According to Missouri Association for Community Action, Pemiscot County rose to 31.4%, Shannon County went up to 31.5% and the highest poverty rate of the state came in at 36.3% in Mississippi County.
The group says the only area with that high a rate of poverty last year was Pemiscot County in the Bootheel.
MACA says research in recent years has shown a strong correlation between childhood poverty and chronic developmental, educational, and health problems.
"One of the key issues here is that over the long term, poverty impacts more than just an individual." said Heather Lockard, executive director of the Missouri Association for Community Action. "Poverty creates toxic stress for children, which in turn impacts their developmental abilities and creates cycles of poverty which are difficult to break. Entire communities are affected by our society's failure to look at poverty as critical issue we need to face."
The Missouri Association for Community Action and its network of 19 non-profit Community Action Agencies throughout the state have worked to find solutions and provide assistance to low income individuals and families in every county and the City of St. Louis. Full Story
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