Contacts: Valerie J. Salley
502-895-8167
Debra Miller
502-875-4865
MEDIA RELEASE
Kentucky’s
National Rank Improves
to 36th
in the Nation
(May 22, 2001,
Frankfort and Louisville, KY): Over the last decade, Kentucky has made improvements on 8 of 10 key
measures of child well-being. That is
the finding of the 12th annual National KIDS COUNT Report, which
compares child well-being on a state-by-state basis.
When compared to the nation, Kentucky
historically has ranked close to or in the bottom ten states on key children’s
indicators. However, this year Kentucky
ranked 36th among the 50 states (1 representing the best, 50
representing the worst). “It’s very
encouraging to see that Kentucky is making strides in the areas of children’s
health, education, and economic security.
The pendulum is definitely swinging in the right direction,” stated
Valerie Salley, Kentucky KIDS COUNT Coordinator with Kentucky Youth Advocates.
According
to Debra Miller, Executive Director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, “What this
report shows us is that Kentucky has paid a lot of attention to children’s
issues in the last decade. We’ve seen resources targeted to making health care
accessible, to education reform, and most recently, to Governor Patton’s KIDS
NOW Initiative for early care and education.
The booming economy of the nineties has allowed us to invest in our
children. Now, we’re beginning to see
the fruits of a decade of investments.”
Among the report’s findings
for Kentucky, the following family circumstances improved from 1990-1997:
·
Infant
mortality rate declined by 12% (ranking KY 29th in the nation on
this measure);
·
Child
death rate declined by 10% (ranking KY 27th in the nation on this
measure;
·
Teen
birth rate declined by 24%, while the national rate declined by 19% (ranking KY
33rd in the nation on this measure);
·
Teens
not working and not in school declined by 29% (ranking KY 37th in
the nation on this measure);
·
Percent
of children with parents who do not have full-time, year-round employment has
declined by 17% (ranking KY 40th in the nation on this measure); and
·
Child
poverty declined by 8%, from 25 percent of children to 23 percent (ranking KY
37th in the nation on this measure).
Despite statewide
improvements, there are many places within the state that are not experiencing
vast improvements for their children.
“When we look at how Kentucky children are faring county by county, a
grim picture emerges. For those children who live in opportunity-starved areas,
their chances of success are hindered significantly”. According to Debra Miller, “The poverty of place is so
powerful. For every one success story
about a child who overcame great obstacles to succeed, there are thousands of
disadvantaged children who did not.”
Although Kentucky has
improved on most measures, the report found that Kentucky worsened in two
areas; percent of low-birth weight babies (under 5.5 lbs) and the percent of
families with children headed by a single parent.
“Kentucky is following a national trend for increasing rates of
low- birth weight babies.” Salley said.
“While inadequate prenatal care and multiple births may provide some
explanation for the increase, much of the problem is due to risk-taking
behavior during pregnancy.” Even though
Kentucky has seen increases in the rates of women receiving prenatal care in
the last decade, the rate of low birth weights continues to rise. “Kentucky has
made great progress toward ensuring healthy births, such as improving access to
prenatal care, but those things that are harder to change, like lifestyle choices,
seem to be almost beyond our grasp.”
Salley added.
Kentucky
is only beginning to catch up with the national trend of an increase in the
percentage of families headed by a single parent. Kentucky ranks 15th nationally on this measure, but
has experienced an increasing rate of single parent families in the last
decade. Kentucky has worsened in this
area by 13% from 1990 to 1997, mirroring the national trend.
As
is its tradition, the National KIDS COUNT Data Book presents a comprehensive
state-by-state analysis of the well-being of America’s children. The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private
charitable organization dedicated to helping build better futures for
disadvantaged children and families in the United States. The Casey Foundation also supports a
national network of state organizations that produce county-by-county data on
the well-being of children. Kentucky
Youth Advocates and the Kentucky KIDS COUNT Consortium participate in this
effort to produce Kentucky’s county-by-county child well-being data each year.
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