By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — Statistics point to some improvement on the educational front and in doing outreach to those who need help, but in the areas of childhood poverty, safety, teen pregnancy, high school drop-outs and other societal issues, Pawtucket is scoring below the state average.

That was a snapshot provided at a presentation called “Pawtucket Data in Your Backyard” that was held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Thursday. Local community leaders and representatives from a variety of educational and social services organizations were invited to hear findings for Pawtucket that were extrapolated from the 2009 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook. After the presentation, community members discussed ways to improve the well-being for children and youth in Pawtucket.
Elizabeth Burke Bryant, director of Rhode Island Kids Count, said that her group takes the data and breaks it down for the state’s 39 cities and towns. The idea, she said, is to show community leaders and policy makers how this portrait of Pawtucket’s children can be used as an advocacy tool to improve lives.
Stephanie Geller, policy analyst for Rhode Island Kids Count, noted that Pawtucket continues to have one of the highest child poverty rates in the state, with almost one out of three children (30 percent) living in families with incomes below the poverty line, according to data between 2005 and 2007 from the American Community Survey.
In 2008, the federal poverty threshold was $17,346 for a family of three. In Pawtucket, Geller said, over 12 percent (2,195) of children live in what is considered “extreme poverty” at an income level of $8,600 a year. In Central Falls, that same category is at 21.2 percent (1,146 children).

According to the same 2007 American Community Survey, on the statewide level, there are 17.5 percent (40,468) of children under age 18 living below the federal poverty threshold and 8 percent (17,697 living in extreme poverty.
Interestingly, over the past five years there has been a substantial decline in the number of families receiving cash assistance. In 2008, there were 1,413 Pawtucket children in families receiving cash assistance through the Rhode Island Works Program. The percentage of Pawtucket children in families enrolled in Rhode Island Works has decreased by half since 2004 (from 16 percent to 8 percent), noted Geller.
However, Geller pointed out that while some of this decline in participation can be attributed to better job training and intervention, there is also evidence that factors such as stricter eligibility requirements and shorter time limits to receive cash assistance have caused a drop in the number of participants, as well as the knowledge that there are families who are simply unaware of or not availing themselves of the services.
Geller also noted that with the recent economic downturn and higher unemployment, the number of families receiving assistance through Rhode Island Works is bound to show an increase the next time a survey is taken.
In the area of economic well-being, data from 2008 showed that 77 percent of Pawtucket children who were eligible for food stamps participated in the program, the same participation rate as the state as a whole. However, research also showed that almost one in four children (23 percent) who were income-eligible for food stamps lived in a family that that was not enrolled in the program that provides it (now called SNAP – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
Geller applauded Pawtucket for being pro-active in having a Universal School Breakfast Program which offers free breakfast to children regardless of income. However, she also said that the average of children participating — 26 percent out of 6,691 who were eligible — is lower than advocates would like to see. She said that an effort is being made by social service organizations to increase participation by providing families with information on the benefits of the program.
Likewise, in 2008, there were 200 Pawtucket children enrolled in Head Start, which provides early education programs. While that figure showed 56 more children taking part than in 2007, it is still only about one-quarter of those eligible.
On the educational front, Pawtucket saw improvements in many areas, said Geller. Last year, 84 percent of the city’s children were enrolled in all-day kindergarten, which research has shown to be greatly beneficial in academic achievement and preparedness for first grade.
Additionally, while still lower than the state average, the NECAP scores of fourth graders reading at or above proficiency level increased from 48 percent in 2005 to 58 percent in 2008; fourth grade math scores increased from 42 percent in 2005 to 50 percent in 2008 and eighth grade reading scores improved from 44 percent in 2005 to 52 percent in 2008.
Geller also said that Pawtucket’s four-year high school graduation rate has improved from 48 percent in 2007 to 57 percent in 2008. Yet, that is still well below the state average of 74 percent, she added.
The student mobility rate — children moving in and out of the school they are enrolled in — is 24 percent in Pawtucket, which is higher than the state’s rate of 16 percent, Geller also pointed out.
Among the sobering statistics are that Pawtucket has the third highest teen birth rate in the state. The teen birth rate per 1,000 teen girls ages 15-19 is significantly higher in Pawtucket (at 56.4 percent) than in the state as a whole (30.4 percent).
The data for victims of child abuse and neglect was also much higher in Pawtucket than in Rhode Island as a whole. In 2008, there were 303 victims of child abuse and neglect in Pawtucket, a rate of 16.7 percent per 1,000 children, compared with the statewide rate of 10.7 percent. Child abuse and neglect victim rates in the core cities ranged from a low of 14.4 victims per 1,000 children in Providence to a high of 28.2 in Woonsocket.
On health care in general, Geller reported that between 2005 and 2007, 93 percent of Rhode Island children under age 18 had health insurance. Investments in Rite Care, Rhode Island’s Medicaid managed care health insurance program have helped keep the rate of uninsured children low, despite declines in employer-sponsored health insurance coverage.
She said that 2009 KIDS COUNT Factbook shows that Pawtucket has made progress in several areas of child health over the past decade, but there is still more work to be done to ensure that the city’s children grow up to be healthy.
During the public discussion on how to improve the lives of local children, Henry Shelton, of the George Wiley Center, was quick to point out the need to shorten the number of pages in the food stamp application as well as to lobby for more workers to be hired to speed up the process.
Shelton also said that the Wiley Center is trying to organize those who are unemployed to give them a voice in trying to save jobs and turn-around Pawtucket and Central Falls’ higher-than-state-average unemployment rate.
Suzanne Studley, a coordinator at the Blackstone Valley Community Action Program, said that BVCAP, thanks to an infusion of federal stimulus funds, has been able to hire additional staff to counsel those in need about the food stamp program and other community outreach services. “BVCAP is here to help,” she stated.
Kimberly Mercer, deputy superintendent of the Pawtucket School Department, said that with additional Title I funding, all-day kindergarten will be available in all of the city’s schools in the coming school year.
Elizabeth Burke Bryant wrapped up the program by providing some of the funding highlights that resulted from the most recent state budget session. She said this includes funding to continue the universal school breakfast program, to enable 38,000 people to retain their Rite Care dental coverage, and to allow children who are legal/permanent residents in the process of obtaining their citizenship to receive Rite Care health coverage.
In addition, Burke Bryant reported that funding had been restored for the Mayoral Academy in Cumberland and the Segue Charter School in Central Falls.