For youngest New Jerseyans, hurdles are higher Annual survey of child welfare reveals rising poverty rate among kids under 6 and a growing pool of uninsured Thursday, February 08, 2007 • BY SUSAN K. LIVIO • Star-Ledger Staff As New Jersey's wealth and cost of living scaled new heights, children under the age of 6 became the fastest-growing segment of the underclass, an annual survey of family health and well-being showed yesterday. Thirty-five percent more children ages 5 and younger lived below the poverty line in 2005 than did four years earlier. Fourteen percent more of these youngsters lacked health insurance, and 17 percent more lived with unemployed parents, according to the survey. The news was not all grim in the 2007 Kids Count report, released by the statewide advocacy group, the Association for Children of New Jersey. Nearly one-third more children attended preschool, which can combat the harmful effects of poverty on a child's health, safety and ability to learn. "We must expand this successful program," said Cecilia Zalkind, the association's executive director, noting Gov. Jon Corzine has pledged to include more money in his upcoming budget for additional preschools in poor communities. "The jump in preschool enrollments represents enormous progress in helping thousands of children arrive at kindergarten prepared for school success," Zalkind said. "But these high-quality programs are currently only available to children in districts that receive state aid, leaving out thousands of children whose parents cannot afford to pay tuition at private preschools." Olga Goncalves, a second-grade teacher from the Wilson Avenue School in Newark, said there is a 20-child waiting list for pre-kindergarten classes at her school because there isn't enough room for everyone. Students who complete preschool are "more secure in their social and emotional development," Goncalves said. "There is less grade repetition, less special ed ... higher graduation rates, the list goes on." In an upbeat ceremony at the Statehouse in Trenton that highlighted the mixed findings of the annual survey, the advocacy group honored 23 first- and second-graders from across the state who won a coloring contest depicting their vision of the future. Among the future presidents, rock stars, dog walkers and dance instructors was budding dentist Chase Whitney-Williams from the North East Elementary School in Montclair. She drew a female judge sentencing a bank robber to jail because "people who don't do the right thing get punished." Her classmate, Jane Ellis, depicted herself as a farmer tending to chickens and other animals she said she would like to pet. "That was the hopeful part of the day," Zalkind said after the children displayed their artwork and presented it to a Corzine adviser, who promised to hang the drawings in the governor's office. Despite New Jersey having the highest median household income in the nation, "pockets of unconscionable poverty" festered, Zalkind said. Single-parent families were hit especially hard: nearly 40 percent of single-parent families lived in poverty in 2005; 29 percent of New Jersey's 2.1 million children are raised in single-parent households. Federal guidelines say a family of four living on about $19,000 a year is poor -- a salary that "is not possible for anyone, especially in a state as expensive as New Jersey," Zalkind said. New Jersey ranked worst among other states for the number of families paying too much for housing, defined as more than 30 percent of their income. The survey also examined which anti-poverty and other social programs are reaching families. The free school lunch program continued to underperform. Data pulled from the state Agriculture Department says 374,000 kids qualified for free lunches in the 2005-06 school year, but only 290,400 participated, down 4 percent from 2001-02 school year, the report said. In contrast, the demand grew for other programs like food stamps. Between 2002 and 2006, nearly 202,000 or 35 percent more children relied on food stamps to fill their family food pantries. Acting Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez credited the growth in food stamp use to the department's ongoing ad campaign. Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@starledger.com or (609) 989-0802. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.