Agenda for Children: ALERTS

Agenda for Children Releases 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book on Louisiana's Children

New Orleans, LA, December 2, 2009—A new report released today finds that race and place are two of the most important predictors of child well-being in Louisiana. The 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book on Louisiana’s Children, produced by Agenda for Children, presents and analyzes information on over fifty different measures of child well-being in each of Louisiana’s 64 parishes. The report documents critical statistics related to children’s health, demographics, education, child care, child welfare, and juvenile justice.

The Data Book focuses on the roles that both race and place play in child well-being in Louisiana. The quality and availability of housing, schools, job opportunities, and health care all combine to define a child’s environment, for better or worse. As the report reveals, children of color are more likely to grow up in distressed neighborhoods that can limit opportunities available to young people and their families. The data show that African American children in Louisiana are more likely than their white peers to experience a host of negative outcomes ranging from being born preterm to dropping out of high school. “Despite the victories of Civil Rights legislation more than four decades ago, we continue to see shocking racial disparities in some of our most basic measures of child well-being, including infant mortality rates and child poverty,” said Judy Watts, President/CEO of Agenda for Children. “As a society that values equity, it is imperative that Louisiana actively pursue policies and practices that lift up all our children. When decisions are made and policies are created, ask first, ‘Is it good for the children?’”

Key findings in the Data Book include:

Family Economics

One out of every four Louisiana children lives in poverty.
Child poverty rates vary widely across the state. The child poverty rate in East Carroll Parish (56%) is 3.7 times as large as the child poverty rate in St. Tammany Parish (15%).

Education

Louisiana has made significant progress toward ensuring that more children enter kindergarten ready for school. Enrollment in pre-kindergarten in public schools increased by 57% between the 2000-2001 school year and the 2008-2009 school year, rising from 21,290 students to 33,438 students. In 2008, the National Institute for Early Education Research’s State of Preschool report ranked Louisiana 12th in the nation in terms of providing four year-olds with access to publicly-funded preschool programs.
A majority of public school students come from low-income families in all but eight of Louisiana’s parishes. In the 2008-2009 school year, the percentage of students who were eligible for free or reduced lunch ranged from a low of 43% in Bossier and St. Tammany parishes to a high of 94% in Tensas Parish.

Health

Louisiana has improved since 2001 in access to adequate prenatal care. In 2001, 79% of all births were to women who received adequate prenatal care, while the same was true of 85% of births in 2006. Despite the overall improvement, rates vary widely by both geography and race. In Acadia, the worst-ranked parish, only 67% of births in 2006 were to women who received adequate prenatal care. By contrast, 97% of La Salle Parish births in 2006 were to women who received adequate prenatal care. Statewide, white women were more likely than black women to have received adequate prenatal care. In 2006, 89% of births to white women were to mothers who had received adequate prenatal care, while the same was true of just 79% of births to black women.
After many years of continuous improvements, Louisiana’s teen birth rate rose between 2005 and 2006, increasing from 50 to 55 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19. With 99 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19, the teen birth rate in Red River Parish (the worst-ranked parish) was three times as large as the rate in Lincoln Parish (the best-ranked parish).

Child Welfare

The number of valid child abuse and neglect allegations in Louisiana increased by 22% between fiscal year 2005 and fiscal year 2007, rising from 13,999 to 17,098 allegations. Nearly all of the rise was caused by a large increase in the number of valid neglect allegations during this time. In FY 2007, three out of every four valid child abuse and neglect allegations involved neglect. Physical abuse accounted for 17% of allegations, while sexual abuse allegations comprised 5% of all valid child abuse & neglect allegations.

Juvenile Justice

Since the beginning of the century, Louisiana has experienced a dramatic decrease in the number of youth who are in the custody or under the supervision of the Office of Juvenile Justice. The number of youth in secure custody declined from 1,485 youth in 2000 to 486 youth in 2007.

“In these difficult financial times, it is more important than ever that Louisiana invest in a brighter future for our children,” said Watts. “The data show that we were already failing too many Louisiana children even before the recession pushed more families into poverty. We urge decision-makers in state and local governments to protect children’s needs during difficult budget decisions.”

Hard copies of the Data Book can be obtained by contacting Agenda for Children. The full report can also be downloaded in its entirety at the Agenda for Children web site. Data on Louisiana’s children is also available through the KIDS COUNT Data Center, which allows users to map data, chart trends over time, and rank parishes. The Data Center also allows users to add “widgets” that show live charts, rankings or maps on their own web sites.

2009 KIDS COUNT: A Look at Well-Being and Opportunities for Louisiana’s Kids

Louisiana ranks 49th nationally in a new state-by-state study on the well-being of America's children. The 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book reveals that since 2000, Louisiana improved on 4 of the 10 measures affecting child well-being. Yet on 5 other measures, conditions worsened for Louisiana's kids, and on one measure conditions remained unchanged. The 20th annual Data Book also contains the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s essay, which focuses on the country’s progress in keeping track of children’s well-being.

This year’s Data Book is complemented by the expanded KIDS COUNT Data Center, an online interactive database that contains hundreds of measures of child well-being covering national, state, county, and city information. To access information for Louisiana go to datacenter.kidscount.org/la.

Louisiana ranks in the bottom 10 on nine of 10 indicators.
Nationally, Louisiana ranked 49th on six key measures of child well-being, including the percent of low-birthweight babies, the infant mortality rate, the percent of teens ages 16 to 19 who are not in school and not working, the percent of children without secure parental employment, the percent of children in poverty, and the percent of children in single-parent families.

Child death rate drops.
The child death rate in Louisiana decreased 24 percent, from 34 deaths per 100,000 children ages 1 to 14 in 2005 to 26 deaths per 100,000 children in 2006. Despite this decline, Louisiana’s child death rate remained above the national average of 19 deaths per 100,000 children ages 1 to 14.

Teen birth rate rises.
After decreasing between 2000 and 2005, Louisiana’s teen birth rate climbed from 49 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19 in 2005 to 54 births per 1,000 in 2006. Between 2005 and 2006, the national teen birth rate had a much smaller increase—from 40 to 42 births per 1,000.

Child poverty remains persistently high.
In 2007, more than one quarter (27%) of children in Louisiana were living in poverty. Child poverty is at the same level in Louisiana as it was in 2000, and remains much higher than the national average of 18 percent. In Louisiana, about 283,000 children were poor in 2007.

To read the full report, please visit the national KIDS COUNT website. For more information, read the Louisiana press release or the Louisiana fact sheet. For more information, or to request a copy of the report, please contact Judy Watts or Teresa Falgoust at 504-586-8509.