The Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition on Tuesday issued its 2012 State of the Child in Bridgeport that reveals “children in Bridgeport living below the federal poverty line rose from 31 percent in 2010 to almost 40 percent in 2011–two and a half times the statewide rate of 15 percent and three times the Fairfield County rate of 12.8 percent.” News release from BCAC:
The Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition (BCAC) today released its 2012 State of the Child in Bridgeport report. The report, which is released annually and compares the well-being of children in Bridgeport to children statewide, calls attention to a dramatic rise in the city’s rate of child poverty.
The State of the Child reports that the number of children in Bridgeport living below the federal poverty line rose from 31 percent in 2010 to almost 40 percent in 2011–two and a half times the statewide rate of 15 percent and three times the Fairfield County rate of 12.8 percent.
“These numbers, and the disparities, are alarming,” said Mary Pat C. Healy, BCAC’s executive director. “As the region slowly climbs out of the recession, we have to make sure that Bridgeport’s children aren’t left behind. Living in poverty puts children at risk of so many other challenges, it’s critical that the community comes together on this issue.”
BCAC has been measuring and spotlighting conditions for Bridgeport’s children for 27 years with the State of the Child, its flagship publication. The 2012 report looks at poverty, early care, education, health, housing, and child safety. Bridgeport scored an “F” in 12 out of 16 categories for how it matched up against state conditions but showed at least five percent progress year over year in seven categories.
With this new data, BCAC continues to focus its research, advocacy, education and mobilization efforts on education, and early care, children’s health, and family economic empowerment.
The 2012 State of the Child in Bridgeport report is available for download on BCAC’s website, www.bcacct.org. Hard copies are also available. BCAC also invites the community to join them at its annual Children’s Issues Dialogue on December 4 to discuss these issues further. Please contact Nicole Bass at (203) 549-0075 x10 or nbass@bcacct.org to request copies of the report or RSVP to the event.
About the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition
The Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition (BCAC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1985 that consists of organizations, parents, and other concerned individuals committed to improving the well-being of Bridgeport’s children through research, advocacy, community education, and mobilization. Over the years, BCAC has played a leading role in a number of initiatives, including: securing federal funding to expand children’s mental health services in Bridgeport; launching a school breakfast program in the Bridgeport public schools; advocating for new affordable-housing apartments in the city; and assisting thousands of families to secure HUSKY state healthcare. To learn more about BCAC and download copies of its reports, visit www.bcacct.org.
Funding for BCAC’s State of the Child in Bridgeport 2012 Report was generously provided by the GE, People’s United Bank, Elizabeth M. Pfriem, and Norma F. Pfriem Foundation.
Every year the report or report card says the same thing. My concern is as a Bridgeport resident, you are not laying blame on us Bridgeporters. By hanging in here we are going above and beyond with our tax dollars to support the children and support them in so many other volunteer efforts as well. The “Elephant in the Room” is the suburbs dump all societal problems off on the cities. Please give our suburban towns a report card.
The Donkeys running our City government by nature always ignore the “Elephant in the Room”–they’ve been made to believe it’s just the Republican mascot.
I found the report troubling. The one thing I wish is they did not compare Bridgeport with the rest of Fairfield County, that’s not fair. I certainly don’t have any answers to these problems other than we NEED to improve educational standards for ALL Bridgeport kids.
*** Maybe if the BOE and school admin would start following the city of Bpt BOE rules and regulations/policies and procedures correctly, you would have a good starting point towards improvement! Unsafe out-of-control schools, low morale among school staff and students, out-of-touch school administration, lack of parent interest and participation in general, mismanagement of school budget money and outdated administrative curricula, etc. all play a part in education failure. *** START WITH THE BASICS, NOT POLITICS ***