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: TX Lags Behind Most States for Child Well-Being

play audio
Play

Wednesday, June 19, 2019   

AUSTIN, Texas – Compared with other states, Texas remains in the bottom 10 for the well-being of its children, according to a new report.

The annual Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation uses 16 indicators to rank states in four areas: health, education, economic well-being, and family and community. For 2019, the report ranks Texas 41st in the nation for overall child well-being.

Frances Deviney, chief executive of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, said her organization fights an uphill battle against a lack of state funding for children's issues.

"What we've seen over the last 30 years of this report being done is that Texas has consistently fallen, if not in the bottom third and most of the time in the bottom 10," she said, "and for the most part, we continue to be in the bottom for children's well-being across the country."

The report ranks Texas 39th in terms of economic well-being, with 1.5 million children living in poverty. It's ranked 30th in education, based in part on a low high-school graduation rate; 47th in the category of "family and community," for a lack of policies that support children and families; and 39th in health, for having one of the highest rates of uninsured children in the country.

Deviney said the report points to a few small but significant bright spots for Texas kids.

"We've actually seen a big decline in the poverty rate, particularly over the last 10 years," she said. "It used to be one of every four kids lived in poverty; now, it's one of every five. It's still 1.5 million kids living in families who are struggling to make ends meet, but it's moving in the right direction."

Leslie Boissiere, the Casey Foundation's vice president for external affairs, said lawmakers need to provide the tools proven to help families lift themselves up economically. She said federal and state earned-income tax credits and child tax-credit programs allow working parents to devote more take-home pay to meet their children's needs.

"Last year alone, 6 million people benefited from the credit," she said. "It's a proven program that allows families to have more access to the wages that they earn, and that allows them to provide more for their children."

Boissiere said it's also important to get an accurate census count in 2020. She said 55 major federal programs allocate more than $880 billion a year based on census data.

The Data Book is online at aecf.org/databook, and Texas data is here.

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