Editor’s note: This commentary is by Doug Racine, a former Vermont lieutenant governor and former secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services.
As Vermont fights back against our triple crises — Covid-19, freshly exposed institutional racism, and an economy already being torn apart by growing inequality — we must not return to the old “normal.” That “normal” was failing our children, our working families, and our communities. Measures of economic stability, children’s health, and educational achievement have declined in the last few years. Income inequality is increasing.
At any one time, almost one-third of our children are living in poverty or on the edge, with their families facing an unending struggle just to survive. Those in minority households face the additional barriers of bias and discrimination. All signs are that poverty will only increase as we slowly recover from the pandemic.
Children growing up in poverty have the odds stacked against them. While we must be cautious with generalizations, we do know that low income children are much more likely to experience poor health, trauma, lower high school graduation rates, lower lifetime incomes and a variety of difficulties throughout adulthood. Opportunities are limited. For all too many children, poverty is a public health crisis and the gateway to a lifetime of struggle and hopelessness.
Covid-19 has exposed the continuing failure of Vermont to address the financial insecurity facing too many Vermont children and their families. While most higher income families have been at worst inconvenienced, low-wage and poor Vermonters are suffering the greatest hardships. Foreclosures and evictions are sure to come. Children living in homes without internet access or computers are more likely to fall behind in their studies. Families have been lining up for free boxes of food.
Election time is an opportunity for candidates to present plans to move to a “new normal” that truly values children and builds systems that reduce the lasting negative impacts of poverty. Most candidates profess to wanting to “protect the most vulnerable” or to promoting “economic justice.” But the discussion usually ends with those well-intentioned words. Exactly who do you define as the “most vulnerable?” Exactly what are you proposing? And what are you going to do about it? Most don’t say.
Poverty and its lasting impacts on children can be greatly reduced through thoughtful economic and human services policies. Childhood poverty needs to be attacked by state government in a comprehensive and systematic way.
Most importantly, families need financial stability, which begins with a $15 minimum wage and better job opportunities. Vermont can be more family friendly and affordable with paid sick time, paid family leave, and affordable, high quality child care. A priority should be rooting out and ending discriminatory practices affecting our communities of color and ethnicity. Bringing down housing costs will require a concerted effort by governments at all levels, community partners, and housing developers to dramatically increase our housing stock.
We need to rethink economic development strategies and redirect dollars to the foundations of a vibrant and sustainable economy: education for all ages, job training and retraining, environmental quality, addressing climate change, a focus on our rural communities, and a strong physical and technological infrastructure.
The safety net needs reweaving, which means finally fixing the “benefit cliff,” which is the Catch-22 outcome of a failed system that leaves many taking one step forward and two steps back. Greatly increased support for early child care and education is key. And we need to understand the realities of today’s housing, food, transportation and health care costs, and increase financial assistance to families in poverty.
Guaranteeing the opportunities for all children to achieve the American dream can and should be our goal. We all agree that every child should have the chance to grow up happy, healthy, and successful. Helping children get off to a good start begins with prenatal health care for their mothers, home visiting by nurses and family supporters for young families, and strong child abuse prevention programs. Children also often need additional help to be ready to start kindergarten and keep up with their peers from K to 12.
Reducing poverty and helping kids is about more than added resources. Just as important is reforming Vermont government’s overly bureaucratic and failed approach to helping people in poverty survive and get to a better place. Leaving families on their own to navigate a fragmented and frustrating system is ineffective and inefficient. Breaking down program silos and integrating services around the entire family will require modern management and modern technology, stronger partnerships with schools and communities, and greater accountability for results.
Vermont can and must emerge from these crises better than ever by building a stronger social infrastructure, just as we built a stronger physical infrastructure after Tropical Storm Irene. The crushing symptoms of poverty — homelessness, hunger, poor health, despair — must be alleviated. But that is only half the battle. At the same time, we must get at the root causes of poverty — inequality, low wages, systemic racial and gender discrimination, lack of education, and health and domestic violence crises. State government can do better. Vermont can emerge stronger than ever.
