Each year, the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies takes a look at poverty in the Buckeye State, and how it is affecting our kids.

State of Poverty report numbers came from 2022. In that year, the poverty rate in Ohio was 13.4% — higher than the national average 12.6%. The state child poverty rate was 17.7%. According to the Ohio Capital Journal’s look at the report, researchers assessed poverty’s effect on kids when it comes to housing, food and health care.

According to the association, in Ohio there are 79 affordable and available units per 100 renter households for people who are at or below 50% area median income.

OACAA Executive Director Philip E. Cole suggested “”The state needs to look at ways to actually pay contractors to build affordable housing.”

As for hunger, the food insecurity rate for Ohio children is 14.8%. After February 2023, 1.5 million Ohioans saw their SNAP benefits end; and there are 300 fewer WIC-authorized vendors in Ohio now than there were in 2015.

“One possibility is to increase direct funding to food banks and pantries,” Cole said. “Another is a significant tax credit for each member of the family so families have more money to buy food.”

And 4.6% of Ohio children do not have health insurance. Access to quality health care is scarce. The overall infant mortality rate was 7.0 in 2021 — a horrifying 14.2 for Black babies. The poverty report says the infant mortality rate among Medicaid births was nearly twice as high as that for private insurance births.

Part of the problem is the number of maternity care deserts in the state. When Memorial Health System’s Belpre Medical Campus opens in 2026, it will be southeast Ohio’s only women and children’s hospital.

In fact, according to data from the association’s report, the counties with the four highest poverty rates are in southeast Ohio. Shame on lawmakers and economic development officials who continue to ignore this region where struggling families would very much like to be getting a hand up rather than a hand out.

Cole’s concern is justified, and his suggested solutions certainly merit consideration among lawmakers. But there is another piece to the puzzle. Working to ensure access to quality education — including jobs training — for all Ohioans is essential, as is the continued effort to diversify and expand our economy. Bringing in employers who pay good wages must be a top priority for ALL corners of the state.