BALTIMORE – Rhode Island is 21st nationwide for child well-being, Massachusetts is third and Connecticut is fourth, in a nationwide report released today by Kids Count. Overall, the Northeastern states all ranked in the top half nationwide; the lowest scores were concentrated in the South and Southwest.
The 2008 Kids Count Data Book is a state-by-state study of health, education and economic factors affecting U.S. children. Data also are provided for the District of Columbia, although it is not assigned a ranking with the states.
The Data Book follows the statewide reports published earlier this year, such as the 2008 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook, released April 7, at the local nonprofit’s annual breakfast. Highlights of that report included the finding that Rhode Island’s poverty rate fell to 15.1 percent in 2006 from 21 percent in 2004. (READ MORE)
State rankings are based on 10 measures. For each factor, the report shows every state’s level in 2000 and in the most recent figures available (from 2005 or 2006); the change since 2000; and the state’s national ranking. Demographic data and health insurance data, and information on the juvenile justice system, also are provided for each state.
Nationwide, five factors improved, one was unchanged and four worsened. The biggest improvement was in the percent of teens ages 16 to 19 who were high-school dropouts – that is, were not enrolled in school, had not graduated from high school and had not earned a Graduate Equivalency Diploma (GED) or similar certification – which fell 57 percent in six years to tie Rhode Island’s 7-percent level in 2006. The biggest setback nationwide was in the percent of babies with low birth weights, which rose 8 percent in five years (to 8.2 percent of births).
Nationwide, five factors improved, one was unchanged and four worsened. The biggest improvement was in the percent of teens who were high-school dropouts, which fell 57 percent in six years to tie the Rhode Island’s 7-percent level in 2006. The biggest setback nationwide was in the percent of babies with low birth weights, which rose 8 percent in five years (to 8.2 percent of births).
“We continue to see that well-being indicators have largely gotten better for teens and they’ve gotten worse for babies,” Laura Beavers, coordinator of the national Kids Count project, said in a statement today. “The percent of babies born at low birth weight continues to increase; the 2005 rate was the highest reported since 1968, with a dramatic increase for white, non-Hispanic babies,” she added.
The Ocean State improved on five of 10 measures since 2000; held its ground in one; and lost ground in four, the study found. The state’s scores ranged from No. 2 nationwide for its teen death rate, of 39 per 100,000 youths 15 to 19 in 2005; to 40th for children in single-parent families, who comprised 32 percent of children in the state in 2006.
Improvements were seen in high-school dropout rate, down 30 percent; teen death rate, down 25 percent; birth rate among teens, down 9 percent; percent of children who have no parent with full-time, year-round job, down 6 percent; and the percent of children in poverty, based on the national poverty level, down 6 percent.
The percent of Rhode Island teens neither attending school nor working was unchanged at 7 percent. Meanwhile, the nationwide rate improved to 8 percent in 2006 from 9 percent six years earlier.
Worsening were the child death rate, which rose 18 percent in five years as the nationwide rate fell; the share of children in single-parent families, which rose 9 percent in six years; babies with low birth weights, which rose 8 percent in five years (to 7.8 percent of births); and the infant mortality rate, which rose 3 percent as the U.S. held steady.
Massachusetts improved on seven of 10 measures since 2000, and experienced setbacks in the other three. The Bay State’s best performances were on high-school dropouts, down 50 percent, and the child death rate, down 33 percent. Other changes ranged from 3 to 17 percent.
Connecticut improved on six of 10 measures since 2000, held steady on one; and experienced setbacks in three. Most notably, its high-school dropout rate fell 64 percent from 2000 to 2006, the share of teens neither working nor in school fell 38 percent and the teen birth rate fell 26 percent. Other changes ranged from 4 to 12 percent.
An essay in this year’s report, “A Road Map for Juvenile Justice Reform,” argues that changes are needed to keep children out of the adult justice system; reduce incarceration; ensure the safety of prisoners; and eliminate racial disparities.
In Rhode Island in 2006, an estimated 348 youths per day were behind bars, 67 percent of them for non-violent offenses, the study found.
The state’s youth incarceration rate that year – 75 youths ages 10 to 15 for every 100,000 state residents that age – was only 60 percent of the national rate of 125 per 100,000. Those prisoners included four youths of color to every one white youth, however, compared with the national ratio of three to one.
“The state and federal government must take a much closer look at the problems that are entrenched in the juvenile justice system,” Douglas W. Nelson, president and CEO of the Casey Foundation, said in a statement today. “These problems often include harsh and abusive conditions; pervasive disparities in the treatment of youth by race and ethnicity; and disproportionate sanctions for minor and predictable misbehavior.
“We know – and there is evidence to prove – that with effective interventions, system reforms and more effective policies, the system can produce better outcomes.”
Kids Count – a project of The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which also has established the nonprofit child welfare agency Casey Family Services – is a nonprofit organization based in Baltimore that works to improve the health, economic well-being, safety, education and development of the nation’s children. For more information, including the 2008 Kids Count Data Book, visit www.kidscount.org.
Rhode Island Kids Count, a statewide nonprofit aiming to improve the outlook for Rhode Island’s children, is an affiliate of the Baltimore-based Kids Count. For more information, including the 2008 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook, visit www.rikidscount.org.
