LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas is a tough place to grow up, according to an annual report on children's well-being.
For the second consecutive year, Arkansas is ranked 45th among the 50 states in the Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book, which examines the condition of children and families in the United States.
In this year's survey, Arkansas placed in the "bottom 10" states for the health, economic well-being, and family and community life of its kids.
Rich Huddleston, executive director, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, says he is troubled by a significant jump in the number of kids living in poverty.
"Ordinarily, we're not too concerned when you slip just a couple places, because of the data, how you rank relative another state," Huddleston says. "But when you slip 11 spots – that really starts to get our attention."
Huddleston says 27 percent of Arkansas kids live below the poverty line, endangering their ability to succeed in life.
The state's highest ranking was in education, where Arkansas was 35th. However, he adds that there is still a pressing need for across-the-board improvements for Arkansas children.
Huddleston adds budget cuts by the Republican-controlled Legislature have crippled many of the programs designed to benefit children. Since 2013, he says, tax cuts have removed more than $300 million from the state's revenues.
"We've really started to see the impact the tax cuts have had, in terms of money in the state budget to invest in kids," he says. "So, whether it's education, healthcare, juvenile justice – all those tax cuts are really limiting the state's ability to invest in things that we know are going to help kids."
Laura Speer, associate director of policy reform and advocacy at the Casey Foundation, points out that nationally, 95 percent of children now have health insurance, a tremendous achievement she says should not be jeopardized.
"This is a real success story, and we want to acknowledge the fact that the country has made a significant investment and that we have the highest percent of kids with health-insurance coverage that we've ever had as a country," Speer says. "And we want to keep those gains."
The report credits parts of the Affordable Care Act, as well as investments in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, for the historic number of kids with health insurance.
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Advocates for foster families are pressing lawmakers to save the Family Urgent Response System from the budget ax.
California faces a $37.9 billion deficit and Gov. Gavin Newsom's initial proposal zeros out the program's $30 million budget.
Susanna Kniffen, senior director of child welfare policy for the nonprofit Children Now, said the program provides a 24-hour helpline for foster kids and their caregivers and funds a mobile emergency response unit in all 58 counties.
"We haven't seen a cut like that to foster care in a very long time. Decades," Kniffen pointed out. "Even when there are tough budget decisions to be made, generally you protect your children and you definitely protect your most vulnerable children, which are foster youth."
The state created the program in 2019. Then the pandemic hit, so counties got the mobile response teams up and running starting in 2021. California has about 46,000 children in the foster-care system. The helpline averages about 5,000 calls a year. More than a quarter involve requests for a team to come to the home.
Kniffen noted more and more foster youths and their caregivers are starting to rely on the program for support and conflict mediation.
"We finally started to get youth trusting it and using it and, all of a sudden, we're just sort of pulling the rug out," Kniffen argued. "It's going to be very difficult for the adults in the system but it's going to hit the youth the hardest because this is one of the only options that they have to call and get support for themselves."
This issue will be heard in legislative committees in the State Assembly on April 3, and in the state Senate on April 25. Lawmakers have until June 15 to pass a balanced budget.
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The new National Parent & Youth Helpline has already taken 6,700 calls, texts and live chats since its inception in January, and now the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a bill called House Resolution 7812 to fund it permanently.
Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., introduced the bill last Friday.
Lisa Pion-Berlin, president and CEO of Parents Anonymous, which runs the helpline, noted how the service has been helping.
"We have calls about gun violence. We have calls about suicide. We have calls about stress," Pion-Berlin outlined. "We have calls about kids' learning challenges. We have kids who feel lonely and depressed. We know youth suicide is up 20%."
The nation's more than 174 million parents and youths up to age 25 can call or text the helpline at 855-427-2736 to reach a trained counselor for help with emotional issues. People can also join the live chat on the website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Pion-Berlin emphasized the goal is to offer online, weekly, evidence-based emotional support groups to those in need around the country.
"They build what we call protective factors," Pion-Berlin explained. "That's resilience, social support, that's helping people deal with their underlying emotional issues, addresses substance abuse, domestic violence, and helps children flourish."
The bill would allocate $20 million a year to the program. So far it has attracted endorsements from the nonprofits Parents Anonymous, Zero to Three, and the Child Welfare League of America.
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Parents wanting to ensure their children have nutritious meals can serve as their best example, according to new data.
Research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign involved looking at study participants' amount and availability of unhealthy beverages and food in their households. A Home Food Inventory -- a checklist of 190 items in 13 food categories used to monitor the food environment -- found processed foods, candy and microwaveable items were more attainable.
Jenny Barton, assistant research professor for the Center for Childhood Obesity Research at Pennsylvania State University, said the study focused on the physical development of toddlers.
"The two-year-olds in this study are gaining mobility -- they're gaining autonomy -- to be able to walk around the house," Barton pointed out. "And then I think by age four, they are starting to be able to reach for things in the home, in the kitchen."
The home food inventory further examined how the location of fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator, freezer and inside cabinets can hinder a toddler's access to them, how often foods in the household are consumed, and how parents' interaction with their children during a meal affects a child's food habits.
Children often imitate their parents when it comes to food choices. A U.S. Department of Health report said it can take up to 10 attempts before children accept a new food. Barton noted her work followed the consumption of whole grains and refined grains. She concluded refined grains are eaten more often by children because parents tend to buy it more often.
"They're just not purchasing them, to the degree that we would like to see people purchasing whole grains," Barton emphasized. "That's probably helping explain some of that phenomenon in terms of children having similar diets as their parents."
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 report showed unhealthy dietary patterns starting at age 2-18 may lead to obesity and a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease in later life. The publication also advised parents to reduce or eliminate cereals with added sugar, switch from fried to roasted vegetables and substitute high-sodium meats with ground lean meats.
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