PROVIDENCE – Children and families still facing homelessness, increased rent costs, persistent racial disparities and federal programs under threat of change from the new administration are among several highlights in Rhode Island KIDS COUNT’s 31st annual Factbook the nonprofit released Monday. The annual publication put out by KIDS COUNT spotlights various economic and health challenges
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RHODE ISLAND KIDS COUNT on Monday released its annual Factbook, where it notes racial disparities and child homelessness remain an issue.[/caption]
“Participation in SNAP in early childhood is associated with improvements in short- and long-term health outcomes, improved high school graduation rates, and increases in adult earnings,” the Factbook says.
The Factbook also notes the federal Community Eligibility Provision, a pathway for schools and districts with 25% or more students identified as low-income to provide free universal school meals to all students, is also under threat. If the eligibility threshold for schools to be able to participate in CEP is increased from 25% to 60%, the number of Rhode Island children eligible for free meals would be cut in half, the Factbook says, from 98,092 to 49,155 students.
“The following programs ensure that our children are fed, sheltered, educated and cared for,” the Factbook states. “We must ensure that families will be able to access the programs that help them thrive.”
Persistent racial disparities remain problematic in the Ocean State. The Factbook states that between 2019 and 2023, 29% of American Indian and Alaska Native, 28% of children of some other race, 25% of Hispanic, 24% of Black, and 22% of children of Two or more races in Rhode Island lived in poverty, compared to 7% of Asian/Pacific Islander children and 7% of white children.
Also last year, Black youth in Rhode Island were 11 times more likely to be at the Rhode Island Training School compared to white youth and were five times more likely compared to youth of all races. Plus, the median family income for Latino families in the state is $65,799 compared to $120,491 for white families, the Factbook states.
Racism became an economic tool infused into laws, policies, and practices that have harmed Asian, Black, Latino, Native American and low-income white people for centuries,” the Factbook states. “Substantial changes to these laws and policies did not occur until the late 1960s, and the harm continues to reverberate in the lives of Children of Color.”
Regarding homelessness, children made up 22% of the 4,349 people in the state who who used emergency homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, and transitional housing in 2024, per the Factbook. It also notes public school personnel last school year identified 1,966 children as homeless.
More troubling, the number of students identified as homeless in Rhode Island has increased by 35% [505 students] from the 2021-2022 school year, according to the Factbook.
High housing costs, a constant issue plaguing Rhode Island, was further emphasized in this year’s Factbook from KIDS COUNT. It states that rents have increased 17% from 2020 to 2024, even when adjusting for 2024 dollars.
Additionally, Rhode Island from the 2022 fiscal year through the 2024 fiscal year used $332.2 million in federal state fiscal recovery funds to support housing needs. But with those funds drying up, the state will “need to rely more heavily” on funds from housing bonds, the state’s pilot low-income tax credit program, and other state sources to continue to meet the need.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at