Louisiana ranked 49th in child welfare
24th June 2019 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
Louisiana ranks 49th in overall child well-being, according to a new study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The report, “The 2019 KIDS COUNT Data Book,” is the most comprehensive annual study of its kind in the United States. Now in its 30th edition, the report noted some positive trends in Louisiana children’s health, education, and economic security even though the state’s overall rank was low.
The study stated that significant progress has been made in the United States since the first Data Book was released in 1990. However, more than 13 million American children live in poverty and serious racial and ethnic disparities still occur.
In 12 of the 16 indicators tracked by the Data Book, Louisiana has improved outcomes for children since 1990. The number of children living in poverty is down 10 percent. The teen birth rate is down 61 percent. The number of young children not attending preschool is down 33 percent.
But Louisiana made no progress in two areas: children living in households that spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing and teens not in school and not working. In two other areas, things got worse. The percentage of low birth-weight babies increased, as did the percentage of children in single-parent families.
Louisiana’s worst ranking in the 16 categories was economic well-being, where it placed 50th. Twenty-eight percent of Louisiana children live in poverty, 10 percent higher than the national average. Louisiana was also one of just three states where child poverty was higher in 2017 than in 2010.
Louisiana’s best ranking in the study was in the health category, where it placed 42nd. The state has maintained low rates of drug and alcohol abuse among teenagers, and 97 percent of children are connected to health insurance.
While Louisiana ranked 48th in education, there was cause for optimism in that area. The number of 3- and 4-year-olds attending preschool was at 52 percent, putting the state at 8th overall in that statistic. But the report noted that 74 percent of 4th graders in the state are not proficient in reading and 81 percent of 8th graders in the state are not proficient in math.
“Louisiana needs to build upon its successes to create an opportunity-rich community that’s ready to support the children and families who live here and attract newcomers,” said Dr. Anthony Recasner, CEO of Agenda for Children, an advocacy organization for children in Louisiana. “We were the first southern state to pass a refundable state EITC (earned income tax credit) and one of the only southern states to connect more parents to health care through Medicaid expansion. However, if we want to move out of 49th place, we need to do a lot more to support children and families, including expanding funding for child care, reducing disparities for children of color, and fostering an economy where more parents earn family-supporting wages.”
Louisiana’s child population has declined by eight percent since the first Data Book was published in 1990. That is in contrast to most other southern states, which saw their child populations increase during the same time period.
“Louisiana’s children represent 1,108,403 unique opportunities to create a stronger, more vibrant state,” said Dr. Recasner. “Louisiana’s child population has shrunk by 100,000 children since 1990, while our neighbors in Texas saw their child population increase by more than 2.4 million children. If we want our state to grow and thrive, we need to invest in policies and programs that will give children a strong foundation and attract new families to our state.”
The Annie E. Casey Foundation made a number of recommendations in the report on how to improve the lives of children nationwide. Those recommendations included expanding access to Medicaid, regardless of a child’s immigration status; ensuring that the 2020 census counts all children, especially those under the age of 5 and in hard-to-count areas; ensuring that elected officials and representatives address ethnic and racial inequalities, while recognizing that national averages can mask the realities of the great number of obstacles faced by Black and brown children; and providing tools such as EITC and child tax credit programs to help families lift themselves up economically to help meet their children’s needs.
The Data Book estimated that the 2010 census missed an estimated 12,000 young children in Louisiana, which cost the state over $16 million in lost funding annually for federal programs, including Head Start and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Kristina Barrett, a spokesperson for the U.S. Census Bureau, said ensuring a more accurate count in 2020 is a top priority for the bureau. Research from the U.S. Census Bureau said the young children with the highest risks of coverage errors include the following: children who are not a biological or adopted child of the householder, children who are racial minorities, children in renter-occupied housing and multi-unit structures, children living in single-parent families, and children born only a few months prior to the census.
This article originally published in the June 24, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
