Alabama ranks among the worst states for child well-being, ranking at number 45, according to a new report from the child advocacy group VOICES for Alabama’s Children. The only states that fall under Alabama are Oklahoma, Nevada, Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico.
Funded by the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, VOICES annually releases the Alabama Kids Count Data Book to help policymakers and researchers understand how children are growing up in the state and identify areas that need improvement.
The report tracks trends in children’s health, education, safety and economic security in all 67 Alabama counties over the past three decades.
“Data is a measure of where we are and where we have been and is the foundation for transformation,” Apreill Hartsfield, executive director of Alabama Kids Count, said in a statement. “We notice the changes, such as the decrease in the child population and the growing diversity among our children. We celebrate the areas where there is room for improvement, including the increase in health care coverage and early intervention services and the decrease in the number of teenagers who are not in school and not working (inactive teenagers). And we raise awareness of opportunities for improvement, including child mortality, child poverty and food insecurity.”
These are the main conclusions from the 102-page report:
1. More children are going to foster care.
According to the report, the number of children entering foster care has increased by 16.3 percent since 2015. The number one reason children enter the foster system is “parental drug abuse.”
The good news is that the number of annual adoptions increases every year. The department facilitated more than 700 adoptions in 2023, according to a statement from Alabama Human Resources Commissioner Nancy Buckner. Thirty years ago that number was closer to 100.
DHR responded to about 23,600 cases of abuse and neglect in the past year, but Buckner reported that number is down from 40,000 in 1993.
In 2022, approximately 35,932 children in Alabama were subject to an investigated report of abuse and neglect.
2. More children live in poverty.
Since 2000, child poverty in Alabama has steadily increased, affecting black and Hispanic children at twice the rate of white children.
In 2023, more than 245,000, about 22.3 percent, of the state’s children lived in poverty. The Data Book classifies almost half of these children as being in ‘extreme poverty’.
Of those children in “extreme poverty,” 13.5 percent are white, 38.3 percent are black and 36.7 percent are Hispanic.
“Looking at the county-specific data, even though the state median household income is $53,990 per year or $25.96 per hour, the median household income in at least six Alabama counties is below the hourly rate needed to earn a a two-bedroom apartment to rent. the report said, citing the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama.
3. Education statistics are improving compared to other states.
According to the report, Alabama is the only state to show improvement in both reading and math since the COVID-19 pandemic. It cites the Nation’s Report Card, in which Alabama rose several spots in reading and math in the most recently available 2022 rankings.
In 2019, Alabama fourth-graders ranked last in the nation in math and No. 49 in reading. In 2023, Alabama moved up to No. 40 in math and 39 in reading. Yet VOICES has proposed this improvement with the likelihood that it was inflated by other states’ poor performance.
State Superintendent Eric Mackey attributes the reading gains to the Alabama Literacy Act.
“Every child’s potential is a reflection of the opportunities we provide – education, health care and a supportive family are the foundation for a better future, shaping not only our children, but the destiny of our communities,” said State Superintendent Eric Mackey in a speech. statement included in the Data Book.
Still, the percentage of fourth-graders in Alabama not proficient in reading remains high at 72 percent, which represents no change since 2019. Also, the percentage of eighth-graders not proficient in math increased from 79 percent in 2019 to 81% last year.
4. Child well-being tends to be worse in rural Alabama.
Alabama’s rural Black Belt counties fare the worst in child welfare, ranking 13 of the 15 lowest. The bottom counties are Perry, Wilcox, Greene, Bullock, Sumter, Dallas, Hale, Pickens, Butler, Lowndes, Barbour, Macon and Marengo.
The province-specific rankings were determined using several key indicators, such as births in teens aged 15 to 17, child poverty and unemployment rates.
Data in the report also shows a disparity in access to health care between rural Alabama and the rest of the state.
“More children have had health insurance since the 1990s, but depending on where children live in the state, fewer children have access to health care because of the shrinking number of health care facilities and resources, especially in rural areas,” VOICES director Rhonda Mann wrote in the paper . Data book.
Hadley Hitson covers children’s health, education and well-being for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: 4 things to know about child well-being in Alabama from a new report
