Child Poverty Grows, Making Anti-Hunger Services Critical
At a time when key supports, including the country’s most effective hunger prevention programs, are at risk for children and families in Arizona, new data tells us just how critical essential services are for children in need.
According to the supplemental poverty measure, child poverty in Arizona increased from 10% (2019 – 2021) to 14% (2022 – 2024). That increase is tough enough for Arizona children, but it would have been dramatically worse if not for critical programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Every year, the Census Bureau issues two methods of analysis of poverty. One is the standard poverty rate, and one is the supplemental poverty measure. The supplemental poverty rate is the only method that considers geographic differences in housing costs and that shows the effects of economic policies put in place by policy makers.
REPORT FINDING: ESSENTIAL SERVICES MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR CHILDREN
↓ In 2021, with federal pandemic relief and an expanded child tax credit in place, the nation’s child poverty rate was 5% — the lowest rate on record.
↗ By 2024, child poverty nearly tripled to 13%, returning to pre-pandemic levels. This troubling increase occurred even though 61% of children in poverty lived in families with at least one working parent, underscoring that wages and supports are not keeping pace with costs
🚨 Without public services, the child poverty rate would have increased to 25% in 2024. Vital services that keep many of our nation’s children out of poverty include: tax credits, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), food assistance such as SNAP, and housing subsidies.
REPORT FINDING: MORE CHILDREN WILL LIVE IN POVERTY IF ECONOMIC POLICIES AREN’T IN PLACE TO SUPPORT THEIR BASIC NEEDS
Between 2022–2024, federal and state policies together lowered child poverty rates by 12 percentage points in Arizona. That’s a difference of 191,000 children who would otherwise live in poverty if vital economic supports were not available.
This Data is Especially Alarming as SNAP and WIC Are at Risk
It is important to understand how decisions that are being made in our nation’s capital affect us here in Arizona, including children. Already this year, Congress made steep cuts to Medicaid/AHCCCS health care services and SNAP through the budget reconciliation bill titled One Big Beautiful Bill. Now, even though a contingency reserve fund is available to fund SNAP benefits during an appropriations lapse, the executive branch is refusing to deploy these reserve funds.
As we turn a corner into November, SNAP and WIC assistance may be delayed or unavailable for parents and children who can’t afford groceries, unless the U.S. Department of Agriculture immediately deploys the contingency funds it has available or the executive branch uses its transfer authority to allocate funds to fight hunger or Congress takes action.
Failing to fund SNAP, WIC and other vital supports will add to the difficult struggles of children and families, and will force more children into poverty and hunger. Solutions and action are needed now.
On this #SNAPDayOfAction, we are facing a crucial moment to protect programs like SNAP and WIC, which make a significant difference for thousands of families and children in Arizona to access basic needs.
LGBTQ+ youth are overrepresented in foster care, with about one in three youth in foster care identifying as LGBTQ+, and often face unique barriers. For this reason, Children’s Action Alliance has long championed equality in policy decisions throughout the foster care system, including family acceptance support and placements for children that are safe and affirming.
Family Acceptance & Why It Matters
A key predictor of long-term health and safety is family acceptance of LGBTQ+ youth. Research shows that LGBTQ+ youth with affirming families have lower rates of depression, suicidal behavior, homelessness, and substance abuse, and higher self-esteem and social connectedness. Even when full understanding isn’t yet present, remaining with supportive family or kin, as opposed to entering the foster care or institutional system, can reduce harm and increase well-being.
Affirming Placements Support LGBTQ+ Youth
LGBTQ+ children in foster care experience higher rates of trauma, including violence, discrimination, homelessness, institutionalization, and emotional harm. Many experience 10 or more placements, often in group settings, with limited access to supportive adults. The federal Safe and Affirming Placements Rule (effective July 2024) enhances protections for LGBTQ+ youth from discrimination by requiring foster placements that affirm their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. It also ensures that providers are trained and knowledgeable about the needs of LGBTQ+ youth, and that youth are informed of their right to request an affirming placement.
Recent Changes Undermine Crisis Support and Affirming Care
What occurs outside of the foster care system also impacts the health and safety of vulnerable youth who are LGBTQ+. Last week,the federal administration announced it would discontinue the LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services program (press 3 option) on the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, effective July 17. Since its launch in 2022, this dedicated service, provided by the Trevor Project and staffed by counselors with lived experience, has provided lifesaving support to approximately 1.3 million LGBTQ+ young people in crisis. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth in United States v. Skrmetti. As advocates and community members who care about the well-being of all young people, we must remain informed and engaged about how to support LGBTQ+ youth in environments that limit essential affirming supports and services.
Resources and Information Are Vital
Pride Month is a time meant to honor the resilience, visibility, and contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ youth deserve care that promotes their health and safety, not rollbacks that create greater risks for young people who already face higher rates of suicide and systemic barriers to care. Children’s Action Alliance remains steadfast in its mission to advance systems that protect the safety, dignity, and well-being of all youth.
Despite these setbacks, LGBTQ+ youth and their families and caregivers are not alone. A strong network of national and local community organizations remains active and ready to provide affirming care and crisis support.
Resources
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline – 24/7 call, text, or chat support
The Trevor Project – 24/7 crisis line support for LGBTQ+ youth via call, text, chat
Lambda Legal: Safe Havens II is a call to action from youth with experience in child welfare who share their experiences and system improvement recommendations
The National SOGIE Center: A hub for culturally responsive tools and training to support LGBTQ+ youth and their families.
one·n·ten – Empowering social and service programs that promote self-expression, self-acceptance, leadership development, and healthy life choices to youth
You may be seeing the term “group homes” in the news this week. The topic is being discussed due to a budget shortfall to fund group home placements for children in the foster care system in Arizona.
While the executive and legislative branches haggle over process, timing, and dollars, what Children’s Action Alliance would like for them and the public to understand is that the focus should instead be on the children and the policy decisions that will best support them.
This very week, numerous children undoubtedly had something traumatic happen in their lives that caused them to be separated from their families and brought into the custody of the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS). We owe them our very best temporary solutions to keep them safe from harm until they can be safely reunited with family, whether one or both parents or a kinship caregiver. If these are not options, a safe foster care family is the next best option. For most children, group homes should be the last and rare placement. The data tells us that group home placements, also known as congregate care, do not have the best outcomes for children.
What we really need a hearing on is Arizona’s plan to significantly reduce the number of children who are placed in group homes.
In 2018, the Family First Prevention Services Act was passed with bipartisan congressional support and signed by President Trump. One of the key pillars of the bill was providing prevention services to safely keep families together. Another key pillar was to push states to do better for children by reducing group home placements. Through this legislation, Congress put their money where their mouth is by specifically putting in place a policy that discourages the use of congregate or group care for children and placing a new emphasis on the child’s family and family foster homes. With limited exceptions, the federal government created a policy that will no longer reimburse states for children placed in group care settings for more than two weeks.
Part of the reason DCS has a budget shortfall is that they have not made the transformational changes that other states have made to move away from group home placements. It is time for this meaningful change to happen. Our children deserve better.
Legislators have proposed three bills that CAA is supporting that can make a difference. No one piece of legislation is a silver bullet solution, but we will keep seeking progress. We encourage you to weigh in through the Request to Speak system or by contacting legislators to share the urgent need for these bills to create change that will better service children.
SB1305: Temporary assistance; child-only case for related kinship caregivers (Sen Shope) Being heard in the House Health and Human Services Committee on Monday, March 24 – Help children stay safely out of the foster care system by supporting grandparents and other relatives to be able to afford to care for them when their parents cannot.
SB1333: Congregate care; dependent children; placement (Sen. Shamp: Carroll, Dunn, et al) Being heard in the House Health and Human Services Committee on Monday, March 24 – Help build accountability for DCS to reduce reliance on group home placement for children.
SB1246: Child neglect; exception; financial resources (Sen. Farnsworth) Awaiting Third Read in the House. Prevent the separation of children and families solely due to poverty or lack of financial resources.
On January 17, 2025, Children Action Alliance (CAA) joined the Seeds Community Center in hosting a powerful forum in Tucson focused on the challenges faced by kinship families. Caregivers shared their personal stories of stepping into parenting roles without adequate support, facing financial struggles, and meeting the complex emotional and behavioral needs of children impacted by trauma. They also discussed concerns about losing access to essential benefits when taking on guardianship or adoption, creating a barrier to long-term stability.
In Arizona, 57,000 children live in kinship families, many of whom are not in the formal foster care system. The forum highlighted the critical need for sustainable support systems that can help both caregivers and children thrive. CAA is committed to advocating alongside these families and pushing for policies that provide the resources they and the children they care for urgently need.
Policy Solutions Can and Should Prevent Hunger and Homelessness Among Children and Youth
Every year, National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is recognized intentionally right before Thanksgiving as an opportunity to bring attention to those who do not have a place to call home or know when their next meal will be.
At Children’s Action Alliance (CAA), bringing awareness to the impact of homelessness and food insecurity on children and youth in Arizona is an important part of advocating for solutions that work.
Food Insecurity in Arizona
Source: Feeding America
‘Food insecurity’ is an official term from the United States Department of Agriculture. Food insecurity is when people do not have enough to eat and do not know where their next meal will come from. Food insecurity affects more than 13 million U.S. children. In Arizona, one in five children are food insecure. Food insecurity is correlated with long-term damage to children’s health and academic success. By kindergarten, food-insecure children are often cognitively, emotionally, and physically behind their food-secure peers. This shows the need for continued awareness for these families who are experiencing difficult times so Arizona can promote growth, development, learning, and overall health, especially for Arizona’s most vulnerable children.
Rising Cost of Food
Consider how the rising price of food impacts families. The national average price of a dozen eggs was $1.53 in March 2020 before pandemic impacts took hold. In August 2024, the average cost of a dozen eggs was $3.82. For one pound of ground chuck beef during this same period, the price rose from $4.11 per pound to $5.64. The rising cost of food significantly impacts children by increasing the risk of food insecurity, particularly for low-income families, as higher prices can force parents to reduce the quantity or quality of food they can provide.
Average Price of Select Goods from October 2004 to October 2024
In Arizona, the number of children receiving free or reduced-price school meals has increased from 52% in 2022 to 58% in 2023. From January 2023 until June 2024, Arizona used $6.75 million federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act to waive the reduced-price fee for school meals through the 2023-2024 school year. This investment in children and families provided about 12 million school meals to families. With the expiration of the federal funding, Arizona's fiscal year 2025 budget had a major win in addressing child hunger with an appropriation of $3.8 million in one-time funding to continue investing in school meals for students with low incomes attending public and charter schools. However, advocacy will be needed again in the next legislative session as this was only a one-time appropriation. Continuing to increase access to, strengthen, and invest in school meals will further support and improve a child’s health and well-being.
Housing Obstacle for Arizona Families: Evictions are Rising
Hunger and homelessness are intricately linked, profoundly impacting the health and education outcomes of children and families. 57% of children in low-income households also experience high housing costs in Arizona. Increasing housing costs increase the risk of eviction and homelessness because of the barriers to securing stable housing. The Maricopa County Justice Court recently reported that 7,537 households in Maricopa County alone faced eviction proceedings in their court in September. The last time the number of eviction proceedings was this high in September was more than twenty years ago. Housing instability is associated with stress and trauma consequences to families, and children who have experienced multiple moves or homelessness are more likely to develop various health conditions, including mental health illnesses, respiratory conditions, and infections.
Maricopa County is Seeing the Most Evictions Filed Since 2006
Youth, and Especially Youth Who Have Experienced Foster Care, are at Risk for Homelessness
In addition to rising housing costs, other barriers include limited availability of affordable housing, landlord rejection of housing vouchers, and economic disparities that disproportionately impact certain populations, including youth.
Youth who have experienced foster care are at a high risk of homelessness. In its budget proposal to be decided in the next legislative session, the Arizona Department of Child Safety proposes reducing this risk for youth transitioning to adulthood through an ongoing investment of $434,000 to continue providing stable housing and proper placement to vulnerable youth who are aging out of the foster care system. This investment is important as it aims to increase transitional housing capacity by almost 80%, which reduces the risk of homelessness for young people.
Housing Instability Impacts a Child’s Ability to Thrive
Homelessness, along with food insecurity, is a social determinant of health, according to the World Health Organization - meaning it is an external factor beyond an individual's control that impacts their overall well-being. When children lack a safe place to live or sufficient food to eat, both their physical and mental health are compromised. In 2023, the Arizona Department of Education assessed the impact of homelessness on children's lives, finding that students who are experiencing homelessness experience significantly higher rates of developmental delays, emotional challenges, and academic struggles compared to their housed peers.
Educational Outcomes of Students Who are Homeless vs. Housed in Arizona (SY2022-2023)
During the 2022-2023 school year, assessment data shows a significant difference in educational outcomes between children and youth experiencing homelessness and housed children. For instance, only 15% of children and youth experiencing homelessness met proficiency standards in English, compared to 30% of all students. Math proficiency was even lower, with just 10% of impacted students meeting expectations, contrasted with 22% statewide. Children experiencing homelessness also faced high dropout rates of 13.4%, and 45% were chronically absent.
Solutions to Homelessness Must Address Disparities
These disparities are also more pronounced among communities of color and LGBTQ+ youth, who are overrepresented in populations that experience homelessness. In the 2022-2023 school year, Black students represented 5.6% of all enrollees, but 13.8% of those who have experienced homelessness, and Native American students made up 4.2% of overall enrolled students, but 11% are impacted by homelessness. LGBTQ+ youth are also overrepresented among young people experiencing homelessness and housing instability, as homelessness often stems from family conflict and discrimination, exposing them to greater mental health risks and safety concerns.
Bringing Awareness to Action
Ending child food insecurity and homelessness must be a national and local health and education priority. The long-lasting negative outcomes of child food insecurity and homelessness translate to not just poor health but also to poor academic and economic outcomes.
Thank you, Kinship Caregivers!
It’s Kinship Caregiver Month, a time to especially honor those who step in to care for children when they need them most. In addition to our applause, let’s also give them policies that support the success of their families.
This year, The Annie E. Casey Foundation has shared information from a new survey of state policies. The report notes that 50% or more of children in foster care were in kinship placements in Arizona, Hawaii, and West Virginia. That makes Arizona one of the top three states in the country for kinship care placement. This is an important advancement for children and families in Arizona.
Our state now has the opportunity and responsibility to keep moving forward in our support of kinship caregivers.
We agree with the report that there are many ways to create equitable support for caregivers, primarily through these three actions:
Reduce barriers to licensing and adopt kin-specific licensing standards so that more grandparents and family can step in when needed;
Provide equitable financial support for every child in the custody of the Department of Child Safety, regardless of caregiver licensure status so a grandparent receives the same level of support as all foster care parents, and
Arizona has a deep group home problem, and it is time that serious steps are taken to address it: the Department of Child Safety's (DCS's) massive over-reliance on harmful and costly group home placements. Our legislative session ended without solutions.
In Arizona, the Department of Child Safety (DCS) has an excessive reliance on group home placements, which can be harmful and expensive. The state has the nation’s third highest rate of “congregate care” placements for foster children of all ages and places more young foster children, those under age 12, in congregate care than any other state. Congregate care includes group homes, shelters, and institutions. Experts agree that congregate care placements are harmful to the healthy development of children—especially young children—and that congregate care should only be used when there is no less restrictive setting to meet a child’s short-term need for therapeutic services.
The understanding of the harms of group care is so universal that Congress passed the Families First Family Prevention Services Act, which greatly reduces the availability of federal funds for congregate care placements. Under the Act, which went into effect in 2021, states are only reimbursed for congregate care placements for the first 14 days unless the placement is a designated Qualified Residential Treatment Program that a court has determined the child requires to meet a short-term therapeutic need. The same year that Families First went into effect, DCS settled a lawsuit that, among other things, called out Arizona’s overuse of congregate care. The settlement agreement in B.K. v. Faust, which is overseen by the court, requires DCS to take steps to reduce its use of congregate care to 10.5%, the national average, when the settlement was reached in 2021.
Despite these two powerful incentives to reduce group care, Arizona’s rate of congregate care placements has not budged. In fact, it has gone up and with the loss of federal reimbursement dollars, the high cost of group care is straining the state’s general fund and the agency’s budget to the tune of a $22.6M shortfall, leaving few financial resources to support families and prevent the need for foster care in the first place.
For years, DCS’s plan to reduce the use of congregate care has centered around increasing the number of foster children placed with relatives and, to a lesser extent, also increasing the number of community foster homes. A “kin-first” culture is hugely important to supporting children and to reducing the use of congregate care, and, with advocacy by Children’s Action Alliance and many others, big advancements have been made in Arizona to better support kinship caregivers. However, Arizona now places children with relatives at one of the highest rates in the nation, and that strategy on its own has not and is unlikely to stem the use of group placements.
Additional strategies to reduce group care are available and used with success by other jurisdictions. One of those strategies is instituting DCS Director Approval for group placements. SB 1458, a CAA priority bill in partnership with Fostering Advocates Arizona, would have required DCS to get Director sign-off on the placement of any child under the age of 12 in a congregate care setting. (Remember, Arizona is an outlier, placing young children in congregate care at a rate of 11% while the national average is 3%.) Director approval, which helped the City of Philadelphia go from 1,000 children in group homes to just 255, is a strategy included in the Ending the Need for Group Placements Initiative led by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Casey Family Programs. The initiative has identified seven levers that have helped states reduce the use of congregate care. DCS is currently pulling just two of those levers. SB 1458 would have added a third, but the bill died on the House Floor in the face of opposition from the agency.
It is time for Arizona to get serious about reducing group care. Doubling down on strategies that on their own have done nothing to reduce Arizona’s use of congregate care is certainly not enough for nearly 1,300 foster children currently in these placements, including approximately 350 children under the age of 12. DCS should be partnering with experts and jurisdictions that have successfully reduced congregate care populations and should be pulling every lever available. Arizona’s foster children deserve nothing less.
SB 1458: Because Children Thrive in Families, Not Institutions
Arizona places young foster children in group homes and institutions at a higher rate than any other state in the nation.We must change that - and we can with SB1458.
Congregate care placements have detrimental effects on the healthy development of children, especially young children. Experts agree that children do best with families and that congregate care (group homes, shelters, and other institutional settings) should only be used when there is no less restrictive setting that can meet a child’s short-term need for therapeutic services.
Senate Bill 1458, sponsored by Senator Bennett, is a collaboration between Fostering Advocates Arizona, a group of young people with lived experience in foster care, and Children’s Action Alliance.
The bill, which passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support, will now be considered by the House of Representatives. The legislation aims to reduce the placement of young foster children in congregate care settings by requiring the Department of Child Safety Director's Approval before such a placement can be made for a young child.
At close to 11%, Arizona’s rate of congregate care placement of children under age 12 is the highest in the nation and much higher than the national average of 3%. ¹ Arizona children deserve better.
Requiring Director Approval is a nationally recognized best practice included in Ending the Need for Group Placements, a collective effort of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Programs, and community partners nationwide that identified actions to reduce the use of congregate care.
Our first priority at CAA is to support families so they can safely thrive together. When that isn’t possible, and a child must enter the child welfare system, it is imperative that each and every placement of a child attempts to reduce trauma and strengthen safety. SB1458 is an important step in doing better for Arizona kids.
Watch this short video to hear how the City of Philadelphia’s Congregate Care Approval process helped reduce its congregate care population from nearly 1,000 to just 255.
Support SB 1458 to ensure young foster children are placed with families, not group homes.
Children thrive in families, not institutions. This is especially true for foster children who have experienced trauma. Research provides "strong and conclusive causal evidence that children exposed to early deprivation benefit from high-quality family-based care, and, more broadly, that the nature of the early caregiving environment has an extensive and lasting impact on development."¹Conversely, research also shows that that congregate care facilities have inherently detrimental effects on the healthy development of children.²While foster children of all ages do best with families, it is especially important for young children.
Yet, Arizona places more young foster children in congregate care than any other state. Nearly 11% of Arizona’s foster children under 12 are placed in a congregate care setting. The national average is 3%. Arizona’s over reliance on group home placements drives the high rate of congregate care placements for young children.
Fostering Advocates Arizona (FAAZ), a group of young policy advocates who have experienced foster care, and Children’s Action Alliance are teaming up on legislation to curtail the placement of young foster children in group homes and institutions. Senate Bill 1458, sponsored by Senator Bennett, would limit the use of congregate care for foster children under the age of 12 by requiring Director approval prior to placement, an independent assessment of the child’s placement needs, and ongoing court approval and oversight. FAAZ board members understand the lasting impacts of foster care and know that placement with a family rather than in a group home can make all the difference.
SB 1458 will be considered by the Senate Committee on Transportation, Technology and Missing Children on Monday, February 12th.
Please show your support for SB 1458 by asking your Senator for their YES vote!
¹ King, L. S., et al. (2023) A Comprehensive Multilevel Analysis of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project: Causal Effects on Recovery From Early Severe Deprivation. American Journal of Psychiatry.
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