LUMBERTON — More education, an improved transportation system, affordable housing, and more access to child care are all needed to reduce the region’s high poverty rate, a state commission studying poverty was told Thursday.

During a two-hour public hearing at Robeson Community College, about 20 people spoke to the Joint Legislative Poverty Reduction and Economic Recovery Study Commission, including high school students, representatives of agencies that deal daily with poor people, and others concerned with the high poverty rates in Robeson and surrounding counties. Robeson County is No. 1 in the state for poverty, with about one third of its residents living below the threshold.

Thursday’s was the first of two public hearings that the commission is holding as it prepares to make recommendations to state legislators when the General Assembly re-convenes in May. There have been several meetings in Raleigh during the past year, and two more meetings are slated before the General Assembly returns.

The commission, which includes 21 people, lawmakers and members of the public, was formed in 2008 to develop a coordinated approach to poverty reduction and economic recovery across the state. It is co-chaired by Rep. Garland E. Pierce, whose district includes Robeson County, and Sen. Edward Jones, who represents several small rural counties in the eastern part of the state.

“No matter how you look at it, it all comes down to education,” Elizabeth Yarrington, an 11th-grade student in Robeson County’s Early College High School Program, told the commission. “If people are educated it will help get rid of the area’s high crime rate and there will be more people who will want to come to the area. You have to have something good to offer them.”

Sherry Harrell, an English teacher at the Early College High School, told the commission how effective the program has been over the five years it has been in existence. Noting that some students from low-income families take part in the program, she urged the commission to support expanding it to other areas.

“We’re sending people out into the work force already trained and skilled,” she said, pointing out that students in the five-year program graduate not only with a high school diploma, but with college credits as well.

Patrick Britt, a senior at the Early College, said that it’s often overlooked that Robeson County has some good things to offer.

“I’ve been told that after I graduate I should leave the area,” he said. “But I plan to come back. I want to better myself here.”

Getting people out of poverty means having jobs and a convenient way for them to get to the jobs, several speakers said.

“How do we get people to jobs and out of town if there is no transportation system?” said Sandra Wilson, administrator of W.B. Healthcare in Red Springs.

Housing is an important issue to be addressed when looking at poverty, Nancy Walker, director of housing authorities in both Laurinburg and Maxton, told the commission. She urged members to recommend to the General Assembly that the N.C. Housing Trust Fund be continued and possibly expanded.

“The Housing Trust Fund is such an important tool in meeting area housing needs,” she said.

Walker described the trust fund as being very “flexible,” allowing for such uses as building homeless shelters, special needs housing and retrofitting the homes of the elderly and disabled so that they can continue to remain in their homes.

Della Sweat, director of Social Services in Hoke County, brought to the commission’s attention concerns of the state County Directors of Social Services Association. The association’s emphasis is that more attention needs to be given to ensuring quality child care.

Sweat cited association recommendations that included: creation of no new bureaucracies; streamline child care subsidy funding into one uniform funding stream administered by local departments of Social Services; eliminate confusing dual subsidy administration locally; focus on proven core services; and maximize funding for poor children.

State Sen. Michael Walters told the commission that in order to reduce poverty and encourage economic recovery there needs to be a study of what occurred in Robeson County before there was any system of land use planning.

“We have to correct the past,” he said. “Until the 1980s, there was no planning board in Robeson County. There was sporadic growth.”

Walters said that jobs need to be created and that infrastructure needs to be looked into so that when opportunities arise people can be employed with businesses moving into the county or existing businesses expanding their operations. He also said that the school system needs to be examined to ensure that students are receiving a quality education.

Jimmy Gilchrist, head of the local Black Caucus, blamed Robeson County officials for not doing enough with available funding to better the lives of county residents.

“My concern is that with all the money flowing into the county we are still at the bottom,” he said. “My concern is that the money goes to those at the top and never returns to the people at the bottom.”

The Rev. Mac Legerton, director of the Center for Community Action in Lumberton and a commission member, said that he is going to recommend that the state form six regional study commissions — three in the east, two in the mountains and one intercity — to look into issues related to poverty and economic recovery. He said that each regional commission should receive $50,000 to operate.

“Regional commissions would bring us closer to home,” Legerton said. “There are a lot of ideas being brought to the table ... . This is just the beginning of our effort to fight poverty.”

Commission member Earl Jones, a state representative from Guilford County, said he is going to recommend that a study be done to find out why Robeson County has the highest poverty rate in the state. He said he also plans to recommend that Robeson County be state funded as the site of a pilot program aimed at reducing poverty.

Pierce seemed pleased after the forum.

“I was especially enlightened by the young people who spoke today,” Pierce said. “They gave us hope. They haven’t given up. They are our future.”