Child poverty target of Maryland’s new State Innovation Program
The State of Maryland has launched the State Innovation Team, a group formed in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies tasked with testing new initiatives to address childhood poverty.
According to an announcement last week, the partnership will create a chief innovation officer role and a seven-person data team to work across state agencies and various sectors to help address the rise of childhood poverty statewide.
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the new program on Friday during its City Data Alliance summit at Johns Hopkins University, which convened mayors from around the world to discuss artificial intelligence capabilities in local governments.
“Foundational challenges require innovative solutions. This new partnership will help us discover new and creative ways to deliver for Marylanders, and continue my administration’s frontal assault on child poverty,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said about the initiative.
A 2022 report by the Maryland Department of Planning found that one in eight children in the state, or approximately 12%, lives in poverty. The same year, nearly 600,000 Marylanders were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, of which 37% were under the age of 19. In 2023, 68% of nearly 77,000 Marylanders who received Temporary Cash Assistance were children.
Last year, Moore signed the Fair Wage Act and the Family Prosperity Act, which increased the minimum wage two years ahead of schedule and permanently extended the Earned Income Tax Credit and expanded the Child Tax Credit. These efforts directed nearly $200 million to fight poverty and support economic mobility in Maryland.
