RI Child Well Being – Mixed Results
Saturday, July 31, 2010
A national report on child well-being shows mixed results for Rhode Island, which is among the top states in the nation in some indicators, but is worsening in others.
The 21st annual National KIDS Count Data Book, which was issued by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, measures everything from birth weight to teen birth rates, as well as family income and high school drop-outs. Overall, Rhode Island slipped from an overall ranking of 15 to 17, according to the report.
The Ocean State improved on several measures of health care, according to Catherine Walsh, deputy director of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. “Rhode Island can be really proud of the investments is had made in health care for women and children,” Walsh said.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTRhode Island had the lowest child death rate in the United States, coming in at nine fatalities for every 100,000 children aged 1 to 14. Walsh credited RIte Care, the state’s Medicaid program for families with low to moderate income, with a 47 percent decline in the child death rate since 2000.
The state also had the second lowest teen death rate in the country, thanks in part to greater restrictions on teen drivers and bike helmet laws, according to Walsh. Also, the teen birth rate for mothers aged 15 to 19 also improved by 12 percent, with 30 births for every 1,000 teen girls. Nationwide, there are 43 births for every 1,000 teenagers.
What Happens in Elementary School Is Key
Besides the state’s investment in health care, Walsh said higher standards for elementary students had an impact farther on down the road. Those students who struggle with core subjects like reading and math by the end of the third grade are more likely to later become teen mothers, high-school drop-outs, or run into trouble with the law, she said.
This summer the Department of Education adopted the Common Core Standards for curriculum and instruction in schools, but even before that, Walsh said the state had been working on raising standards through the New England Common Assessment Program.
RI Is Number 30 for Infant Deaths
The bad news? The state infant mortality rate—which is a worldwide measure of the health of a community—is getting worse.
Overall, there was a slight decrease in the rate nationwide, but it went up by 17 percent in Rhode Island since 2000, with 7.4 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births in 2007. And there has likewise been an 11 percent increase in low birth weights, affecting 8 percent of all babies in Rhode Island.
“The message this sends is that we really need to make sure that women of child-bearing age have access to health care before they get pregnant,” Walsh said.
She said the state also needs to make sure young, low-income parents have the support they need to take care of themselves and their children. She said the new nurse-family partnership program launched this month in Providence and surrounding communities was an example of the kind of support those families needed.
One reason why infant mortality and low birth rates are on the rise could be the recession, according to Walsh. “When there’s more economic insecurity that can also sometimes lead to these kinds of conditions,” she said. “There is a direct correlation between infant mortality and socioeconomic conditions, in addition to health care access and health care quality.”
Yet the percent of children in poverty—defined as households with two parents and two children with an income of $21,834—went down. Between 2000 and 2008 the rate went down from 16 to 15 percent, in spite of the recession. On the other hand, the number low-income families whose income is 200 percent of the poverty level did increase during those years, according to Walsh.
“The annual
On two of the indicators, comparisons between 2000 and recent years was not possible due to a change in the methodology used by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those were: the percent of teens not in school and not employed and the percent of children in families where no parent had a full-time, year-round job.
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