With over one in two black children and over one in five children overall in Wisconsin growing up in poverty, we cannot afford to wait longer to change the future for them and our state. The Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT project has just released in Creating Opportunity for Families: A Two-Generation Approach, a report that outlines the importance of building a cohesive and coordinated effort to support families to become economically stable and at the same time do all we can for children, particularly our youngest and most vulnerable children, to make sure they have an opportunity to “hit the ground running” as they enter school and continue to flourish into adulthood.

There is a way for community members, the faith and business communities, and government to work together to break the cycle of poverty and move families to become self-reliant. Working on two generations – children and parent(s) – at the same time is critical to that effort. Check out the Casey report, the WCCF press release related to the report, and WCCF’s report on Child Poverty in Wisconsin: A Challenge to Our Future issued late last year.

Finally, think about what you can do in your neighborhood or community to make a difference and how you can urge adoption of state policies that truly can lift a family out of poverty for generations to come.                       by Jim Moeser