Day 40: National Poverty in America Month

What does it mean to be poor in America? What does being poor mean to a child?

We know that being poor means being at statistical risk. Poor children live in the kinds of socially toxic environments that generate multiple threats to development -- academic failure, child maltreatment, learning disabilities, and others. That is one clear meaning of being poor in America. Interestingly, this social toxicity parallels physical toxicity; low-income populations are more likely to be exposed to chemical and radioactive waste and polluted air and water. Being poor means that the odds are stacked against you. Poverty has that meaning in a statistical sense.

But what does poverty mean to a child?  Being poor is about being left out of what your society tells people they could expect if they were included. Being poor means being different, not meeting the basic standards set by your society, not being "regular." It is not so much a matter of what you have, as what you do not have. And, it is the messages that difference sends. There is by now overwhelming evidence of a strong relationship between poverty and child abuse and neglect. The great majority of families, to whom child abuse and neglect have been attributed, live in poverty or near-poverty circumstances.

The Child Abuse Prevention Center directly serves at-risk children and families in crisis to prevent and break the generational cycle of child abuse. The Child Abuse Prevention Center is Orange County, California's leading not-for-profit organization focused exclusively on the prevention of child abuse. Their early intervention programs have a well-documented record of strengthening and improving parent-child relationships, working to prevent child abuse before it occurs. Matching families at risk of child abuse with professional social workers to work with them in their homes accomplish their goals. The goal of the intervention is to replace old patterns of abuse with nurturing parenting styles, as well as to empower parents to become financially self-sufficient. The devastating effects of child abuse are life-long and have generational consequences. The Child Abuse Prevention Center believes that by providing their clients with the necessary tools to be successful parents, the center will continue to break the generational cycle of child abuse.

Donation; $5

To support The Child Abuse Prevention Center, please visit: http://www.brightfutures4kids.org