Suburban Utah sees huge spike in poverty

A new book released yesterday shows that between 2000 and 2011, the rise in suburban poverty rose 64 percent, more than twice the growth rate of poverty in cities.

By 2011, almost 16.4 million suburban residents nationwide lived below the federal poverty level — now surpassing the number of impoverished city dwellers by 3 million, according to Confronting Suburban Poverty in America, written by Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube of the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Program.

Surprisingly, the suburban areas of three Utah cities ranked among the book’s top 15 in terms of fastest-growing poverty: Salt Lake City came in third with a 142 percent jump, the Provo-Orem area ranked eighth with a 129 percent increase and Ogden-Clearfield came in 14th with a bump of 105 percent.

Berube and Kneebone see this rapid growth in suburban poverty as more than a temporary change caused by the recent recession. They attribute the rise to shifts in jobs and wages, population growth and immigration, collapse of the housing market and the foreclosure crisis. Salt Lake Tribune

Nonprofit dental clinic now offers pediatric sedation

According to a Utah Department of Health (UDOH) survey conducted in the fall of 2010, more than 2,600 first-, second- and third-graders needed urgent dental care due to extensive tooth decay, infection and/or pain — in large part due to a lack of insurance and income to pay for the costly services.

In response to that need, Salt Lake Donated Dental Services — a nonprofit clinic that has provided dental care to the under-served of all ages since 1990 — launched its pediatric sedation program in March. It currently operates one day per month.

While using anesthesia significantly adds to the cost of the dental work, the practice makes sense for young children who are in chronic pain and can’t sit still for extended periods of time. Even X-rays are taken during sedation.

So far, 18 children have received $32,930 worth of sedation and dental treatment, including 44 fillings, 82 crowns, 31 extractions, 18 cleanings, 13 sealants and 12 fluoride varnishes.

Many of the children have been referred to the sedation program by SLCAP Head Start, which serves children up to 5 years old who live in families with incomes at or below the federal poverty level — about $23,000 a year for a family of four. The early childhood development program can accept children with family incomes up to 125 percent of that threshold. Salt Lake Tribune

Back-to-school campaigns to help Utah kids in poverty

As summer’s heat begins to wane and back-to-school sales are cropping up everywhere, more Utah children will struggle to be ready when classroom doors swing open later this month.

A recent KIDS COUNT Data Book for 2012 reported that about one in six Utah children now live in poverty. And Salt Lake City’s homeless shelter, the Road Home, is bursting at the seams due to a recent influx of homeless families in need of temporary housing.

In response, two similar but unrelated campaigns are under way to help low-income children gear up for the coming school year.

"We want to ensure that every child at the Road Home has the needed clothing and supplies for back-toschool,"

Intrepid owner Chris Thomas, organizer of this year’s Road Home Apple Tree campaign, said in a statement.

"It is as simple as purchasing an extra item or two when you do your back-to-school shopping," Thomas added.

In mid-July, the "apple trees" sprouted at 35 DownEast, Payless ShoeSource, Salt Lake Area Staples, Sanctuary Day Spa and Intrepid sites between Ogden and Provo. The campaign began with the names, needs and sizes of 70 children, but organizers have since had to add 72 more. Salt Lake Tribune

Housing vouchers law still leaving some Utahns out in the cold

In 2011, lawmakers passed a bill that was supposed to make it easier for low-income families, senior citizens and disabled residents to apply for housing vouchers in Salt Lake, Weber and Utah counties.

But more than a year later, the housing agencies still haven’t come up with the one-stop, uniform online application forms required by the new law — and Rep. Gage Froerer, R-Huntsville and sponsor of HB489, asked officials last week to explain why to the Workforce Services Interim Committee.

In Salt Lake County, for example, someone in need of housing help still has to file separate applications with the Housing Authority of the County of Salt Lake, the Housing Authority of Salt Lake City and West Valley City Housing Authority.

West Valley City’s application is 19 pages long and asks questions about everything from income and expenses to credit and criminal history. The county uses a two-page form to gather essentially the same information, while Salt Lake City has a four-page form.

Many applicants rely on public transportation and don’t have access to computers; having to travel from place to place to fill out applications is a hardship, Froerer said.

Housing officials attribute the delay to cost, technical challenges and a misunderstanding about what was required by the new law. One even questions the need given thousands of people are already on housing lists and face waits of up to five years. Salt Lake Tribune

Hungry kids at Salt Lake City, other Boys & Girls sites seeing smaller snacks

Donations decline as need soars for children who rely on food to tide them over until morning.

The elementary kids crowd around the table in the late afternoon to snack on string cheese and juice. Later, they’ll eat a taco and corn dinner at this Capitol West Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City.

With nearly all of them living at or below poverty-level incomes, most of these children don’t eat food at home. The dinners are provided through the Utah Food Bank’s Kids Cafe program, which feeds hot meals to children at 29 locations up to five days a week.

And while the food bank also offers food for snacks, it’s harder for this club and others to rely on the program because donations of dry goods to the food bank have dropped. The clubs hope to feed children fresh fruit and vegetables and other low-sugar, low-fat treats as part of their new five-year plan to help club members maintain a healthy weight. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah homeless vets to get new homes on V.A. campus

New apartments on the V.A. hospital campus will help Utah make a dent in the number of homeless veterans, speakers at a groundbreaking said Tuesday. Valor House, a $4.5 million joint venture of the Housing Authority of Salt Lake City and the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, will be built southwest of the hospital. It will include 72 bedrooms, each with a private bathroom, a lounge, an inside recreation area, 12 community kitchens and an outdoor basketball court. Salt Lake Tribune