skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

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

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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.

Report: Tennessee’s Child Population has Ballooned in Last 3 Decades

play audio
Play

Monday, June 17, 2019   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee's child population has grown rapidly since 1990, according to a report just released by The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The state now has more than 1.5 million children, many of whom are part of immigrant families. The percentage of Tennessee children living in those families has quadrupled in the last three decades, according to the report.

Leslie Boissiere, the Casey Foundation’s vice president for external affairs, says that mirrors a nationwide trend.

"A lot of the growth in child population is just the result of natural migration from surrounding states,” she states. “And in some cases, because birth rates are exceeding death rates. We're seeing growth in particular areas – in the South, in the West. We're seeing a tremendous increase in diversity in this country."

Poverty continues to be a problem for the state, with one in five children living in poverty, according to the report.

Nationwide, the number of children has increased from 64 million in 1990 to 74 million since the Casey Foundation first began tracking child demographics in the U.S.

Child and teen deaths in the state also are on the rise. In 2017, more than 500 children and teens in Tennessee died, according to the report.

Richard Kennedy, executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, says most of these deaths involved guns.

"We know that more than 60% of those involved a firearm,” he states. “So, we certainly have an opportunity in Tennessee to continue to look at strategies, continue to raise awareness and educate about safe gun storage and looking at other avenues to be able to prevent that from happening."

State legislators have increased funding this year for expanding mental and behavioral health resources for children, youths and families, as well as funding for a partnership with the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network.

Disclosure: Annie E Casey Foundation contributes to our fund for reporting on Children's Issues, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, Education, Juvenile Justice, Welfare Reform. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

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…

 

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