Findings Show 24 Wilton Children on Food Assistance Program

Kids Count, a national and state-by-state project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, released today its most recent data which tracks the status of children throughout the country. This data is used to gauge, among other things, poverty levels of the nation’s youth. Below is the most recent information related to Wilton children.  

The number of children in Wilton on the governmental Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as the Food Stamp Program, increased to 24 children in 2009. That’s 16 more children than in 2007 (which had 8 students on the program), and seven more than that in 2005 (in which there were 17 kids enrolled for assistance). The years 2001 and 2003 had eight and nine students on Food Stamps, respectively.

Two percent of households, or 157 tax filers, claimed Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in 2007. EITC is defined by the IRS’ website as “is a tax credit for certain people who work and have low wages.” That number is up slightly from 2005, which had 121 persons (also two percent of taxpaying residents for that year) filing for taxes claiming EITC assistance.

“Connecticut passed its own EITC this year. This will be a big help to many families. CAHS also offers free income tax preparation and will be able to help people claim the EITC if they qualify. Visit our web site, www.cahs.org, for more information,” said Liz Dupont-Diehl the Policy Director of the Connecticut Association for Human Services in an emailed statement yesterday.

Other interesting finds from the study:

• Wilton has had zero teen births (ages 15-17) since 2001 through 2008.
• One child is on temporary family assistance as of 2009
• 10 Wilton children are enrolled in Care 4 Kids
• Seven percent of Wilton births received late or no prenatal care

“KIDS COUNT is a national and state-by-state project of the Casey Foundation to track the status of children in the United States. At the national level, the principal activity of the initiative is the publication of the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, which uses the best available data to measure the educational, social, economic, and physical well-being of children state by state.  The Foundation also funds a national network of state-level KIDS COUNT projects that provide a more detailed, county-by-county picture of the condition of children. The first national KIDS COUNT Data Book was published in 1990.” Via the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s website.