Session Date: August 18, 2005
Annual Meeting Session Summary: Strengthening Low-Income Families and Neighborhoods
By Katy Johansson
Communications Officer, Washington Senate Democratic Caucus
This summary is provided for information purposes only. NCSL does not endorse any views it contains.
SEATTLE - More kids are finishing high school. The teen birth rate is dropping. And fewer children live in single-parent households.
But 4 million children -- an increase of more than 1 million since 2000 -- live with parents who face persistent unemployment and poverty.
These are among the findings of the latest Kids Count Data Book, a report released in July by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and discussed at the National Conference of State Legislatures' 2005 Annual Meeting.
The book, in its 16th year, tracks the well-being of children and families in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. According to this edition, the well-being of children in the United States appears no longer to be improving in most areas, as it was toward the end of the 1990s.
Half a million more children were living in poverty in 2003 than 2000, for a total of close to 13 million.
"These families deserve the highest priority attention from lawmakers in the next few years," said Douglas Nelson, president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) in Baltimore. "The focus needs to be on continuing to find ways to make work work for parents.
Obstacles to employment success include abusive domestic relationships, untreated depression, substance abuse and prior incarceration, Nelson said. But no one barrier prevents work. Rather, it's the cumulative effect of multiple burdens that limits success in the work force.
The report outlined some solutions, including: linking domestic violence screening to other services offered by caseworkers; culturally sensitive screening and counseling for adults with mental health issues; improving the employment skills of adults with substance abuse problems while they recover from their addiction; and providing training and placement assistance for people returning from prison to help them secure maintenance and repair service jobs within state and local government agencies.
The report looks at 10 indicators: percent of low-birth weight babies; infant mortality rate; child death rate; teen death rate; teen birth rate; percent of teens who are high school dropouts; percent of teens not attending school and not working; percent of children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment; percent of children in poverty; and percent of children in single-parent households.
Since 1948, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has worked to build better futures for disadvantaged children and their families in the United States. The primary mission is to foster public policies, human services reforms and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today's vulnerable children and families.
NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the states, commonwealths and territories. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system.
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