One-fifth of California's youngsters are growing up poor, and the San Joaquin Valley's 37 percent child-poverty rate is the highest in the state, a new study says.

Meanwhile, health and welfare programs for impoverished youngsters are not reaching those who are most in need, according to a study scheduled to be released today by the Public Policy Institute of California.

About 36 percent of the children born to Hispanic immigrants live in poverty, the study says, but only 12 percent get public assistance and 33 percent have no health insurance.

"We need to find out why our social-service programs are not reaching these families and try to make adjustments," said research fellow Deborah Reed, a co-author of the study.

The state's poverty rate -- defined as a family of four living on $17,463 or less a year -- was 22 percent in 2000. That's lower than the peak of 32 percent in 1994, but up from 18 percent in 1979 and 13 percent in 1969.

In the San Joaquin Valley, 37 percent of families with children younger than 5 live in poverty, but only 21 percent get public assistance and 16 percent have no health insurance.

Other findings from the report:

The state's children are highly mobile, with one in three moving at least once a year.

One of every four young children in the state lives in a home where neither parent has a high school diploma.

Statewide, about 60 percent of single mothers, and 53 percent of married mothers, work outside the home.

The findings came as no surprise to people who work with health and welfare programs. Because of state budget cuts and a stagnant economy, the outlook for improvement remains grim, they said.

Linda Avedon, chief executive officer of United Way of Stanislaus County, said officials work hard to make sure children have food, shelter and health insurance, so they are ready to learn when they arrive at school.

But she also said there are plenty of gaps in the system and noted that few programs target the children of immigrants.

She said public and private agencies will have their hands full just maintaining the programs they currently offer.

"The next couple of years will be even worse as the cuts have to go deeper," Avedon said.

Nilda Johnson, a program manager with the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, said schools and government agencies sign up families for low-cost insurance whenever possible.

But money for outreach workers -- who used to promote free and low-cost health insurance programs such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families at local canneries and other workplaces -- has been eliminated this year.

So far, about 7,900 children in the county have enrolled in the Healthy Families program, Johnson said, but an additional 20,000 children remain uninsured and end up in the emergency room when problems arise.

Also, a plan to let 300,000 parents join the federally funded program, which currently serves more than 500,000 children, was dashed last month. The state could not come up with its share of the funding.

"That all has been slashed out," Johnson said.

Reprinted by permission of The Modesto Bee.