Roundtable focuses on children, families

“Building a Movement for Arkansas’ Kids,” was the theme of a roundtable discussion presented Tuesday, Aug. 30, by the Carroll County Community Foundation and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families at the Carroll Electric Community Room in Berryville.

Laura Kellams, Northwest Arkansas director for AACF, led the discussion. She began by sharing some sobering facts about poverty in Arkansas and Carroll County: Arkansas ranks 43rd overall in the 2022 Kids Count Data Book produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, falling from 39th in 2021, while ranking 39th in economic well-being, 34th in education, 46th in health and 46th in family and community; one out of five children in Carroll County lives in poverty, with one of four children under 5 in the county living in poverty; and 74 percent of the county’s public school students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

Kellams noted that AACF is a non-partisan organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for children and families in Arkansas by working to advance policy changes. The group is especially focused on eliminating the racial and ethnic disparities in children’s outcomes by focusing on education, economic security, foster care, health and juvenile justice.

“We do public policy advocacy,” Kellams said. “The sort of shorthand version of our mission is to start to make sure that all the kids in Arkansas have opportunities that they need to really thrive and to reach their full potential. And we do that by directly lobbying the governor and the legislature and sometimes Congress to change the laws in our state, and sometimes the nation, to make sure that we can provide more opportunities for children and families.”

Carroll County, Kellams noted, has a population that is roughly 85 percent white and 15 percent Hispanic or Latino, although she pointed out that minority populations are often undercounted. The county’s child population includes 75 percent white and 25 percent Hispanic or Latino, while the public school population is 69 percent white and 31 percent Hispanic or Latino.

AACF’s educational priorities, Kellams said, are to ensure that K-12 schools in the state are adequately and equitably funded, to greatly expand early education opportunities and to secure funding for after-school and summer programs.

Arkansans who don’t have access to food face a gantlet of barriers, Kellams said, including a lack of flexibility in the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the strictest asset limits in the country for the SNAP program and outdated systems for vital programs like WIC — a supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children.

AAFC’s priorities for healthcare, Kellams said, are protecting Medicaid coverage and improving prenatal and postpartum coverage. Juvenile justice and foster care priorities are banning or reducing juvenile court fees, reforming school discipline policies and fully funding the foster care system.

After Kellams’ opening presentation, attendees divided into groups to discuss problems and potential solutions to improve the quality of life for children and families. Among the areas of concern raised were access to affordable childcare and early educational opportunities, equitable educational opportunities for children whose native language is not English, affordable housing, access to quality healthcare, internet connectivity and more.

Janell Robertson, executive director of the Carroll County Community Foundation, introduced Kellams and also presented a $1,000 grant from the Ruth Wood Charitable Fund to Green Forest schools to purchase EpiPens. Wood is a retired physical therapist who lives in Eureka Springs and will celebrate her 100th birthday in October.

Arkansans who don’t have access to food face a gantlet of barriers, said Laura Kellams, including a lack of flexibility in the state’s SNAP program and outdated systems for vital programs like WIC.