Hawaii Sees ‘Startling’ Increase In Number Of Children Facing Hunger - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaii Sees ‘Startling’ Increase In Number Of Children Facing Hunger
Even as benefits programs expand and school meal programs shift, food insecurity is expected to continue to grow in the islands. Reading time: 7 minutes.
More Hawaii children are at risk of going hungry than ever before, new federal data shows.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Hawaii’s hunger rates were lower than national averages. Today, the Aloha State’s situation is worse than national levels a striking shift, according to local researchers.
“The rates were roughly in the 10% ball park pre-COVID, and they’re close to 50% currently,” said Jack Barile, the interim director of the University of Hawaii Manoa’s Social Science Research Institute. “The majority of people facing food insecurity now are facing it for the first time or in recent history, so that’s kind of startling.”
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Study: Nearly half of Hawaii families with children are experiencing food insecurity
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PIT Count in Hawaiʻi since 2003.
“This partnership represents an important step toward ending homelessness in our community,” said
Anna Pruitt,
UH Mānoa research associate and affiliate faculty member in the
UH Mānoa Department of Psychology. “Through this partnership, we are able to leverage university resources to meet community needs, which, in turn, can be used to improve campus life.”
The
PIT Count has previously included individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness (sleeping in cars, on beaches and sidewalks) and sheltered homelessness (sleeping in emergency shelters).
This year, Partners in Care has expanded efforts to count individuals who may have been missed in previous years, specifically college students, and those who may be at-risk for homelessness and food insecurity, for example, those who are “couch surfing.” It’s an effort to expand prevention services and tailor existing services to extant needs. Pruitt has been working with Associa