PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked 15th in the nation in overall children’s well-being in a nationwide report released by Kids Count today. The state moved up six places in the rankings from last year, led by improvements in the teen death rate and percentage of teens who are high school dropouts. Massachusetts was ranked fifth and Connecticut fourth, with the lowest scores concentrated in the South and the Southwest.

The 2009 Kids Count Data Book is a state-by state report based on data relating to family economic security, child and teen development, health, and education. The rankings are based on 10 indicators of child well-being. For each indicator, the report shows every state’s level in 2000 and in the most recent year available (2006 or 2007,) the percentage change since 2000, and the state’s national ranking in that category.

In Rhode Island, six of the 10 indicators of child well-being used by the report improved between 2000 and 2007, three worsened – including a 6 percent increase in the percentage of children living in poverty – and one stayed the same.

Notable changes included a 40 percent improvement in the percentage of teen ages 16 to 19 who were high school dropouts between 2000 and 2007 and a 14 percent improvement in the percentage of teens ages 16 to 19 who were not in school and not working since 2000. The rate of births to teens ages 15 to 19 also improved 18 percent since 2000. Rhode Island ranked first in the nation in teen death rate for youths ages 15 to 19, with 34 per 100,000, a 35 percent decline since 2000.

Nationwide, six of the 10 indicators improved since 2000 and four worsened. Significant improvements occurred in the child death rate, the teen death rate, and the high school dropout rate, which fell from 11 percent of teens in 2000 to 7 percent in 2007. The percentage of children living in poverty (income below $21,027 for a family of two adults and two children) increased from 17 to 18 percent between 2000 and 2007, which represents 900,000 more children in poverty nationwide than in 2000.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Baltimore-based nonprofit that produced the report, said the 2009 Kids Count Data Book shows a slight improvement over last year’s indicators, but that the indicators “lag behind the steady improvements made in the late 1990s,” according to a statement that accompanied the report. Furthermore, the effects of the economic recession were not apparent at the national level until late 2008, indicating that the report may not reflect the most current trends.

For more information, go to Kids Count.