skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Not So Fast: NC Children of Color Face Obstacles to Success

play audio
Play

Tuesday, October 24, 2017   

RALEIGH, N.C. – The road to success has a few more bumps in it for children of color in North Carolina. That assessment is supported by a numerical index released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in its "2017 Race for Results" report, which measures children's progress in education, health and economy milestones.

Using a scale of one to 1,000, the report finds it is North Carolina's children of African Americans and Hispanics that bear the brunt of the disparity, says Rob Thompson, the senior policy and communications advisor for N.C. Child.

"We do have it in our power as a society to address some of these issues through public policy, so we can do things like in North Carolina, re-establishing our Earned Income Tax Credit so that low-income, working families have more access to cash," he explains.

In the index, North Carolina received a score of 375 for African American children and similarly low scores for American Indians and Hispanics. Thompson says to address the inequities, his organization is partnering with state agencies to develop a tool - the Health Equity Impact Assessment - to make sure policies align with needs and goals to improve the lives of children in the state.

Laura Speer, the associate director of policy reform and advocacy at the Casey Foundation, says administrative decisions threatening the status of 800 thousand young people under the DACA program also play a large role in the future success of immigrant children.

"Ensuring that the Dreamers are able to stay with their families and in their communities and to continue to be able to contribute to our country," she says. "We need them in terms of the long-term success of our country, and we should allow them to be able to stay."

Thompson says it won't be long before the disparity will be impossible to ignore, with large consequences for the state's future.

"Children of color are soon going to be the majority of all children in North Carolina, so if we don't start making progress on eliminating these disparities and improving outcomes for children of color, we're really putting our future as a state in peril," he warns.

Since the last "Race for Results" report published in 2014, the percentage of children who live in low poverty neighborhoods worsened significantly.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021