It will take “human resources” to change the trend lines surrounding childhood poverty in Kansas, Kansas Leadership Center President and CEO Ed O’Malley wrote in a Sunday Op-Ed commentary in The Wichita Eagle.

Nearly 2 out of every 10 children in Kansas live in poverty. Through its Onward Kansas iniative, KLC is partnering with a Topeka-based advocacy group, Kansas Action for Children, and its president and CEO, Shannon Cotsoradis, to change the conversation on the issue.

Most don’t look beyond those numbers, O’Malley writes, but behind those figures real Kansas children:

We’ve known for decades that children in poverty tend to grow up to be adults in poverty. The implications to our society are immense. More people in poverty means more stress on systems like health care and public education.

We all lose when people can’t reach their full human potential.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/11/03/3091670/ed-omalley-change-requires-huma…

Read the entire commentary here.