SitemapA new study reveals a wide opportunity gap for children of different races in the Youngstown area.
Of the country’s 100 largest metro areas, Youngstown-Warren-Boardman ranks the lowest in terms of opportunity for black children on the Child Opportunity Index 2.0. Opportunity for black children in Youngstown was scored at 3 out of 100, compared to white children in Youngstown, whose opportunity was scored at 50.
The index, recently featured in an NPR article, is compiled from various factors including poverty rate, education quality and pollution, said Dr. Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, director of the Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy at Brandeis University, which originally created the index in 2014.
Ohio is very striking, said Acevedo-Garcia, in terms of “very high inequities.” Of the 10 metro areas that scored lowest in terms of opportunity for black children, four were in Ohio: Youngstown, Toldeo, Dayton and Cleveland.
"I think it's a very consistent pattern that some of the areas in Ohio show some of the largest gaps in terms of the difference between very high and very low opportunity neighborhoods, but also in terms of racial inequities," said Acevedo-Garcia.
Housing is a key determinant in success, from the effects of lead paint to the trauma of growing up in a place that does not afford warmth or safety.
"All of those things taken together, it's difficult to catch up when you start in that type of condition," said Ian Beniston, executive director of Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.
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