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"A record number of homeless students were enrolled in US public schools last year, according to new numbers released Monday by the Department of Education. The data - which most experts say underreport the actual number of homeless children in America - showed that nearly 1.3 million homeless children and teens were enrolled in schools in the 2012-13 school year, an 8 percent increase from the previous school year."

"Forget that more than half the homeless population is employed. Forget that we have created a world of few second chances; where a drug conviction from 20 years ago can mean the difference on whether or not a person qualifies for housing or food assistance. Forget that the very act of being homeless is illegal and that states such as Alabama tend to fund incarceration over rehabilitation. Yeah, the numbers must surely be wrong how could a state like Alabama, where 20 percent of its population lives below the federal poverty line, see a dramatic increase in homeless students? That's just crazy talk."

"Recent data from the United States Census has shown that Youngstown is the city with the highest poverty rate in Ohio, standing at 40.2 percent, with 63.3 percent of these impoverished being children. Youngstown is devastatingly below the national average. The Youngstown City Schools provide students with one free breakfast and lunch a day, and other schools throughout the Mahoning Valley offer programs that help with the situation. Beatitude House, an organization that helps to create homes for women with children who are in need and promotes education, is one of the many organizations in Youngstown that are helping to combat childhood poverty."

"As another round of state report-card data in Ohio shows a significant performance gap between low-income and wealthier districts, one key state lawmaker says it's time for Ohio to get serious about addressing the 'crisis.' No matter what measure is used - performance index, proficiency scores, ACT scores - the latest results are clear: Poverty rates continue to have a direct, negative link to Ohio student achievement."

"An estimated 9,000 people in Randolph County do not have health insurance today because North Carolina did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Based on income levels reported in census data, that's how many adults may have been eligible for the program, according to figures from the Randolph County Department of Social Services (DSS). But not getting access to Medicaid is only part of their trouble."

"The House of Delegates on Thursday took less than an hour to debate, and dispose of, the one proposal on expanding coverage for low-income Virginians to come before it during its special session on Medicaid. It voted 64 to 33 to kill the measure, with virtually all Republicans opposing the plan and virtually all Democrats supporting it."

"Ohio's prison system saved $10 million in medical expenses as a result of changes to Medicaid and is on the verge of releasing inmates with health care in hand. The savings from fiscal year 2014, which ended on June 30, are expected to climb to $18 million for the current fiscal year. Officials credit the savings to a combination of changes implemented with the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion. The expansion occurred midway through the 2014 fiscal year."

"For many Americans, this is the reality. They are part of a household that can afford good health insurance and they have come from a culture that goes to the doctor when needed and can pay for medicines when prescribed. Another sizable number are able to access basic medical services thanks to the Medicaid programs administered by the states with funding from the federal government."

"Poverty was a driving factor in whether Ohio school districts succeeded or struggled on their most recent report cards, according to state education groups. District scores in the performance index category - which measures student performance on state tests - closely followed the percent of students in a district that are labeled economically disadvantaged, according to a study by the Ohio School Boards Association, Buckeye Association of School Administrators and the Ohio Association of School Business Officials."

"On a more tangible level, it encourages the treatment of mental health, substance abuse and dental disease as part of physical health care, not as a separate type of care. This is overdue. Not surprisingly, the first item in the Democratic gubernatorial candidate's plan is to expand Medicaid under provisions of the Affordable Care Act."

"The William Penn Foundation and Drexel University today announced a new initiative in which they are working together with community child care centers and other local agencies to help tackle some issues facing early childhood education in West Philadelphia. ...In January 2014, West Philadelphia was identified as one of five federally-designated Promise Zones, a new initiative that is helping revitalize high-poverty communities across the country through a hybrid of efforts including creating jobs, increasing economic activity and improving educational activity."

"Charlie Crist says he believes there is a good argument that a Florida governor could expand the state's Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act through an executive order without approval by the Legislature and that he might seek to do so if elected governor."