In my last post, I noted the dispiriting increase of rates of serious mental illness in Orange County youth. There was, however, another principal area of concern identified in last year’s Conditions of Children in Orange Country report: childhood poverty. The sobering facts are detailed across several pages, broader trends backed up by a robust compilation of statistical data. I’ve highlighted some of the major findings here. Although unemployment rates remain low and the market has had an amazing run since the recovery from the Great Recession, economic well-being has been declining in recent years for OC youth, with almost half of children — 49.1%, to be exact — eligible…