Hunger Stalks Children of the Poor : Economy: Nearly a third of the city’s children are trapped in poverty. Many are Latinos whose parents fled Mexico looking for a better life.

It’s a well-known statistic bandied about with outrage by those who deal with children in El Monte: Nearly a third of the city’s children live in poverty.

At 30.3%, El Monte has the fourth highest percentage of low-income children among 46 California cities larger than 100,000, according to the 1990 U.S. Census.

For the census, the federal government’s definition of poverty uses the example of a family of four living on less than $12,675 yearly. Children from such families are at higher risk for infant deaths, teen pregnancy and serious illnesses, say children’s advocates.

The El Monte statistics were part of a national report on child poverty released in August by the Children’s Defense Fund of Washington, D.C. The idea was to prompt action, or, at least, promises of remedies by presidential and Congressional candidates.

But now with the elections over, little has changed for El Monte’s 10,578 poor children. The issue of children in poverty did not appear to ignite much interest among politicians, either at the national or local level.

“The council has not taken any definite steps,” City Councilman Ernest Gutierrez said.

The inaction outrages Sylvia Franco, who daily sees the effects of poverty as director of Interfaith Community Outreach, an El Monte social service center.

“I’ve seen children come in here with pus running out of their ears,” Franco said. “I’ve seen children with teeth so rotten, their parents have to grind up the food for them to eat . . . I had a lady who lost a baby, a baby so sick it couldn’t cry anymore . . . an 18-month-old little boy with pneumonia, a perfectly treatable disease.

“It’s hard to believe you’re in America,” the impassioned Franco added. “It feels like you’re in Somalia.”

About 4,000 of El Monte’s needy children are on state welfare rolls, according to school officials.

Who are they?

Mostly, they are Mexican-Americans in a city with a 72% Latino population. Many come from the working poor, Franco said.

They are children whose fathers are day laborers, undocumented immigrants who stand on street corners for pickup jobs. They are children whose American-born mothers work the “rag industry,” sewing buttons, zippers and collars--piece work that pays little.

Many came to the United States to escape poverty in Mexico, only to be trapped by it again. Avela Arriaga, 25, a mother of four from Mexico City who stood in line at the outreach center on Durfee Avenue last week for a bag of food, said she hoped her life would improve here. Instead, “It’s almost the same as Mexico,” she said. “We have bills, but no money to pay the light, the gas. We have no money for a doctor, or dentist for my daughter.”

Mexicans first came to El Monte in large numbers in the early 1900s, drawn by work in the city’s berry fields and walnut groves, local historian Tary Ballard said.

Fleeing revolution in their country, they remained here to alter the city, which catered to their tastes and needs with restaurants, stores and other businesses. Their numbers grew over the years with the birth of their children and as word-of-mouth brought friends and relatives who settled in a low-rent city compared to other parts of the San Gabriel Valley.

Now, many children, both immigrant and native-born, whose parents have not been able to work their way up to the middle class, remain trapped in poverty. They suffer from higher infant mortality, more serious illness and more abuse, neglect and teen pregnancy, said officials from Children Now, a Santa Monica-based, child advocacy agency.

Various programs exist in El Monte to battle these ills. They include Franco’s own food program that handed out groceries to 6,000 people last month. A county-run health center with a child wellness program providing physicals and immunizations yearly for up to 6,000 area children. Two Head Start programs serving more than 150 El Monte 4-year-olds. And city schools offering free breakfasts and lunches.

Still, thousands of needy children are not being helped, officials admit. More than 250 are on the waiting list for Head Start programs. Many undocumented parents, fearing discovery, do not even enroll their children in free programs, while other non-English speaking parents may not even know such programs exist. Finally, the programs now in place are only stopgap measures.

“This is merely survival food,” Franco said of her agency. “This is not about changing your life and making things better.”

Programs that would create change are nonexistent, Franco said, because poor children lack a political voice. Their parents, many of whom are not voters, do not show up at meetings of the City Council, or the county supervisors to lobby for aid, she said.

The plight of the city’s poor children concerns city leaders, Gutierrez said. But the councilman added, “I don’t think we have really sat down and said this is a priority problem.”

The recession and state budget cutbacks were a higher priority this year as the council hustled to preserve existing services and Police Department strength, Gutierrez said. But ultimately, the city alone cannot improve the lot of the poor. A partnership with schools and private businesses is the answer, he believes. It is a position echoed by many child advocates.

“In these times, no one sector is going to be able to lift children out of poverty,” said Wendy Lazarus, Children Now’s vice president for policy. The group urges local cooperation among agencies and pushes for national and state policy reforms--including stronger child support laws, work incentive programs, tax breaks for families with children and minimum wage hikes.