KIDS COUNT Data Book rank is lowest for Arkansas since 2003

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas' rank among states for child well-being has declined for the first time in four years, to 47th place. Only Alabama and Mississippi rank lower in the 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book, which was released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The Data Book assesses the well-being of children in areas of education, health and family structure. Arkansas ranks in the bottom 10 states in nine out of 10 indicators of child well-being. This year, the state dropped in rankings in every indicator except teen birth rate, which went up one place to 46. Child poverty continued to increase; one in four children under the age of 18 lives in poverty in Arkansas.

"Hearing that Arkansas regressed in these important indicators of how our children are faring is disappointing," said Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. "Persistent child poverty continues to hold our children and families back across a number of indicators. It's more important than ever to help improve child well-being and economic security of families-especially since this data was collected before the recession took hold."

The 2009 ranking of 47 is based on data from 2006 and 2007. Arkansas has maintained a ranking between 44 and 45 since a low of 47 in the 2003 Data Book, which is based on data from 2000.

Access the 2009 Data Book at: datacenter.kidscount.org/databook. Printed copies are also available from AACF.

The 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book indicators for Arkansas show:

• Teen death rate tied for highest in nation: Nationally, Arkansas' teen death rate (deaths per 100,000 teens ages 15 to 19) tied with Arizona for the highest rate. The teen death rate in Arkansas increased 4 percent, from 94 deaths per 100,000 teens in 2000 to 98 deaths per 100,000 teens in 2006.
• Arkansas ranks in the bottom 10 on nine of 10 indicators: Arkansas ranks 48th worst in the percent of children living in poverty; 47th worst in the percent of children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment; 46th worst in both the infant mortality and teen birth rates; 44th worst in both the child death rate and percent of teens not in school and not working; 42nd worst in percent of children in single-parent families; and 41st worst in the percent of low-birthweight babies.
• Arkansas sees some decreases in child deaths: The child death rate in Arkansas decreased 15 percent, from 33 deaths per 100,000 children ages 1 to 14 in 2000 to 28 deaths per 100,000 children in 2006.
• Rise in share of children without secure parental employment: The percentage of children in Arkansas living in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment increased by 18 percent, from 33 percent in 2000 to 39 percent in 2007-one of the highest rates nationally.
• Dropout rate continues to improve: The number of teens who are high school dropouts in Arkansas fell 42 percent between 2000 and 2007. However, because of faster improvement in other states, Arkansas' ranking dropped eight places from 15th in 2008 to 23rd best in 2009.

The state's teen death rate will hopefully decline in future years because of a graduated driver's licensing law passed by the 2009 Arkansas General Assembly, said Elisabeth Wright Burak, AACF's health policy director. Motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death in Arkansas teens between 1999 and 2005, Burak said. Similar restrictions on teen driving in other states have reduced teen deaths by as much as 38 percent.

Some birth and child health outcomes can be improved by reducing the number of uninsured children and pregnant mothers in Arkansas, Burak said. As many as 20,000 uninsured children are expected to sign up for ARKids First because of an expansion approved by the Legislature this year.

Huddleston said AACF has several other recommendations for improving the economic self-sufficiency of Arkansas families. They include implementing a state earned income tax credit (EITC) similar to the federal tax credit of the same name that helps offset regressive taxes and gives an economic boost to families who work for a living. Arkansas' most vulnerable families pay 12 cents in taxes on every dollar they earn compared to 6 cents on the dollar for the richest 1 percent of Arkansans.

The Data Book's results also make the work of the newly created Legislative task force on Reducing Poverty and Promoting Economic Opportunity more important than ever, Huddleston said. The task force should begin meeting this summer and plans to examine ways to reduce poverty in Arkansas.

The KIDS COUNT Data Book's essay this year focused on how good data is critical to improving the lives of children. In the essay, Douglas W. Nelson, president and CEO of The Annie E. Casey Foundation, highlighted Arkansas' education data system as a model for other states. He said it "possesses all 10 elements considered essential for effective educational planning by the Data Quality Campaign," a national effort to use high-quality education data to boost student achievement.