Case workers cannot do their jobs, transportation is a major barrier, and there is not enough financial provision for day care. She sees education as the only way out of poverty, a theme which was emphasized by the next two speakers as well. Kirkley-Bey urged us to be active advocates in Hartford, pointing out that of the 151 members of the General Assembly, only 45 are urban legislators. She suggested a 'Seniors for Children' movement. Women are now more impoverished and less educated than ever.
Children are at the bottom of the food chain.
This impressive publication documented the condition of poor working families in Connecticut and offered solutions for making better investments in our poorest families. Hartford parents cannot get into the school system. The poor today are disenchanted and helpless. Since her solutions to the problem of poor working families are similar to those of the next speaker, I will summarize them together. The luncheon speaker, Leslie Brett, Executive Director of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, traced the history of the American family from the farm to the industrial city where mothers had to leave home to work.