Written by Juan Carlos Ordóñez
Statesman Journal
For the sake of Oregon's most vulnerable children and the future of our state, Gov. John Kitzhaber should heed his own words.
"Today we are spending more on problems than we are investing in people ... problems that could be prevented if we increased the size and effectiveness of our investment in people," the governor rightly proclaimed in his inaugural speech.
The governor's diagnosis makes the case for investing more in our children, yet his budget proposes to slash one of the most important programs protecting Oregon's poorest kids. The proposed cuts to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) portend greater hardship for tens of thousands of children and, consequently, costlier problems down the road for our state.
....The governor's proposals for TANF could not come at a worse time for Oregon's poorest kids. The deep recession and anemic recovery make it difficult for their parents to find work.
The Oregon Department of Human Services acknowledges that the governor's proposals for TANF would likely cause some families to become homeless and others to collapse, with more kids ending up in foster care.
That would be a social disaster. Deprivation and stress early in life, scientists tell us, tend to disrupt a child's developing brain circuitry, with profound negative consequences for the individual and society.
....In their report, the governor's experts explained that factors such as poverty and family instability have "an almost linear correlation with school failure, school dropout, substance abuse, social dependency and involvement in the criminal justice system." The result is "a workforce that struggles to compete successfully in a global economy and a citizenry that is a liability rather than an asset to Oregon's future." FULL STORY
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