Louisiana ranks 48th for child well-being in national index
Children have a much harder time thriving when they're raised in Louisiana, findings from a new study show.
Louisiana ranked 48th in the 2012 State Child Well-Being Index, a report released by the Foundation for Child Development.
While Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico ranked last on the index, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire were named the top three states for child well-being.
The index is based on seven domains: family economic well-being, health, safe/risky behavior, education attainment, community engagement, social relationships and emotional/spiritual well-being, according to the FCD's website.
Pamela Monroe, professor in the School of Social Work, said she was not surprised that Louisiana ranked low in the index, and she attributes the ranking to the large number of children in the state raised in poverty. About 25 percent of children in the state are reared in poverty, and percentages are even higher in delta or rural areas, she said.
In single parent households, children are more than 50 percent likely to be raised in poverty, she said.
While Monroe said poverty is the major cause of less than desirable child well-being in the state, she said "poverty is complex in its causes and solutions" and is a "multifaceted problem."
In many cases, impoverished families are living in areas where infrastructure and educational opportunities are undeveloped, and the community can't bring better jobs into the area.
"Kids are growing up in families and communities where poverty has characterized their families and communities for decades," Monroe said.
Another common companion of poverty is crime.
"It's no coincidence that the locations of homicides [on the annual Baton Rouge homicide map released by police] tend to be in impoverished neighborhoods in Baton Rouge," she said.
But Monroe said life in Louisiana is tremendously different for children born into middle-class families.
Childrens Health Insurance Program Ms - News
While Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico ranked last on the index, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire were named the top three states for child well-being. The index is based on seven domains: family economic well-being, health,
By Jay Greene Critics of an autism bill stalled in the Michigan Legislature for more than three years never have disputed data that show early intervention to treat autistic children could save taxpayers millions of dollars in future health care and
In spite of many Americans' conviction that our health care system is better than anywhere else in the world, the facts are that US health is suboptimal, despite the extraordinarily high cost of health care in our country. We pay more but our people
17, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Marking the first national initiative of its kind in the industry, Kool Smiles, one of the nation's leading dental health providers, will provide children and their parents access to PBS KIDS' award winning content
Mississippi often ranks at the top among health disparities, including diabetes, heart disease and obesity. In his first State of the State speech, Bryant on Tuesday said that it is incumbent on citizens to make health care a priority.
The 10 worst states for kids to grow up - thenewsherald.com
NEW YORK -- Oh, children. When will they learn? Never, it turns out, if they happen to live in one of the states in the U.S. with a poor record of quality of life for kids. In the Foundation for Child Development's latest Child and Youth Well-Being Index, the group looked at 28 indicators (most focusing on children under 18 but some including young adults in their 20s) in seven categories to calculate its state-by-state index. The seven areas include family economic well-being, health, safe/risky behavior, educational attainment, community engagement, social relationships and emotional/spiritual well-being, which were given specific weights to calculate the index, on a scale of -1 to 1.
Kentucky leads off the list in a tie for 10th-worst state for children, due in large part to the state's less-than-stellar record in supporting children's health programs. In 2007 state legislators decided to do something about the state's poor record in this area and created the "Blueprint for Kentucky" to promote legislation that better supports young people. After four years in action progress is incremental, and Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has made it a priority to expand health coverage to the "over 67,000 Kentucky children who are qualified to receive care through the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program or Medicaid but are not yet enrolled." Tied with Kentucky at number 10, Alaska turns out to be a somewhat inhospitable place for kids. The Foundation for Child Development's report calls out the state for its sixth-lowest education levels for young adults (21.4% of Alaskans ages 25-29 have a bachelor's degree, compared with the national average of 30%), and the state itself is trying to promote better family behaviors to support children in all aspects of their development. Dropping further down the index, Oklahoma comes in at No. 8 for its child well-being indicators. While the state's Department of Health has several initiatives targeted at families and children, a number of independent groups and nonprofit organizations including the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth and the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy have stepped in to add to the effort. Alabama is a regular feature on the lower end of well-being rankings in the U.S. (see ourHealthiest States in America or the Most Sinful States in America for starters), and that unfortunately doesn't change when talking about children. Alabama is one of the states with the lowest reading scores (with only 31% of fourth-graders reading at proficient levels). Home of the famously sinful Las Vegas, Nevada has had a difficult few years. Reduced tourism and a severely depressed housing market have strained state finances to the breaking point. No wonder the state ranked as the least happy in the U.S. last year. It's not like the government isn't doing anything about the problem, though - the state's Division of Child and Family Services has a number of ongoing initiatives to address it. Arkansas may have produced one of the most popular presidents in recent memory (Bill Clinton), but its child welfare metrics place it at fourth-worst in the nation. It's not a new problem, and local groups including the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families have been working for decades to improve the situation for young people. They admit that the gains have been slow, but their efforts enjoy broad support in the state. Louisiana is also a common fixture of the bottom of many state-by-state rankings, with considerable hardship coming on the heels of the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Things have gone considerably better since then though, and the state's low unemployment (6.8%versus the national average of 8.5% in December) indicates that the state should improve in next year's ranking. At No. 2, and in a familiar spot at the bottom of our roundups of how states rank in terms of quality of life, is Mississippi. The state was named the least healthy in the nation last year, and it is home to four of the poorest counties in the country. It's no wonder the children of Mississippi have a hard time thriving if those are the conditions of the state's adult population.