CHILD POVERTY ON THE RISE IN REGION; CENSUS PUTS 16% BELOW LINE.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

More than 33,000 children in Ventura County - or 16 percent of all residents ages 18 and under - live in poverty, according to the latest estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In Los Angeles County, the new census report shows more than 940,000 children - comprising about 36.6 percent of the population under 18 - live in poverty.

The new estimates paint the most recent picture of poverty and income in the United States since the last census was conducted eight years ago in 1990.

Based on 1993 income tax returns and information about participation in food stamp programs disbursed in 3,132 counties across the country, the new estimates track the number of children and adults living in poverty as well as the median household incomes in calendar year 1993, the most recent year in which comprehensive data is available.

In Ventura County, the new figures show an increase in the proportion of children under 18 living in poverty from 10.2 percent reported in 1990 to 16 percent in 1993. In Los Angeles County, the new figures also show an increase in child poverty from 20.7 percent in 1990 to 36.6 percent in 1993.

Patricia Ellison, case worker with Catholic Charities, said the figures are not surprising.

``Poverty has been on the rise and will continue to be on the rise, unfortunately,'' she said.

Ellison said the increasing proportion of poor children in the county is largely due to continued unemployment among many parents, especially those with lower levels of education.

Nonprofit organizations throughout the county have boosted programs providing food, clothing as well as rental assistance and supplementary funds for gas and electricity to the region's poor.

``But there continues to be a great need for charitable programs throughout the county,'' Ellison said.

The census estimates provide new national data on the number of children under 5 and update county-level data on the number of children ages 5 to 17 in families in poverty, the number of all children under 18 living in poverty and the total number of poor people.

The estimates show a total of 77,983 people in Ventura County lived beneath the 1993 federal poverty line of about $14,000, comprising 11.1 percent of the total county population. The 1990 census reported 7 percent, or 47,742 people, who were poor in Ventura County.

In neighboring Los Angeles County, the bureau reports, 2.1 million people making up 23.8 percent of the population were living in poverty in 1993. That compares with 14.8 percent, or 1,308,255 people, in 1990.

In Ventura County, median household income declined by less than $1,000 in the three-year period; whereas, median income increased by nearly $1,500 in that same period, the data shows.

With 26.4 percent of its youths under 18 estimated to live in poverty, the state of California exceeded the national average which is at 22.7 percent. But states including Mississippi, Louisiana and West Virginia as well as the District of Columbia were estimated to have more than 30 percent of its kids living in poverty.

California also surpassed the national average for kids under 5 living in poverty, which was estimated to be 26.5 percent, with 29.2 percent. No county figures were available for the number of kids under 5.

The Census Bureau conducts a comprehensive survey of the country once every 10 years. The 1993 figures mark the first time the bureau has issued county-level income and poverty estimates in noncensus years.

While the numbers represent the most recent comprehensive figures available at local levels, Census Bureau officials note that they do not reflect trends seen since 1993. For instance, the bureau reported that recent preliminary data of national trends between 1993 and 1995 show a 3 percent increase in median income, a 5 percent decrease in the total number of poor and a 5 percent decrease in the number of related children in poverty.

Supported by federal agencies including the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as the Department of Health and Human Services, the new estimates will be used in part in allocating funds for federal and other public programs. The updated figures allow agencies to adjust their own estimates and respond to rapidly changing economic and social conditions.

``If we didn't have these figures, then we would be relying on the 1990 census. But as time goes on, the data from that census gets more and more out of date,'' said Paul Siegel, statistician with the U.S. Bureau of the Census who headed the project to track income and poverty in counties and states throughout the nation.

The estimates are part of an ongoing study of small area poverty and income data, which looks at county- and state-level figures. Siegel, who grew up in the Los Angeles County area, began working on the new data sets in 1994, developing new methods and statistical models to make the best estimates based on the most recent 1993 figures.

With the release of these figures, he said, his team of statisticians has already begun to work on new estimates to provide figures according to school districts across the country.

``Congress wants to give money directly to the school districts. They have been giving money to the states to divide by using county-level numbers. But now they will distribute directly to the school districts if they can get those more local numbers,'' Siegel said.