Report Finds State-by-State Gap in Child Well-Being
from: infozine.com
Posted Thursday, April 03, 2008 :: infoZine Staff
By Jonna Knappenberger - Children in Louisiana are five times more likely to be uninsured and 13 times more likely to be incarcerated than children in Vermont. In Oklahoma, children are 13 times more likely to die from abuse or neglect as those in Maine.
Washington, D.C. - Scripps Howard Foundation Wire - infoZine - A report by the Every Child Matters Education Fund released Wednesday said there is a significant gap among states in protection and services for children.
The report is based on 10 indicators of child well-being: infant deaths, child deaths (ages 1-14), teen deaths (ages 15-19), births to teenage mothers, rates of late or no prenatal care, poverty, health insurance, juvenile incarcerations, abuse fatalities and child welfare expenditures.
The statistics come from the U.S. Census bureau, non-profit agencies and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Every Child Matters Education Fund is a non-profit group dedicated to advancing child welfare.
The top states in the overall ranking are Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico are the lowest-ranking states.
Between 60 and 90 percent of state health and social service spending comes from the federal government, said Michael R. Petit, report author and president of the fund.
Because federal funds for children have been declining, Petit said, and because some states don't use all of the money, the geographical gap in child services has been growing.
The low-ranking states, many of which are in the South, have lower average income levels, less educational attainment and a different view of government spending. The cycle is self-perpetuating, with bad services reinforcing poverty and childhood problems.
"Are states unable to invest because they're poor or are they poor because they fail to invest?" Petit asked.
Race is also an issue. T. Berry Brazelton, Harvard professor emeritus of pediatrics, said a bias exists against minorities and the poor "that we should throw them away and pay attention to what's going on in the middle class."
However, just because some states rank higher than others doesn't mean that they achieve perfect standards for child services.
"Our country is the least oriented toward children and families of any country in the universe," Brazelton said.
Petit cited the high child poverty rate in the U.S. compared to other rich democracies. He said physical and sexual child abuse in the U.S. is widespread and that "no state is immunized" against abuse.
A third problem, constant in every state, is a lack of supervision. Petit says the difficulty of finding enough good day care is not limited to poor families, but extends into the middle class.
Brazelton said another universal factor in child well-being is the parents' mind-set. He said his research has indicated that babies behave differently when their mothers are depressed.
Suggesting improvements in services, Brazelton said, "We need to start with families early. We need to have a positive model in which we look at them with respect, caring and hope, and we need to use their children as a language to reach out to them."
Petit estimated the annual federal, state and local spending at $25 billion to $30 billion for abuse, foster care and adoption programs, and the average cost to the public for incarcerating adults who were abused as children at $100 billion a year.
Elizabeth J. Clark, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers, said social workers in every state bear witness to the highs and lows in the report. She said the push will be on legislators and presidential candidates to give the same opportunities to children in every state.
"In our own country, investments are not being made in children and the great promise they hold," Clark said.