State’s child care income requirement is third highest in U.S

An annual report was published by National Women’s Law Center as a comparative analysis of child care assistance policies from year to year since 2001. It focuses on the following four policy areas: income eligibility, waiting lists for assistance, copayment requirements and reimbursement rates for providers. Key findings for the state of Hawaii:

• The state’s income eligibility limits for a family of three – when calculated as percentage of the poverty level – is, at 257 percent, the third highest after Connecticut’s and Wyoming’s.
• Hawaii does not have a waiting list for child care assistance.
• At $203, Hawaii’s parent copayments for a family of three with an income at 100 percent of the poverty level and one child in care was the third highest after Colorado ($253) and North Dakota ($252).

Hawaii’s monthly state reimbursement rate amount in 2010 was:

• Equivalent to the 75th percentile of the Hawaii market rate amount ($675) for center care for a four-year-old (seven other states matched their reimbursement amounts to the 75th percentile of their respective market rates while South Carolina’s reimbursement exceeded its 75th percentile amount by $22; all other reported state reimbursement rates fell short of the 75th percentile amount)
• $30 or 2 percent less than the 75th percentile of the Hawaii market rate amount ($1,425) for center care for a one-year-old (nine other states reimbursed amounts ranging from equal to the 75th percentile of their respective market rates to an amount that equaled or was less than $30 below $1,425).

Hawaii’s increase in child poverty ranks first in U.S.

First Focus has published a report based on the 2009 U.S. Census data examining children in poverty in 2009 and providing state-by-state comparisons. Highlights pertaining to Hawaii:

• Hawaii is among 26 states that saw an increase in child poverty rates between 2008 and 2009.
• Hawaii recorded the biggest rise in child poverty among the 50 states and DC, with an increase from 10.0 percent in 2008 to 13.8 percent in 2009; the 2007 figure was 9.8 percent. 
• The leap in children in poverty was equivalent to a 38 percent increase in child poverty in the state, although Hawaii’s rate remains well below the national average of 20.7 percent. 
• Hawaii’s current child poverty rate is the eleventh lowest among the 50 states and DC.

More than 20 new indicators containing data on child poverty, demographics, employment, and family structure have been updated on the web-based KIDS COUNT Data Center. These recent data come from the 2009 American Community Survey and can be viewed by states, cities, and congressional districts. For example, you may access the profile for your congressional district in “Data By State” or compare Congressional Districts 1 and 2 on one indicator like the Overall Poverty rate. The new data indicators include:

• Children in poverty, in extreme poverty, below 150 percent, and below 200 percent poverty
• Children in poverty by age group
• Single-parent families and married-couple families with related children that are below poverty
• Child population by household type 
• Children that have difficulty speaking English 
• Children that speak a language other than English at home
• Children under age 6 with all available parents in the labor force
• Unemployed teens age 16 to 19.