MINORITY INITIATIVE EXAMINED

The grim statistics of Bootheel poverty troubled Southeast Missouri State University President Dr. Dale Nitzschke.

A newspaper article on the annual Kids Count report caught his attention last year. The report documents the status of children across the state by examining infant deaths, babies born to teen-age mothers, annual high school drop out rates and other factors.

Nitzschke said he showed the newspaper article to his staff.

"I said, `Here we sit right in the middle of the region and look what we have. And why aren't we more effective in dealing with it?'"

Today, the university is working on a Bootheel public service initiative.

It will be discussed today at a meeting of the university's Commission on Minority Affairs. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

Southeast plans to seek $700,000 in funding from the Missouri Department of Social Services to address the problems of poverty in the Bootheel.

"We are seeking the dollars. We would subcontract with various agencies in the Bootheel to provide services," said Dr. Paul Keys, dean of the College of Health & Human Services.

The university would provide evaluation and technical assistance to agencies and organizations that receive funding.

"We would have a fairly strong evaluation component to make sure that things are going right," Keys said.

The Department of Social Services budget has earmarked funds to address the problems in the Bootheel, Keys said.

For the university, it is a matter of presenting a proposal for use of the funds, he said.

Southeast wants to first do a needs study at a cost of about $76,000. The university would pay about $46,000 of the cost. The other $30,000 would come from the state, Keys said.

The study would identify the needs of Bootheel families.

Keys said the university would have a staff person assigned to train and assist agencies and organizations on how best to provide services to those in need.

Keys said the focus is on the poorest areas of the Bootheel, including Pemiscot and Mississippi counties.

Pemiscot, Mississippi and Dunklin counties rank only behind St. Louis city when it comes to poor conditions for children.

In Pemiscot County, 44 percent of school-age children lived in poverty last year. The unemployment rate was nearly 9 percent and the per capita income was $14,371.

In Mississippi County, 39 percent of children lived in poverty. Unemployment stood at 8 percent and the per capita income was $15,732.

In Dunklin County, 38 percent of children lived in poverty. Unemployment stood at nearly 7 percent and the per capita income was $16,102.

Keys said the Bootheel counties have high rates of illiteracy, child abuse and students dropping out of high school.

Southeast's plan ties in with the efforts of state Sen. Jerry Howard, D-Dexter, and Rep. Charles Quincy Troupe, D-St. Louis.

Troupe has long had an interest in the Bootheel. He has relatives in Southeast Missouri.

The St. Louis lawmaker worries that too many children are caught up in the juvenile justice system.

Troupe wants to break the cycle with after-school recreation programs, tutoring and family services, Keys said.

Howard wants to focus on job training and job placement for those going off welfare.

Keys said there are about 500 Bootheel families who are receiving welfare assistance for two years. After that, they will lose the government aid under the state's welfare-to-work program.

Howard said many Southeast Missouri families on welfare stand to lose those benefits in 1999.

Since January 1993, nearly 118,000 people have left the welfare rolls, according to Gov. Mel Carnahan's office.

Persons on welfare need to learn a skill so they can get jobs, the veteran state senator said.

Howard said he has been pushing for three or four years for a system that will provide a coordinated approach to the problems in the Bootheel.

More than $200 million in state and federal money has been put into the welfare-to-work program in Missouri, Howard said.

Education and job training are the keys to breaking the cycle of poverty, he said.

Welfare recipients have to be taught job skills, Howard said. "You've got to get them trained. You've got to help take care of the kids. You've got to find them transportation."

Education is the key to keeping people out of prison. Crime and illiteracy go together, the senator said.

Indiana forecasts the number of prison cells it will need by measuring the literacy rate of students in the second grade, Howard said.

Job training, said Howard, is vital for the region's economic future.