A
title="http://www.californiascapitol.com/blog/2011/04/how-poor-is-a-californian-who-is-officially-classified-as-poor/
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href="http://www.californiascapitol.com/blog/2011/04/how-poor-is-a-californian-who-is-officially-classified-as-poor/">How
poor is a poor Californian?</A></H3>
<DIV class=articleAttrib>
<DIV class=byLine><SPAN class=articleAttribDate>04/08/11 7:00 PM
PST</SPAN></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=date cufid="30">4.08.2011</DIV>
<DIV class=date cufid="30"> </DIV>
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title="http://www.californiascapitol.com/blog/2011/04/how-poor-is-a-californian-who-is-officially-classified-as-poor/
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<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small"><FONT size=2>W</FONT></SPAN>hile some state
lawmakers use the phrase low-income, when budget debates get most heated
invariably Democrats – and sometimes a Republican or two – talk about how some
proposed spending cut would hurt “the poor.”</P>
<P>A large chunk of the $11.2 billion in spending reductions signed into law in
March by Gov. Jerry Brown fall heavily on poor Californians.</P>
<P>Welfare recipients can receive checks for only four years instead of five.
Monthly support checks will be reduced by 8 percent – from $694 to $638 in the
state’s highest cost counties.</P>
<P>The aid sent to the state’s aged, blind and disabled poor will fall to the
federal minimum.</P>
<P>Persons receiving care under Medi-Cal, the state’s health system for the
poor, will pay $50 instead of $15 for a visit to the emergency room that doesn’t
lead to hospitalization and $100 if it does. Generic drugs will cost $3 and name
brand drugs will be $5. Doctor and dentist visits will also require a $5
charge.</P>
<P>In the world’s eighth largest economy, there are no shortage of poor
Californians.</P>
<P>Of the state’s more than 8.3 million households in 2009, 10.6 percent were
living below the poverty level. More than 886,000 families.</P>
<P>Nearly 16 percent of families with children under 18 were living in poverty
in 2009, according to the <A
href="http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US06&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_DP3&-context=adp&-ds_name=&-tree_id=309&-_lang=en&-redoLog=true&-format="><SPAN
style="COLOR: #ff0000"><STRONG
title="http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US06&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_DP3&-context=adp&-ds_name=&-tree_id=309&-_lang=en&-redoLog=true&-format=
CTRL + Click to follow link">US
Census Bureau’s American Community Survey </STRONG></SPAN></A>released in
December.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>For all Californians – 37 million in the 2009 survey — 20 percent of
those under 18 years of age live in poverty: 2.1 million kids.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>But what exactly is “poor?”</P>
<P> </P>
<P>The governmental definition comes in the form of the Federal Poverty Level.
In 2011, that’s annual income of $22,350 for a family of four — $1,862.50 a
month.</P>
<P>Most state programs grant services to people with incomes above the poverty
level. How far above varies by program.</P>
<P>Pediatric care for the poor tends to offer the most generous eligibility. For
example, under Medi-Cal, a family with income up to 200 percent of the poverty
level can receive infant care. That’s a ceiling of $44,700 in annual income.</P>
<P>But for children ages 1 through 5 on Medi-Cal, eligibility is reduced to 133
percent of the poverty level — $29,800. CalFresh, what used to be Food Stamps,
has a 130 percent of poverty level eligibility but boosts it to 165 percent for
seniors and the disabled. The higher level is $36,877 per year.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>The Access for Infants and Mothers program goes up to 300 percent of the
poverty level. That’s $67,050 – a little above the state’s median income of
$58,931 as calculated by the census bureau.</P>
<P>These eligibility percentages aren’t limited to health and human services
programs.</P>
<P>In public schools, kids get reduced price meals if their family is at 185
percent of the federal poverty level. If the family is at 130 percent or less,
the cost of meals is free.</P>
<P>California-only programs have their own yardstick – State Median Income.</P>
<P>For families seeking state-subsidized child care, they’re eligible if their
income is 75 percent of the state median income or below.</P>
<P>A family of four would earn $50,256 or les to be eligible. A family of eight,
$69,348.</P>
<P>Brown sought to lower eligibility for childcare subsidies to 60 percent of
state median income but lawmakers rejected the idea.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>