INDIANAPOLIS — With poverty increasing and becoming more concentrated, a new resource can help ensure that people who are working to get out of poverty are not leaving money on the table.

Indiana’s child poverty rate has increased to 22 percent, up from 12 percent in 2000. New data reveal that by one measure, low-income households are becoming more “concentrated,” defined as located in a neighborhood or community where more than 30 percent of the residents live in poverty.

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 8 percent of our state’s children live in areas of concentrated poverty, up from 3 percent a decade earlier. While the national average in the last decade has increased only slightly to 11 percent, Indiana’s rate has nearly tripled.

Fourteen Hoosier counties are at or above the current national average for concentrated poverty. Most of these counties are in the northern half of the state, and not all are urban. The list is led by Pulaski County at 38 percent, followed by Fayette, Monroe, Lake, Vigo, Marion, Howard, Vanderburgh, St. Joseph, Allen, Grant, Floyd, Tippecanoe and Marshall counties.

Growing up in poverty is tough enough, but living in a community with concentrated poverty can be even more challenging. Summarizing national research, the Brookings Institute reports, “Concentration of poverty results in higher crime rates, underperforming public schools, poor housing and health conditions as well as limited access to private services and job opportunities.”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development adds, “Neighborhoods of concentrated poverty isolate their residents from the resources and networks they need to reach their potential.”

While the causes of poverty are many, the best solutions lead toward family stability, education and employment. One resource helping families on the path toward self-sufficiency is the Benefit Bank, introduced into the Hoosier State by Purdue University’s Extension Service.

The Benefit Bank is a free online resource that helps low-income, working families apply for the Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax credits and refunds based on their wages. The Web site also helps families enroll for food stamps, apply for college financial aid and register to vote.

In the first year of service, the Benefit Bank helped more than 400 households access more than $700,000 in assistance — mostly from tax refunds and credits based on employment income.

Importantly, the Benefit Bank provides free training to volunteer “counselors” at community and faith-based organizations. These volunteers then help their low-income neighbors navigate the online process. “We have the counselor support system built in so that someone can walk in, have a friendly exchange and then have a positive experience applying for these benefits,” said Purdue’s Micca Stewart, who has recruited community organizations in 50 counties to implement the Benefit Bank.

To utilize the free online service, households must have an adjusted gross income of less than $60,000, and family members cannot be non-resident aliens.

Stewart emphasizes that the Benefit Bank is designed to help people who are employed yet who are still living at or near poverty. “It is not the Benefit Bank’s philosophy that people should be on these benefits forever,” she emphasized. “People use these benefits while they need them to get themselves into a mode where they are self-sufficient.”

In addition, Stewart said Indiana currently is not accessing $1.1 billion in public support payments, in effect leaving money on the table aimed at alleviating poverty. For example, a full-time worker earning just $18,000 per year can receive tax credits and other financial assistance worth an additional $20,000 per year.

“The money already is allocated to be used in Indiana and can be used by other states when Indiana doesn’t use it,” Stewart said. “We all hope that people who need this help receive this help until they get themselves into a position when they don’t need it.

“We all want people to get into better-paying jobs so that they can be self-sufficient.”

Stewart is looking to recruit additional community organizations and ministries. Sheri Bell, who hosts the Benefit Bank through The Way ministries in Rockport, recommends the resource. “This is so easy,” Bell said. “If you have a computer and a printer and someone willing to volunteer, this is fantastic.”

Learn how at: http://www.tbbin.org.

— Bill Stanczykiewicz is president & CEO of the Indiana Youth Institute. He can be reached at iyi@iyi.org.