Not a day goes by that some innocent child is caught in the throes of an abusive home life, as a recent state report noted (“ Reports of Child Abuse Rise Across State,” June 14). It’s a crisis that plays out in the news and on the Internet. Yet another crisis impacts another group of vulnerable children, one that is under the radar and one that is eminently solvable: the need for the basic health and hygiene of a clean, dry diaper.
The 2012 U.S. Census reveals that 20 to 30 percent of our seven-county Southwest Pennsylvania population consists of families with children living in poverty with an estimated need of 140,000 diapers per day (77,000 per day in Allegheny County alone) and growing.
The health risks are only the beginning. No government program provides diapers. Most childcare centers, even free and subsidized facilities, turn away a child who arrives without disposable diapers. Cloth diapers are not accepted at most centers. As a result, many parents cannot go to work or school, thereby continuing the cycle of poverty.
Many may not directly see the despair created by the lack of a basic necessity for proper child care.
This is one crisis we can solve! Visit www.westernpennsylvaniadiaperbank.org.
Cathy Battle
Executive Director
Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank
Hill District
First Published: September 10, 2014, 4:00 a.m.