New Mexico stalled at 49th in annual Kids Count ranking

Thanks largely to its vigorous implementation of Obamacare, California has jumped from 26 to 14 in state-by-state rankings of children’s health wellbeing compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

In 2013, New Mexico’s overall ranking was 50th, but improved in 2014 to 49th, where the state remains. Mississippi ranked lowest.

A new report on child welfare that found more USA children living in poverty than before the Great Recession belies the fanfare of the nation’s economic turnaround. “The data shows that there are way too many kids living in families with income that has stagnated”.

An annual report on the well-being of American children finds an increasing number living in poverty even as the nation’s economy continues to recover from the 2008 recession.

About 22 percent of the nation’s children – about 16 million – live in poverty, according to the report.

McCarthy likened child poverty to a “particularly pernicious form of cancer”, and he prescribed a cocktail of economic policies and fixes to tackle it. “When our children aren’t doing well, it’s an indication that our whole state isn’t doing well”. “Preschool is a long-term investment”.

Minnesota recorded 258 deaths among residents aged 1 to 19 that year – the lowest total in at least two decades – and said just 5 percent of teens aged 13 to 17 abused drugs that year, a decline from 9 percent five years earlier.

The state also has 85,000 children who do not have health insurance, the release said, and Tennessee’s rate of uninsured children only dropped 1 percent from 2008 to 2013 while the national average dropped 3 percent. Fifteen percent of Nevada children didn’t have health insurance, compared with the nation-best 2 percent in Massachusetts.

“It’s disheartening to see New Mexico still ranked so low in child well-being”, said Veronica C. García, executive director of New Mexico Voices For Children, which is the Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT grantee for the state. We have more children living in poverty, and more parents lacking secure employment than we did in 2008. “The good news is when we’ve invested in the right strategies and polices – like ARKids First in Arkansas – we have made a difference for kids”.

The Casey Foundation is a philanthropic group that seeks to enable underprivileged children to overcome hardships in pursuit of a brighter future.

“We know what works – ensuring that children have the high-quality care and learning experiences in the early years to support robust brain development, ensuring they can see a doctor and have enough nutritious food, and providing our schools and educators with the resources they need to do their jobs properly”.