Bucking a national trend, Illinois was one of 11 states whose poverty rates rose from 1998 to 2000. (For the Record).

Bucking a national trend, Illinois was one of 11 states whose poverty rates rose from 1998 to 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's study "Poverty in the United States: 2000." The state's poverty rate increased from 10 to 10.8 percent, according to the report; the U.S. poverty rate was 11.3 percent in 2000. Advocates for the poor note the increase occurred while welfare rolls were diminishing and the economy was booming. Sid Mohn, president of the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights, an organization that works on behalf of poor Chicagoans, believes many people who once received welfare benefits are now working minimum-wage jobs that haven't lifted them out of poverty. John M. Bouman, deputy director of advocacy at the National Center on Poverty Law, said Illinois needs to help the working poor get better jobs. "Illinois has actually withdrawn from high-skills training," Bouman said. The Illinois Department of Human Services will monitor poverty rates to see if this year's increase is p art of a trend, said spokesman Thomas Green. "If it continues, it is something to be concerned about."