Katia Turner

313 McGrew Towers

Hampton, VA 23668
November 18, 2016
Larry Hogan
Governor of Maryland
Maryland State House,
100 State Cir,
Annapolis, MD 21401
Dear Governor Hogan:
Child Poverty is seen all throughout the United States. Most Children are born into poverty
without the ability to change their current circumstances. This can effect there emotional, social,
and educational development as they grow up. I feel as if the government should have some type
program to provide the same educational opportunities for all children no matter their living
conditions. This has been an ongoing problem that continues to rise across the United States. The
poverty rate particularly in Maryland has risen from about 10 percent in 2014 to now 13.2
percent. I believe this should be a major concern for the government because children are the
future and proper action needs to be taken to ensure that these childrens needs are met and that
they are taken care in the necessary ways to be successful in life.
My personal perspective is that the community as a whole should be coming together a unit to
help resolve the issue of child poverty. It is despicable that people doing financially well in life
dont think twice about the children in their vicinity to get a meal daily and have an education. I
feel as though each state should have a guideline that stresses the importance of helping children
in poverty by seeking to promote effective policies and programs for children by
providing policymakers, service providers, the media, and others interested in children's
issues in their area as stated by Eugene M. Lewit, a Consulting Professor of Health Research and
Policy, at Stanford University and the author of the journal titled The Future of Children.
After doing research Lindsey Duncan, a leading authority in child welfare suggests trying several
universal income security policies for vulnerable children and families, strategies that have
worked in other advanced democracies and also that the government respect the importance of
the market economy. The National Center for Children in Poverty is an organization that strives
to help provide economic security, health and child development for low income families on the
state and national level.
The policy that may currently stand in place for children in poverty needs to be reconstructed to
improve the conditions of family more since the current policies are not making a difference.
Education should be provided for all children despite their familys income and some type of
payments should be issued to these families to make sure the children are provided with all the
necessary tools to thrive. It is impossible to institute some of these new policies without a
powerful source or leader speaking out on the situation at hand. Without the modification of

these policies the child poverty rates will continue to increase and may put the next generation in
uncompromising circumstances due to past discrepancys. With the future of us and our children
at stake shouldnt something be done?
Sincerely,
Katia Turner

Works Cited

"Effects of Poverty, Hunger and Homelessness on Children and Youth." Apa.org.

American Psychological Association, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
Lewit, Eugene M. Children in Poverty. The Future of Children, vol. 3, no. 1, 1993, pp. 176
182. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1602412
Lindsey, Duncan. Child Poverty And Inequality : Securing A Better Future For America's
Children. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web.
25 Oct. 2016.
Robbins Taylor, Shannon Stagman, and Sheila Smith. Young Children at
Risk. NCCP.
National Center for Children in Poverty, Oct. 2012, n.d. Web.22 Oct. 2016.