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Result 1. Hidalgo County Children Ages 0-5 Are Healthy

% of children 0-18 living in a Hidalgo County household with difficulty meeting basic food needs

Current Value

27.8%

2018

Definition

Definitions: Number and percentage of children estimated to be food insecure. A child (under 18 years old) is defined as being food insecure if he or she lives in a household having difficulty meeting basic food needs, as defined by the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.

Story Behind the Curve

Contributing Factors

  • High rates of poverty leave large segments of the population struggling to pay for food
  • Competing financial priorities
  • Transportation to the grocery store presents a challenge, particularly for families in rural communities in the RGV
  • Family dynamics
    • Working/overworked parents or caregivers (not enough time to prepare meals)
    • Grandparent care (especially for children of incarcerated parents)
      • Fixed incomes make it difficult to stretch food budget
  • Border region
    • Immigration status
    • Mixed family compositions (one parents from US, other from MX)
    • Individual might be eligible for benefits but their family member isn’t, so threat of legal ramifications is very real
  • Gap exists during weekends and holidays when children are vulnerable to hunger
  • Lack of awareness about child hunger
  • Fear for others in home due to immigrant status
  • Domestic violence; person leaves home where DV is occurring, less stability
  • Neighborhood infrastructure
  • Sudden changes in family stability
    • Parent death
  • Administrative burden placed on the family for enrollment or re-enrollment
  • Bureaucracy
  • High rate of homeless children in the RGV who are especially vulnerable
  • 2018 flood drastically changed the life situations in the RGV
    • Displaced families
    • Created strain on local resources

 

Restricting Factors

  • USDA Food and Nutrition Services provides:
    • School breakfast
    • School lunch
    • After school meals
    • Summer meals
    • Services provided to all children because income levels are so low across the RGV
    • Programming offered in a “child friendly” manner
    • Food pantries
      • RGV food bank
      • Bread ministries
    • Fun programs at food program sites
    • WIC/SNAP
    • Community gardens
    • Increased awareness amongst children of the issues related to hunger
      • Diabetes Summer Camp
    • After school programs are adding summer meals
    • Community partnerships/system perspective
      • UTRGV
      • Baylor
      • TAMU
      • STC
      • TSTC
    • Head Start
    • Home Visiting Programs
    • Promotoras
      • Promote healthy eating
    • Farmers Markets
      • Accepting WIC
    • School pantry
      • Recycled lunch

 

Partners

  • Faith community -
  • Community centers -
  • Public schools – Open doors on weekend to provide service locations
  • Private sector – Donate dollars, volunteer time, and resources
  • Texas Agrilife – Marketing
  • Promotora/os – Provide community outreach, especially to communities that are isolcated
  • South TX Juvenile Diabetes – Child-focused education
  • Proyecto Azteca/LUPE/Arise – Support and technical assistance for immigrants
  • County governments
  • LRDC - Transportation
  • Regional Metropolitan Planning Organizations – Policy and guidance on infrastructure development
  • UT RGV/South Texas College – Closed pantries, community programs, policy research, nutritional education, teacher training
  • Region 1 Education Service Center – School nurse, food policy
  • Healthcare Providers – Promote awareness (outreach)
  • Region 11, DSHS – Promote awareness (marketing)
  • Service clubs (Kiwanis, Lions, etc.)
  • United Way of Cameron – Funding, promote awareness
  • Easter Seals-RGV
  • Chef’s Org – Food to Aurora
  • BCFS – Teen Reentry
  • IFNP
  • FQHCs
  • STAY
  • Buckner

What Works

Evidence-based programs

  • Backpack programs that put food into students hands during peak periods of food insecurity
  • USDA FSNPs
  • Learn Grow Eat Go
  • WIC/SNAP
  • Home Visiting programs
  • “McKinley Program” serves homeless students
  • Adopt Active Transportation Plans in RGV that promote increased walkability across community
  • Complete Streets

 

Promising practices

  • Engage private sector donations for special projects
  • Promotora/os
  • Community gardens and school farms
  • Fruits and Vegetables prescription
    • HOPE Farmacy
  • Double bucks increase value @ farmer’s market
  • FMNP through WIC
  • Expand Promotora knowledge around how to apply/reapply for food stamps
  • Message to recipients

 

No cost/Low cost solutions

  • Use parental involvement staff for resident referral
  • Connect restaurants to food banks (FRN)
  • Launch Gleaming Fields initiative, where residents pick remaining crops after harvest has been completed
  • Establish region-wide policy for school food pantry
  • Implement photo voice campaigns

 

Off the Wall thinking

  • Temporary worker permits, which decrease levels of fear amongst immigrant communities
  • Pro bono lawyers to support immigrant issues
  • Engage public officials to participate in poverty simulation exercise

 

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