SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Dual reports featuring new data on child outcomes reveal persistent health inequalities among children in Illinois.

The 2020 Illinois KIDS COUNT report, released in conjunction with the national 2020 KIDS COUNT Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, shows that roughly 30,000 more Illinois kids were uninsured in 2018 compared with 2016.

Bill Byrnes, KIDS COUNT project manager with Voices for Illinois Children - Powered by YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, explained there also was a higher percentage of children of color without health insurance than white children.

"When you look at the percentage of kids who are Black who are uninsured, their rate is 3.9%. For Latinx kids, it's 4.4%," Byrnes said. "And when you look at white children, by way of contrast, their rate of uninsured is 2.7%."

Other disparities uncovered in the health report include infant mortality among Black infants was two times the state rate, and blood lead levels were at their highest among Black children.

The Casey Foundation's 2020 Kids Count Data Book looks at 16 indicators of child well-being, and Illinois' overall national ranking slipped from 23rd to 24th in the last year.

Byrnes said the national Data Book examines factors long considered important social determinants of health, such as high housing cost burden, educational achievement and single-parent households. And he said economic inequalities persist.

"The rate of child poverty was 19% in 2010 and it decreased to 16% in 2018," he said. "Even though that's a good decrease, there's still in 2018, 457,000 kids in the state who live in poverty."

Byrnes contends policymakers will need to consider some of the issues outlined in the report, especially in terms of the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said this includes mandating that state agencies collect data broken down by race and ethnicity and increasing the availability of community-based mental-health services.

"We would also argue that we need to provide more economic supports to children and their families whether that's in the form of direct cash payments, increases in food stamps, utility assistance, rental and mortgage assistance, and so on," he said.

The national 2020 Kids Count Data Book noted the pandemic has had a negative effect on kids, and the foundation will continue to monitor child well-being outcomes as the nation recovers.


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Tasks like packing a suitcase for summer travel may be difficult for some Illinois children.

Experts said parents and caregivers can help kids over the summer with the skills known as "executive functions." Adults can be alert to a child's difficulties with their ability to adjust thinking and stay on task, as well as impulse control.

Katie Gleason, director of children's mental health consultation for the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, said plenty can be done during the summer months to help prepare children for the next school year, not necessarily with assigning homework.

"It's play-based, it's relationships, it's routines," Gleason outlined. "Another thing is making sure we're breaking down big tasks into smaller steps; working on a puzzle, you can help them identify the steps."

Gleason noted rapid growth in executive function skills for children takes place from ages 3 to 5, and then again in adolescence and early adulthood. Gleason said the YMCA is one place to learn more about executive function and what adults can do to encourage these skills.

"An air traffic control system at a busy airport" is how Harvard's Center on the Developing Child refers to executive function skills, and it said they are critical to healthy development.

Gleason agreed, and cautioned parents and caregivers not to blame a child for poor behavior when it may be connected to what is developmentally appropriate.

"If we shift our way of thinking and saying, 'Oh, this child can't do this,'" Gleason urged. "Instead, we need to be thinking as adults, and as education and care systems, 'What are we doing to help the child develop?'"

Reflection Sciences offers a play-based screening tool to assess levels of executive function skills in children. The results can help parents and teachers follow up with strategies tailored to their child's developmental level.


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The last day of school for Texas kids is typically one of elation, but for children in rural areas with high poverty rates, it also can mean isolation, hunger and falling behind academically. The global nonprofit, Save the Children encourages parents to learn more about programs offered through its "Make Summer Fair" initiative.

Claudia Vargas, Texas director for Save the Children, said the 90-day break from the school routine can be hardest on kids who need the most help.

"Summer can mean no more access to books, regular meals, art supplies - and end of exercising and playing with other friends until the next school year comes," she said.

Families can learn more about programs offered in their area to help kids through SavetheChildren.org/MakeSummerFair.

Shane Garver, senior director of national field operations for U.S. Programs and Advocacy, said excitement about the school year's end can produce anxiety for children who live outside of cities.

"We know at Save the Children that while poverty affects millions of children across the U.S. - it's strongest grip is on the lives of children in rural communities, as rural child poverty is higher than urban areas in 40 states," Garver explained.

Vargas added in a state as large as Texas, there is a dramatic variability in "Summer Learning Loss" or SLL, but it is has been shown that kids can lose up to 34% of what they learned during the prior school year.

"Children in low-income families are affected by the summer slide. When you lose learning during the summer in ways that can affect them years into their education and in rural communities, the impact can be higher," Vargas said.

Vargas cites one study that showed 75% of students with a failing grade point average were food insecure, compared with 42% of students with a GPA equivalent to an "A".

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is brushing off calls to investigate the effect its social media platforms have on children's mental health.

Last week shareholders rejected a proposal to hire an independent law firm to evaluate the effectiveness of Meta's audit and risk oversight committee.

The resolution alleges the company regularly breaks pledges to remove content harmful to children.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten spoke out in favor of the resolution.

"In classrooms and communities across the country," said Weingarten, "AFT members are witnessing firsthand the impact of students suffering from anxiety, bullying, trauma, body dysmorphia and the eating disorders - as a direct result of exposure to images on Instagram, as well as the violence glorified on Meta's platforms."

Meta's proxy statement advised a "no" vote, saying the company already prohibits harmful content and provides parents tools to monitor their children's activity online.

Last week the U.S. Surgeon General issued a 19 page advisory on adolescent social media use, saying it is predictive of a decrease in life satisfaction for girls 11 to 13 years old and boys 14 to 15.

Weingarten is a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council. The labor organization's pension fund holds significant shares in the company, and it introduced the resolution at last week's Meta shareholder's meeting.

She said we need more clarity on what Meta is doing to protect children.

"While Meta's audit and risk oversight committee is charged with evaluating risks," said Weingarten, "shareholders have no idea how the committee operates, what information it considers or whether it just cedes its authority entirely to CEO Mark Zuckerberg."

The White House recently called for changes, alleging that Meta uses "manipulative design techniques embedded in their products to promote addictive and compulsive use by young people to generate more revenue."

The Federal Trade Commission is calling for a ban on collecting young children's data.