May 16, Ensuring Opportunity: Addressing Poverty in Contra Costa County

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1 May 16, 2014 Ensuring Opportunity: Addressing Poverty in Contra Costa County

2 Measuring Poverty in Contra Costa County 2 The 2014 Federal Poverty Level for a family of four is $23, ,800 people (12.5% of pop.) live below the federal poverty level; 38,000 of them are children The California Poverty Measure (CPM) for Contra Costa is 18.6% which takes into account local costs and Safety Net programs Many families are in crisis and more are struggling to make ends meet than the poverty rates alone suggest

3 A New Estimate of Poverty in California 3 Alameda Contra Costa Marin Napa San Francisco San Mateo Santa Clara Sonoma Statewide Source: Public Policy Institute of California 12.4% 18.4% 12.5% 18.6% 9.3% 19.0% 12.4% 25.5% 12.8% 23.4% 6.7% 18.4% 10.2% 18.7% 11.7% 17.2% 16.2% 22.0% Average CPM Threshold Total Population CPM Population in Poverty $31,701 1,490, ,166 31,743 1,054, ,126 35, ,183 46,585 31, ,710 33,881 36, , ,387 36, , ,638 34,377 1,771, ,970 30, ,237 82,323 28,652 36,582,274 8,048,100 Official U.S. government estimate California Poverty Measure (CPM)

4 2012 Status of Measuring Poverty in Contra Costa 4 242,744 (23%) people live below 185% FPL ($36,611 for a family of 3) Nearly 50,000 CCC residents live in deep poverty (less than 50% of FPL) In East Contra Costa, the number of people living in poverty has grown 70% in the past decade

5 2012 Contra Costa Poverty by Race & Ethnicity 5 50,000 25% 45,000 40,000 20% 35,000 30,000 15% 25,000 20,000 10% 15,000 10,000 5% 5,000 0 White African American Asian Hispanic or Latino 0% Number Below Poverty Percent Below Poverty

6 Poverty Distribution by City 6 More than half of Contra Costa s population in poverty live in four cities: Antioch, Concord, Pittsburg and Richmond 2012 CCC Poverty by City number in poverty % in poverty 150% of poverty % of children in poverty % working at least part time and living in poverty Richmond 18,454 18% 29% 18% 31% Concord 15,181 12% 21% 19% 27% Antioch 14,963 15% 23% 20% 28% Pittsburg 12,428 19% 28% 29% 35%

7 Safety Net Task Force Issue Areas 7 Homelessness Economic Security Food Security Safety Health

8 Homeless in Contra Costa 8 8,252 people used homeless services in % were families with dependent children 30% were identified as newly homeless 61% were chronically homeless Nearly 1/3 of the homeless are children under age 18 On any given night, nearly 4,000 people are homeless There is a severe shortage of shelter and permanent housing beds. Currently there are only 382 shelter beds for families and single adults in the county.

9 Demand Exceeds Supply Family shelter sets up extra cribs and beds temporarily in dining room during cold winter months 9

10 Hunger in Contra Costa 10 The Food Bank serves 149,000 people each month -- service increased by 50% in 2008 and has not declined since More than 65,000 low-income people receive CalFresh -- 50% are children 48,000 people are eligible for CalFresh but not enrolled If these 48,000 people were enrolled, hunger would be reduced, and $96 million would be put into the local economy over the course of the year

11 Church of the Nazarene (May 7, 2014) 11

12 Health in Contra Costa 12 Uninsured and Eligible for Health Insurance in Contra Costa County (Preliminary Estimates) Pre Open Enrollment Preliminary Post Open Enrollment Expanded Medi-Cal 56,700 In Process Private Plan with subsidy 37,300 21,000 Private Plan no subsidy 9,000 6,000

13 Health in Contra Costa 13 Outreach to ACA-eligible uninsured residents continues Partnering with Access to Care Collaborative to reach uninsured residents who are not ACA eligible

14 Safety in Contra Costa 14 Every 10 minutes another child sees or hears domestic violence The possibility of negative outcomes for children (social, educational, economic) are heightened if exposed to trauma early in life In 2012, there were 3,286 total domestic violence calls to police; 26% involved a weapon In 2013 there were 1,300 substantiated cases of child abuse; 44% were for children under age 5

15 Economic Security in Contra Costa 15 Contra Costa unemployment rate is 7.4% - national is 6.7%. Some cities are in the high teens. The East Bay job market was hit harder by the Great Recession and has recovered more slowly than other parts of the Bay Area or California as a whole The self sufficiency standard for one adult and two young children (preschool and school age) in CCC is $63,945, (4 full time minimum wage jobs)

16 Majority of Job Openings in Contra Costa are Low-Wage 16 Average Annual Job Openings by Entry Level Education Some college, no degree Master's degree Doctoral or professional degree Postsecondary non-degree award Associate's degree Bachelor's degree Less than high school High school diploma or equivalent 0 5,000 10,000 15,000

17 Income Pie Grew, But Most Californians Got Tiny Slices 17 71% of income gains between 1987 and 2009 went to the wealthiest 10 percent of Californians 2.5% of the total income increase went to middle income Californians Had minimum wage kept pace with productivity after 1968, it would have reached $21.72 per hour in 2012 Low-wage workers had the steepest drop in earnings in 2013 relative to their value in 2006

18 18 Poverty is not a natural catastrophe or a tragedy but a predictable consequence of what we chose to do or not do. Poverty is an unnecessary reality and a scandal. Sasha Abramsky, Author The American Way of Poverty: How the Other Half Still Lives