• Kids Count 2011 report shows children on Medicaid, food assistance doubled in past decade in Southwest Michigan, By Fritz Krug, January 24, 2012, Kalamazoo Gazette: “More children are living in poverty in Southwest Michigan than a decade ago, and the number receiving Medicaid and the Food Assistance Program (food stamps) has nearly doubled over the last 10 years in four counties in the region. The findings are part of the annual Kids Count in Michigan Data Book, released today by the Michigan League for Human Services…”
• Many Michigan kids living in poverty, report finds, By Robin Erb, January 24, 2012, Detroit Free Press: “Fewer Michigan teens are having babies or dropping out of school, and educational benchmarks for some of the state’s youngest students have improved, according to the new Kids Count report. Still, more of Michigan’s families continue to slip into poverty, threatening the health and future of the state’s youngest residents, according to the annual measure of the well-being of the state’s children. More than 1 in 10 children live in extreme poverty — twice as many as a decade ago, according to the report, which draws from several sources, according to the Kids Count in Michigan project at the Michigan League for Human Services, an advocacy group for poor people in Michigan…”
• Kids Count: Nearly half of Michigan students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, By Dave Murray, January 24, 2012, Grand Rapids Press: “Nearly half of Michigan’s students now qualify for free or reduced-priced school lunches, a sign that any economic recovery has not filtered down to the state’s youngest residents, according to a report from two children’s advocacy organizations. The Kids Count in Michigan report also finds that the number of children living in poverty has jumped from 14 percent to 23 percent between 2000 and 2009, and that the number of children in extreme poverty has more than doubled, reaching 11 percent at the end of the decade. But advocates said there is good amid the economic statistics. Teen pregnancies are declining, as are the number of students dropping out of school. Death rates also are slowing, though children are experience more chronic illnesses…”
• Recession affecting Michigan, Great Lakes Bay Region children, Kids Count data shows, By Kathryn Lynch-Morin, January 24, 2012, Saginaw News: “Today’s release of Kids Count in Michigan data paints a bleak picture of kids’ well-being in the Great Lakes Bay Region. More children are living in poverty in Saginaw and Bay counties than were in 2005, and rates of abuse and neglect have increased in both counties over the course of the decade, the report shows…”

Kansas Gov. Brownback to review state’s food stamp policy, By Laura Bauer, January 25, 2012, Kansas City Star: “Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said Tuesday that he would review a new policy that has eliminated food stamps for hundreds of low-income children who are U.S. citizens but whose parents are illegal immigrants. The Star reported Sunday how the new way the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services counts income for food stamp eligibility has affected families across Kansas. Since the new policy went into effect Oct. 1, more than 1,000 households have lost their food stamps. Many said they had relied heavily on benefits provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Brownback told reporters Tuesday that he would look into the new policy and talk to SRS workers in the field to see how families have been affected. Advocates for low-income families were encouraged by Brownback’s words, although the governor’s spokeswoman said no changes are planned…”

Kansas slashes food aid for children of illegal immigrants, By Laura Bauer, January 22, 2012, Kansas City Star: “Pedro moved to the Kansas City area about 13 years ago and has held the same job for 11. Though he sometimes struggles to pay bills, he knows most people think he should receive no public aid. He’s an illegal immigrant. He doesn’t deserve handouts. He understands that. ‘I’ve never asked for anything for myself,’ said Pedro, who didn’t want his last name used to protect his family. ‘Never. I just work. Work hard.’ A new debate swirling around Kansas, though, isn’t about Pedro. It’s about two of his three children. They were born here, and one day they will have driver’s licenses and the right to vote, just like any other U.S. citizen. Early last year, when they needed food assistance, they got it. Pedro’s family received nearly $300 a month in food stamps. Enough to buy milk, eggs and meat, fruit and yogurt. Now, they get nothing. Neither do hundreds of other Kansas families who, like Pedro’s, are a mix of undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens. At a time when Gov. Sam Brownback has vowed to reduce child poverty, the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services - a state agency the governor controls - made a policy change that eliminated food stamps for hundreds of low-income U.S. children whose parents are illegal immigrants. For more households, benefits were reduced…”

• U.S. teen pregnancy rate remains highest in developed world, By Shari Roan, January 19, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “Teen pregnancy rates in the United States have fallen in recent years, but the country still has a higher rate than any other developed country, according to data released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Battles over how to best prevent teen pregnancy may be to blame for the continued high rate in the United States. Abstinence-only programs are favored in some areas while education and improved access to contraception are supported in others. The most recent controversy stemmed from the federal government’s refusal in December to allow emergency contraceptive pills to be sold over-the-counter to girls age 16 and younger…”
• CDC: Many teen moms didn’t think it could happen, By Mike Stobbe (AP), January 19, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle: “A new government study suggests a lot of teenage girls are clueless about their chances of getting pregnant. In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn’t use birth control said the reason was they didn’t believe they could pregnant. Why they thought that isn’t clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey didn’t ask teens to explain. But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn’t get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn’t think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile…”
• Roanoke’s teen pregnancy rate plunges 32%, By Courtney Cutright, January 20, 2012, Roanoke Times: “Roanoke’s rate of teen pregnancies dropped nearly 32 percent from 2009 to 2010, moving the city out of the top 10 localities in Virginia with the highest rates. Roanoke still ranks 12th in the state. But the city’s teen pregnancy rate for 2010 is one of the lowest since 1996, according to Virginia Department of Health statistics posted online recently…”

State steps up health care coverage for kids, By Deborah Barfield Berry, January 18, 2012, Montgomery Advertiser: “Alabama’s successful efforts to increase the number of children with health care coverage has made it a standout in the region, according to a national study released Wednesday. The study by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured lists Alabama among four states that are regional leaders in making gains in children’s health care. The others are Iowa, Massachusetts and Oregon. Alabama recognizes the importance of health care coverage for kids, said Trisha Brooks, a co-author of the report and a senior fellow at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families…”

Recession’s toll touches children, By Michael Martinez, January 14, 2012, Reno Gazette-Journal: “Heidi Lanini and her four kids live an austere life — by necessity. Lanini, 37, has lived in her southeast Reno apartment for eight years but hasn’t worked in six for a variety of reasons. These include health issues, the inability to find a new job as the economy soured and a lack of training in the technological skills required for her work. And then there are her kids, who require resources she has struggled to provide, leaving the children living on the edge, struggling with everyday life, school work and uncertainty about their futures. She and her family have survived on subsidized housing, food stamps, welfare and Medicare. Lanini’s family could be a portrait of a growing national trend described in a report on how the recession has affected families — particularly children. The report released by Washington, D.C.-based First Focus shows that Nevada children fared worse than American children overall on several key economic indicators of child well-being…”

India celebrates one year without polio cases, huge milestone in fight against disease, Associated Press, January 12, 2012, Washington Post: “India will celebrate a full year since its last reported case of polio on Friday, a major victory in a global eradication effort that seemed stalled just a few years ago. If no previously undisclosed cases of the crippling disease are discovered, India will no longer be considered polio endemic, leaving only Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria on that list. ‘This is a game changer in a huge way,’ said Bruce Aylward, head of the World Health Organization’s global polio campaign. The achievement gives a major morale boost to health advocates and donors who had begun to lose hope of ever defeating the stubborn disease that the world had promised to eradicate by 2000. It also helps India, which bills itself as one of the world’s emerging powers, shed the embarrassing link to a disease associated with poverty and chaos, one that had been conquered long ago by most of the globe…”

• Report: Even before birth, low-income children lag behind, By Erin Andersen, January 12, 2012, Lincoln Journal Star: “Before they are even born, children of low-income families lag behind their more economically stable peers in every way.  They hear fewer words. Have fewer developmentally stimulating experiences. Poorer nutrition, child care and health care.  They start kindergarten less ready than their wealthier counterparts, and they fall further behind as the years roll by. They are less likely to graduate from high school, less likely to attend college and less likely to land financially stable jobs. They are more likely to be arrested and jailed, to have babies as teenagers and to perpetuate the cycle of poverty from which they came, according to national and state data compiled in the 2011 Kids Count in Nebraska Report…”
• Report shows more kids in poverty, By Paul Goodsell, January 12, 2012, Omaha World-Herald: “A growing share of Nebraska’s children lives in poverty - a trend that has major implications for the state’s schools, workforce and future vitality, according to the latest Kids Count in Nebraska report. ‘Poverty really underscores so many different aspects of a child’s life,’ said Melissa Breazile, who wrote the report for Voices for Children in Nebraska, a statewide research and policy group. ‘It influences outcomes in all kinds of different indicator areas.’ As it has for the past 19 years, the group’s report provides a report card on how children fare in Nebraska. It includes statistics on subjects such as test scores, infant mortality and juvenile crime.  This year’s report outlines numerous challenges and urges Nebraska to invest in its future through programs that help children, especially in their early years…”

State efforts put more children on health insurance rolls, despite economic downturn, By N.C. Aizenman, December 27, 2011, Washington Post: “Publicly funded programs have enabled 1.2 million more children to gain health insurance since 2008 - at least in part due to extra work by many states to ensure that more of the children who are eligible for the programs are actually signed up, Obama administration officials plan to announce Wednesday. Twenty-three states are to be awarded federal performance bonuses totaling nearly $300 million for these efforts. Maryland and Virginia have qualified for the two largest amounts - $28.3 million and $26.7 million, respectively - under an incentive plan aimed at improving child enrollment rates in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP…”

Recession takes toll on Kansas kids, By Ann Marie Bush, December 15, 2011, Topeka Capital-Journal: “Data shows Kansas children are feeling the full impact of the recession, said Shannon Cotsoradis, president and chief executive officer of Kansas Action for Children. The Kansas Kids Count report, which is being released Thursday, measures county by county how children are doing across 25 health indicators of health, education and economic success, a news release from Kansas Action for Children states. Nearly one in five Kansas children is living in poverty, and more than 47 percent of public school children are participating in the free or reduced-priced school lunch program…”

Newark’s child poverty rate spikes 32 percent in 2009-10, By Jessica Calefati, December 16, 2011, Star-Ledger: “Newark has an unemployment rate nearly twice the national average, and a report on child welfare released Thursday shows joblessnes among adults has had an outsize effect on the city’s most vulnerable residents - its children. According to the report, produced annually by the non-profit Advocates for Children of New Jersey, the poverty rate among children in Newark exploded between 2009 and 2010, increasing by 32 percent. Statewide, the figure increased eight percent. Two of every five Newark kids now live below the federal poverty line, a rate higher than it’s been in the past eight years. For a family of four, that means a median household income of less than $22,000 a year…”

More custodial parents fall below poverty line as child support payment rates drop, By Marjorie Cortez, December 11, 2011, Deseret News: “A growing number of custodial parents fell below the poverty line in 2009 as fewer received the full amount of child support owed to them. A new Census Bureau report showed that nationwide, 41.2 percent of noncustodial parents received the full amount of child support owed them in 2009, down from 46.8 percent in 2007. The report, ‘Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2009,’ also found that the proportion of parents owed child support and received either full or partial payments fell from 76.3 percent to 70.8 percent over the same period…”

New U.S. data shows continuing drop in child abuse, By David Crary (AP), December 13, 2011, USA Today: “Fears that persisting economic woes would increase child abuse in the U.S. have proved unfounded, according to the latest federal data. A comprehensive new report, to be formally unveiled Wednesday, shows overall abuse and neglect figures declining slightly between 2008 and 2010, and child fatalities dropping by 8.5 percent during that span…”

Why the US teen birthrate hit a record low in 2010, By Jennifer Skalka Tulumello, December 12, 2011, Christian Science Monitor: “Increased use of birth control, and, some say, other wide-ranging variables such as abstinence-only education and a poor economy, are playing key roles in driving the US teen birthrate to a record low, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reported in November that the rate declined 9 percent from 2009 to 2010, with 34.3 births per 1,000 teens ages 15 to 19. That marks the largest single-year drop since 1946-47 - and the lowest level ever reported in the United States. Teenage birthrates have tracked a relatively steady downward trend since 1991, when the rate was 61.8 births per 1,000 teens. (The rates were 52.2 in 1981, 64.5 in 1971, and 88.6 in 1961.)…”

More and more, adoptions being made out of foster care, By Colleen O’Connor, October 25, 2011, Denver Post: “Images of children from distant countries, from Bulgaria to China to Russia, have been the public face of adoption in America. But that picture is overdue for an update. Most kids adopted by U.S. families now come from the child-welfare system: about 52,340 in 2010, up from 15,000 in 1988. In Colorado, the number has increased 125 percent to 1,044 in 2010 from 465 in 1995. The consensus is that it’s good to get children out of ‘the system.’ However, such adoptions can bring with them unanticipated physical and emotional challenges that require ongoing support…”

A deal to help foster youths find housing, By Mosi Secret, October 20, 2011, New York Times: “New York City has reached an agreement on a proposed settlement of a lawsuit that claims the city allows older children to leave foster care only to become immediately homeless. Each year, roughly 800 to 1,100 people age 18 to 21 are discharged from foster care to fend for themselves, the plaintiffs complained in the class-action suit. There is no current data on the youths’ housing after foster care, but previously the city’s Department of Homeless Services and the City Council estimated that more than a quarter of youths discharged from foster care because of their age end up homeless almost immediately, according to the complaint, which accuses the city of shirking its responsibilities to those youths…”

• W.Va. is only state with rising teen birthrate, By Megan Workman, October 18, 2011, Charleston Gazette: “Teenage birthrates decreased in every state in the country from 2007 through 2009 except in West Virginia, which saw a 17 percent increase, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Statistics from the Natality Data File in the National Vital Statistics System showed that the teenage birthrate declined 8 percent in the United States from 2007 through 2009, the most recent data available. The nation’s teen birthrate reached its lowest in 70 years, at 39.1 births per 1,000 teens ages 15 to 19, according to the CDC. West Virginia’s 15- to 19-year-old population’s birthrate has steadily been on the rise, as the 2009 rate was 49.7 births per 1,000 teenagers…”
• Milwaukee’s teen birthrate plunges for second straight year, By Karen Herzog, October 12, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Milwaukee’s teen birthrate plunged by 5.6 births per 1,000 teens last year, keeping the city well ahead of the pace needed to reach its goal of being in line with the state rate by 2015. This is the second year in a row that Milwaukee’s rate has dropped dramatically. From 2008 to 2009, the rate fell from 46.73 births per 1,000 teens to 41.30 births per 1,000. The preliminary data released Tuesday shows a drop to 35.68 in 2010. The city counts births between ages 15 and 17…”

• Experimental malaria vaccine protects many children, study shows, By Rob Stein, October 18, 2011, Washington Post: “An experimental malaria vaccine has for the first time been shown to safely protect large numbers of children against the mosquito-borne scourge, researchers reported Tuesday. The eagerly awaited study involving more than 15,000 newborns and babies in seven African countries found the vaccine cut the risk of being infected with the malaria parasite by about half and the chances of getting deathly ill from an infection by more than a third. While far below the protection provided by many widely used vaccines for other diseases, the results were hailed as a major advance toward one of the most elusive goals in medicine…”
• Malaria vaccine could save hundreds of thousands, By Stephen Adams, October 18, 2011, The Telegraph: “The pan-African trial in 6,000 children aged five to 17 months found the vaccine reduced the numbers infected with the most serious form of malaria by 56 per cent, in the 12 months after vaccination, compared to those who did not receive the jab. It also reduced the number of severe malaria cases by 47 per cent. As little as a decade ago vaccine experts considered the challenge of tackling the mosquito-borne infection impossible. But scientists on the project said the results proved that ‘innovation and a lot of hard work’ paid off in the end…”

Tackling infant mortality rates among blacks, By Timothy Williams, October 14, 2011, New York Times: “Amanda Ralph is the kind of woman whose babies are prone to die. She is young and poor and dropped out of school after the ninth grade. But there is also an undeniable link between Ms. Ralph’s race - she is black - and whether her baby will survive: nationally, black babies are more than twice as likely as white babies to die before the age of 1. Here in Pittsburgh, the rate is five times. So, seven months into her first pregnancy, Ms. Ralph, 20, is lying on a couch at home as a nurse from a federally financed program listens to the heartbeat of her fetus. The unusual attention Ms. Ralph is receiving is one of myriad efforts being made nationwide to reduce the tens of thousands of deaths each year of infants before age 1. But health officials say it is frequently disheartening work, as a combination of apathy and cuts to federal and state programs aimed at reducing infant deaths have hampered progress, with dozens of big cities and rural areas reporting rising rates…”

New study says Shelby County is best place in Alabama to be a kid, By Kim Chandler, September 27, 2011, Birmingham News: “Shelby County is the best place to be a child in Alabama, according to a study ranking indicators of child well-being. The 2010 Kids Count Data Book ranked Shelby No. 1 in the state in a survey weighing factors such as births to unmarried teens, children in single-parent families, child poverty and the high school graduation rate. Shelby County was followed by Blount, Lee, Limestone, Cleburne, St. Clair and Madison as top counties in the state. Dallas County, in the poverty-stricken Black Belt, ranked last in the state…”

• Poor countries lead in mother, child spending, Associated Press, September 20, 2011, La Crosse Tribune: “Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal and some of the world’s other poorest countries delivered not only money but new services in the year since U.N. member states pledged more than $40 billion to save the lives of mothers and children, a new study of the spending said Tuesday. The spending report was released at a high-level event chaired by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has made raising money for the health of mothers and their children a special project. Ban told a gathering at U.N. headquarters that when he was born in 1944 in South Korea, child mortality was so prevalent that families often waited months to register births to make certain babies would survive…”
• WHO report hails efforts to curb maternal deaths, By Sarah Boseley, September 19, 2011, The Guardian: “One year on from a major UN meeting to tackle the deaths of women and babies in childbirth, 44 of the world’s poorest countries have made major commitments to the cause, totalling nearly $11bn (£7bn), according to a progress report. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, called the meeting a year ago because of sluggish progress towards two of the UN millennium development goals - reducing maternal and child mortality. More than $40bn was pledged for a range of strategies from donor governments, the private sector, NGOs and philanthropists. The one-year assessment from the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) of the World Health Organisation highlights progress in the worst-affected countries. Low-income countries made the highest number of commitments overall…”

Child abuse rose during recession, research says, By Lindsey Tanner (AP), September 19, 2011, Houston Chronicle: “An increase in child abuse, mostly in infants, is linked with the recent recession in new research that raises fresh concerns about the impact of the nation’s economic woes. The results are in a study of 422 abused children from mostly lower-income families, known to face greater risks for being abused, and the research involved just 74 counties in four states. But lead author Dr. Rachel Berger of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh said the results confirm anecdotal reports from many pediatricians who’ve seen increasing numbers of shaken baby cases and other forms of brain-injuring abuse. Berger decided to study this type of injury, known as abusive head trauma, after noticing an increase at her own hospital from late 2007 through June 2009. Her hospital averaged 30 cases per year during those recession years versus 17 yearly before 2007…”

• Childcare costs force poorest families into debt, September 7, 2001, The Guardian: “Britain’s poorest families are getting into debt because of the high cost of childcare, while a third are turning down jobs and 40% are considering leaving work because they cannot afford to pay for someone to look after their children, according to research. Parents spend almost a third of their incomes on childcare - more than anywhere else in the world, according to a study by Save the Children and the Daycare Trust. For four out of 10 families the cost of childcare is on a par with mortgage or rent payments, the study showed. Of those families in severe poverty, nearly half have cut back on food to afford childcare and 58% said they were, or would be, no better off working once childcare was paid for. The research found that parents, regardless of income, cannot afford not to work but struggle to pay for childcare, and despite many parents cutting back their spending almost a quarter are in debt because of childcare costs…”
• Childcare costs put parents in debt, survey concludes, September 6, 2011, BBC News: “Nearly a quarter of UK parents questioned in a survey by the Daycare Trust and Save the Children say the cost of childcare has put them in debt. The survey of 4,359 parents found 58% had cut spending on other essentials like clothing, heating and other bills. Nearly two-thirds said they could not afford not to work, but struggled to pay for childcare. Four out of 10 families surveyed said the cost of childcare was on a par with their mortgage or rent. The study suggests the cost of childcare has the greatest consequences for the poorest families…”

Nebraska audit blasts child welfare services, By Grant Schulte (AP), September 7, 2011, Houston Chronicle: “Nebraska’s effort to privatize child welfare services increased costs by 27 percent in a two-year period and led to millions of dollars in overpayments to a provider that has since gone out of business, according to a state audit released Wednesday. Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley told a legislative panel that the Department of Health and Human Services failed to publicly bid multi-million dollar contracts with private service providers, and spent thousands of dollars on duplicate claims and payments to the wrong contractors. The audit was part of a legislative review of the rising costs and instability within Nebraska’s child welfare system. The state began to privatize services in 2009, handing cases of neglected and abused children over to contractors. Three of the five providers have since dropped or lost their contracts as caseloads and costs grew unsustainable…”

Aging America: Grandparents stepping in to help grandkids as families struggle in bad economy, Associated Press, August 26, 2011, Washington Post: “America is swiftly becoming a granny state. Less frail and more involved, today’s grandparents are shunning retirement homes and stepping in more than ever to raise grandchildren while young adults struggle in the poor economy. The newer grandparents are mainly baby boomers who are still working, with greater disposable income. Now making up 1 in 4 adults, grandparents are growing at twice the rate of the overall population and sticking close to family - if their grandkids aren’t already living with them. Grandparents in recent decades have often filled in for absent parents who were ill or battled addiction, or were sent to prison. The latest trend of grandparent involvement, reflected in census figures released Thursday, is now being driven also by the economy and the graying U.S. population, including the 78 million boomers born between 1946 and 1964 who began turning 65 this year…”

Benefits for severely disabled children scrutinized, By Jenny Gold, August 18, 2011, National Public Radio: “To those who believe the federal Supplemental Security Income program for severely disabled children is a lifesaver and not a boondoggle, Hulston Poe is a great example. The 4-year-old was diagnosed with severe ADHD last October, after more than a year of violent temper tantrums, and kicked out of preschool. Case workers said there wasn’t much they could do for him. ‘We were at a standstill,’ says his mother, Suzanne Poe, who was scraping by as a single parent of two in Des Moines, Iowa. Then doctors recommended that she enroll her son in the SSI program this year, and everything changed. A monthly check of $674 helps pay for Hulston’s day care, a private tutor and medicines. Perhaps most importantly, the program made Hulston newly eligible for Medicaid, the joint state-federal health insurance program for the poor. He gained access to the doctors he needed…”

• National report says Minnesota is No. 2 in child health and well-being, By Richard Chin, August 17, 2011, Pioneer Press.
• Minnesota, North Dakota rank high for kids’ well-being, By Ryan Johnson, August 18, 2011, Fargo-Moorhead Forum.
• Report: 36% of Michigan kids live in jobless households, By Karen Bouffard, August 17, 2011, Detroit News.
• More kids in region live in poverty, according to Kids Count report, By Deborah Yetter, August 17, 2011, Louisville Courier-Journal.
• Children’s well-being ranked 31st in nation, By Angela Mapes Turner, August 17, 2011, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
• Annual report: Recession took a toll on kids, By Erin Andersen, August 17, 2011, Lincoln Journal Star.

• Survey: New Jersey is among the best states to raise and educate kids, By Megan DeMarco, August 17, 2011, Star-Ledger.
• NH still No. 1 in child well-being, but poverty up, By Kathy McCormack (AP), August 17, 2011, Boston Globe.
• Kids Count: RI children affected by unemployment, foreclosures, By Kimberley Donoghue, August 17, 2011, Providence Business News.
• Study: Economy hurting children, Kids Count Data Book shows Pennsylvania fared worse in several categories, By Andrew M. Seder, August 17, 2011, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.
• Study: Md. child poverty among lowest in U.S.; death rates higher, By Steve Kilar, August 17, 2011, Baltimore Sun.

• Tennessee kids’ well-being up, but poverty is, too, By Adam Tamburin, August 17, 2011, The Tennessean.
• Louisiana ranks 49th nationwide in child welfare survey, By Katy Reckdahl, August 17, 2011, New Orleans Times-Picayune.
• Report: Arkansas ranks 47th in nation in well-being of children, By John Lyon, August 17, 2011, Arkansas News.
• Alabama ranks 48th for child health, well-being in Annie E. Casey Foundation 2011 Kids Count data, By Jeff Hansen, August 17, 2011, Birmingham News.
• State last in child welfare, By Ellen Ciurczak, August 17, 2011, Hattiesburg American.
• Oklahoma ranks 43rd in child well-being, By Mike Averill, August 17, 2011, Tulsa World.
• Study finds one of every four Texas children lives in poverty, By Gary Scharrer, August 17, 2011, San Antonio Express-News.

• Unemployment, foreclosures drive more Utah families into poverty, By Brooke Adams, August 17, 2011, Salt Lake Tribune.
• Kids hit hard in recent economic downturn, By Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, August 17, 2011, Contra Costa Times.
• Arizona kids worse than most in poverty, health, foreclosure, By Mary K. Reinhart, August 17, 2011, Arizona Republic.
• Report: Wyoming children fared OK in recession, By Jackie Borchardt, August 16, 2011, Billings Gazette.
• Report: Economy taking toll on Colorado kids, By Barbara Cotter, August 16, 2011, Colorado Springs Gazette.
• Oregon third-worst for percentage of children with unemployed parents, By Richard Read, August 17, 2011, The Oregonian.
• Montana ranks worst in 5-state area for child health, By Charles S. Johnson, August 17, 2011, Billings Gazette.

• National study looks at impact of recession on children, finds poverty up in 38 states, By Cristina Silva (AP), August 17, 2011, Washington Post: “Karla Washington worries how she will afford new school uniforms for her five-year-old daughter. Washington, an undergraduate student, earns less than $11,000 a year from a part-time university job. The salary must cover food, rent, health care, child care and the occasional splurge on a Blue’s Clues item for her only child. ‘My biggest fear is not providing my daughter with everything that she needs to be a balanced child, to be independent, to be safe, to feel like she is of value,’ said Washington, 41. Washington’s economic woes are seen throughout Nevada, where the nation’s highest unemployment and foreclosure rates have combined to devastate families and empty neighborhoods and construction yards. A national study on child well-being to be published Wednesday found that child poverty increased in 38 states from 2000 to 2009. As a result, 14.7 million children, 20 percent, were poor in 2009. That represents a 2.5 million increase from 2000, when 17 percent of the nation’s youth lived in low-income homes…”
• Study: Child poverty up in 38 states in past decade, August 17, 2011, National Public Radio: “Nearly 15 million children, or 20 percent of America’s juvenile population, were living in poverty in 2009, according to a child welfare study released Wednesday. More than double that number were in households where no parent had a full-time year-round job, according to the report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which noted that the child poverty rate grew about 18 percent over the past decade. ‘This is really troubling because we had made so much progress in the 1990s in reducing the percentage of children in poverty,’ said Patrick McCarthy, the foundation’s president and CEO. ‘Essentially the recession has put us back to where we were in the early 1990s.’ In the foundation’s first examination of the impact of the recession on the nation’s children, researchers concluded that low-income children will likely suffer academically, economically and socially long after their parents have recovered. As a result, they are less likely to be gainfully employed as adults…”

Milwaukee-based researchers study prenatal exposure to toxins, By Kelly Hogan, August 15, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Scientists are learning that health is the function of genes and environment. The work of Milwaukee-based researchers suggests that this principle also applies to the health of a growing fetus and a premature infant. Michael Laiosa, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Public Health, and neonatologist Venkatesh Sampath, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin, want to understand how genetics and the environment affect the health of humans during the most vulnerable stages of development. In Milwaukee, there were 807 infant and fetal deaths between 2005 and 2008, according to the city’s Fetal Infant Mortality Review. A disproportionate number were African-American. Of the 499 who were not stillborn, nearly 54% died from complications of being born too soon…”

More of county’s youth in poverty, courts, By Mealand Ragland-Hudgins, August 9, 2011, Daily News Journal: “Rutherford County children fared better than their peers across the state on the 2010 Kids Count report, although increases were seen in the areas of local children living in poverty or being referred to juvenile court. Released today, the report is an analysis of issues that can affect children’s well-being in all 95 of Tennessee’s counties. Included in the report is data on high school dropouts, children on public assistance, medical care, safety and risky behaviors. Most data in the report is based on numbers compiled in 2008 or 2009, depending on what information was available. Individual rankings by county were not provided, and data was only broken down by city for Memphis and Nashville-Davidson County…”

Poverty rates leap for Ohio children, By Rita Price, August 6, 2011, Columbus Dispatch: “The number of Ohio counties with at least a fourth of their children living in poverty doubled in just one year, with Franklin County tumbling into the group. According to a report from the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio, 31 Ohio counties - more than a third of the state total - had child-poverty rates of 25 percent or higher in 2009. That’s a jump from 15 counties in 2008, according to U.S. census estimates compiled by the child-advocacy organization…”

• Survey: 19 percent more NH children got food stamps between 2008 and 2009, By Michael Brindley, August 5, 2011, Nashua Telegraph: “The number of New Hampshire children whose families receive food stamps increased by 19 percent from 2008 to 2009, according to a study released today gauging the health of the state’s children. The annual New Hampshire Kids Count Data Survey, released by the Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire, uses 33 data points to measure the well-being of children in the state. Among the findings in this year’s report is that an average of 16.8 percent of children aged 0 to 17, or one out of every six minors, participated in the food stamp program in 2008 and 2009. During that period, overall participation increased by 19 percent, according to the study. This was attributed to factors such as rising unemployment during the recession and the rising cost of food…”
• Report tracks childhood hunger in NH, By Cara Hogan, August 5, 2011, Eagle Tribune: “A group of six children come into the Sonshine Soup Kitchen in Derry a few times a week to eat a meal. ‘I don’t know where the parents are, if they’re working or what,’ Christine Fudala, director of Sonshine Soup Kitchen said. ‘The kids are about middle-school age and they’re always thankful and respectful. School’s out so the food might not be there for them at home.’ They are some of the many children whose families are struggling to feed them and house them. The number of children in New Hampshire on food stamps increased by 19 percent from 2008 to 2009 and homeless students increased 21 percent in the same time period, according to the New Hampshire Kids Count Data Book released this week. The study tracks the well-being of New Hampshire’s children, according to Ellen Fineberg, executive director of the Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire…”

A rising hunger among children, By Kay Lazar, July 28, 2011, Boston Globe: “Doctors at a major Boston hospital report they are seeing more hungry and dangerously thin young children in the emergency room than at any time in more than a decade of surveying families. Many families are unable to afford enough healthy food to feed their children, say the Boston Medical Center doctors. The resulting chronic hunger threatens to leave scores of infants and toddlers with lasting learning and developmental problems…”

Child welfare overhaul still bumpy, By Martha Stoddard, July 24, 2011, Omaha World-Herald: “Before turning over major responsibility for Nebraska’s child welfare system to private contractors, state officials said the change would help abused and neglected children. Fewer children would be torn from their homes. Fewer would become wards of the state. Children would not be bounced from foster home to foster home. Families would be reunified or children adopted sooner. What’s more, those benefits could be gained with existing state dollars. Yet 20 months into the reform, the costs to the state have escalated, instability within the system has grown and benefits have been mixed, at best…”

Investigation: Health care system struggles to follow foster kids, By David Freed, July 23, 2011, North County Times: “San Marcos resident Patty Boles has taken in more than 100 children during three decades as a foster mom. She specializes in caring for the most medically fragile kids the system has to offer, and has adopted 10 of them. If there’s one thing Boles has learned over all those years, it’s that the system often does a poor job of meeting foster children’s health needs, thanks in no small measure to the often haphazard, increasingly archaic way their medical records are kept. “The way it works right now,” said Boles, president of the North County Foster Parents Association, “is a huge problem.” By law, each time a foster youth in California is relocated, a comprehensive paper file of his or her medical records —- a “health passport” —- is to be promptly forwarded to the new caregiver. But this doesn’t always happen, according to Boles and other foster care experts —- sometimes with potentially serious consequences…”

Florida spurns $50 million for child-abuse prevention, By Carol Marbin Miller, July 20, 2011, Miami Herald: “Florida lawmakers have rejected more than $50 million in federal child-abuse prevention money. The grants were tied to the Obama administration’s healthcare reform package, which many lawmakers oppose on philosophical grounds. The money, offered through the federal Affordable Health Care Act passed last year, would have paid, among other things, for a visiting nurse program run by Healthy Families Florida, one of the most successful child-abuse prevention efforts in the nation. Healthy Families’ budget was cut in last year’s spending plan by close to $10 million. And because the federal Race to the Top educational-reform effort is tied to the child-abuse prevention program that Healthy Families administers, the state may also lose a four-year block grant worth an additional $100 million in federal dollars, records show…”

NY charter school throws foster kids a safety net, By Larry Neumeister (AP), July 10, 2011, Seattle Times: “A Harvard-trained administrator thought she had heard it all as a gatekeeper in a city office responsible for supporting charter schools when Bill Baccaglini walked enthusiastically through the door with one more idea. ‘I thought, ‘Here we go, another big idea,” recalled Jessica Nauiokas. But she found herself liking his plans so much that she offered to be the Bronx school’s principal. ‘I walked out of the meeting and said, ‘Wow. That actually is a compelling idea.” Thus explains how Nauiokas became principal at the Haven Academy Charter School, where a third of students are in foster care. Another third are in families receiving preventive services to diminish the need for foster care. The rest are from the Mott Haven community, which is in a Congressional district where a soaring poverty rate keeps a third of residents on public assistance…”

County’s child poverty highest in decade, report says, By Marga K. Cooley, July 14, 2011, Santa Maria Times: “The number of children in Santa Barbara County who qualify for free and reduced-cost lunches - 54 percent - and those who live below the federal poverty level, were the highest of the decade in 2010, according to a recent report on children’s welfare. ‘The data shows what we know, that there’s great economic concern for families in our county, and that’s increasing,’ said Joy Thomas, outreach and education specialist for KIDS Network, which produced the 2010 Children’s Scorecard along with the UCSB Gevirtz Graduate School of Education and a variety of public agencies and community-based organizations. Thomas said many of the numbers are due to the general state of the economy, but some are prolonged, significant issues, such as the achievement gap in student test scores…”

Census finds share of children in US drops to 24 percent, a record low, with many in poverty, Associated Press, July 12, 2011, Washington Post: “Children now make up less of America’s population than ever before, even with a boost from immigrant families. And when this generation grows up, it will become a shrinking work force that will have to support the nation’s expanding elderly population - even as the government strains to cut spending for health care, pensions and much else. The latest 2010 census data show that children of immigrants make up one in four people under 18, and are now the fastest-growing segment of the nation’s youth, an indication that both legal and illegal immigrants as well as minority births are lifting the nation’s population. Currently, the share of children in the U.S. is 24 percent, falling below the previous low of 26 percent of 1990. The share is projected to slip further, to 23 percent by 2050, even as the percentage of people 65 and older is expected to jump from 13 percent to 19 percent due to the aging of baby boomers and beyond…”

• Michigan’s sharp rise in births to unwed moms means ‘a lot more children growing up in poverty’, By Sue Thoms, July 7, 2011, Grand Rapids Press: “A sharp increase in the number of unmarried women having babies means trouble ahead for mothers and children in Michigan, according to the Michigan League for Human Services. ‘We’re going to see a lot more children growing up in poverty,’ said Jane Zehnder-Merrill, director of a report released Wednesday on trends in maternal and infant health from 2000 to 2009. The study found 40 percent of births in Michigan in 2009 were to unmarried woman — a 20 percent rise since 2000. Two of every three births to women in their early 20s were to unwed mothers…”
• Study: Fewer teens, more singles giving birth in Michigan, By Chris Christoff, July 7, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “The percentage of babies born in Michigan to unmarried mothers rose significantly during the last decade, but fewer teens are giving birth, a new study shows. About half of all births in 2000-09 were to low-income mothers eligible for Medicaid health insurance, according to the Kids Count in Michigan report by the Michigan League for Human Services. The trend is troubling because babies born to unmarried women are more likely to live in poverty and have health and learning problems, said Kids Count in Michigan Director Jane Zehnder-Merrell…”

Tooth decay is prevalent among poor children, By Amanda Mascarelli, July 1, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “One-fourth of the nation’s children have 80% of the nation’s tooth decay, and most of them are underprivileged. The simplicity of those numbers, from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, underscores the reality of dental care in this country but gives little hint at its ultimate effects. Oral infection is the No. 1 chronic disease in children - five times more prevalent than asthma - and experts estimate that more than 50% of children will have some tooth decay by age 5…”

Child welfare systems working to get more dads into the equation of safe homes, By Karen Auge, June 20, 2011, Denver Post: “Richard Jama had been searching for his daughter for weeks when he discovered she was living with strangers, foster parents chosen for her by child welfare workers. When the social workers took the little girl, who had been abused by her mother’s boyfriend, they asked the child’s mother where the father was. ‘She said I had gone back to Africa,’ the Liberian immigrant said. In fact, Jama hadn’t gone anywhere - and he was still paying child support. Jama, who spent the past two years fighting to get his daughter back for good, doesn’t understand why social workers took the word of his child’s mother or why they didn’t check child-support records to find him. That is changing, social workers say…”

• Study shows Medicaid kids are denied medical care, By Lindsey Tanner (AP), June 16, 2011, USA Today: “Children on public insurance are being denied treatment by doctors at much higher rates than those with private coverage, according to an undercover study that had researchers pose as parents of sick kids seeking an appointment with a specialist. Snubbed even by specialists whose offices supposedly accept public insurance patients, these kids also had to wait much longer to see a doctor. Low Medicaid reimbursements are the likely reason, the study authors said. The study was done in Cook County, Ill., the nation’s second-most populous county which includes Chicago, but the researchers and others say the results likely reflect practices around the country…”
• Penn study finds doctors delaying or rejecting specialty care for publicly insured children, By Marie McCullough, June 16, 2011, Philadelphia Inquirer: “A University of Pennsylvania study in which callers posed as mothers seeking pediatric specialty care found that two-thirds of publicly insured children were refused a doctor’s appointment, compared with only 11 percent of privately insured children. Even the low-income children who were not rejected had to wait an average of 42 days for appointments for urgent conditions such as diabetes, seizures, asthma, or a bone fracture - 22 days longer on average than children with private insurance…”

• Study: Preschool boosts low-income students, By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, June 9, 2011, Chicago Tribune: “A new study revealing the lasting impact of a solid preschool education - especially in disadvantaged communities - was released Thursday, just as Illinois’ governor considers a state budget plan that slashes funding to early childhood programs. While many findings over the years have touted the benefits of starting kids early on the path to education, a study conducted inside Chicago Public Schools and published online by the journal Science shows attending preschool can yield payoffs into adulthood. The report shows that children who attended an established preschool program in Chicago completed high school at higher rates, stayed out of jail, were less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol, and improved their living standards as adults. For 25 years, researchers from the University of Minnesota tracked 1,400 Chicago Public Schools students who attended early childhood programs. They compared those who started preschool at age 3 in Child-Parent Centers, located in or near elementary schools serving low-income students, with those who didn’t attend preschool at all or went to the typical Head Start program…”
• Preschool’s many benefits last into adulthood, according to study of low-income children, By Lindsey Tanner (AP), June 9, 2011, Washington Post: “Preschool has surprisingly enduring benefits lasting well into adulthood, according to one of the biggest, longest follow-up studies of its kind. Better jobs, less drug abuse and fewer arrests are among advantages found in the study that tracked more than 1,000 low-income, mostly black Chicago kids for up to 25 years. Michael Washington was one of them. Now a 31-year-old heating and air conditioning contractor, Washington attended a year of preschool at Chicago’s intensive Child-Parent Center Education Program when he was 4. The ongoing publicly funded program focuses on language development, scholastic skills and building self-confidence. It involves one or two years of half-day preschool, and up to four additional years of educational and family services in grade school. Preschool teachers have college degrees and are certified in early childhood education, and parents are encouraged to be involved in the classes…”

• Cumberland County ranks last in children’s health issues, By Caitlin Dineen, May 23, 2011, Press of Atlantic City: “Cumberland County ranks 21st of New Jersey’s 21 counties in terms of overall child well-being, and Atlantic and Cape May counties also rank poorly, according to the New Jersey Kids Count annual rankings released Monday. The survey, which is published by Advocates for Children of New Jersey, compares counties on 15 measures including child poverty, health, safety and education. Cumberland - which ranked 20th last year - slipped to last place due to a combination of increasing childhood poverty, students having the lowest passing rates for state tests and an increased infant mortality rate…”
• Child data reveals county in last place, By Matt Zager, May 24, 2011, Vineland Daily Journal: “Cumberland County has slipped to last in the state in an annual ranking of child well-being, according to the latest Kids Count report released Monday. ‘That we’re still last is disturbing,’ said George Sartorio, Cumberland County health officer. ‘We all need to do a better job to get better outcomes.’ The data were collected as part of an ongoing effort known as Kids Count conducted by Advocates for Children of New Jersey. It compares the state’s 21 counties on 15 categories, including child poverty, health safety and education…”

• Labour’s final year in power saw child poverty at lowest level since 1980s, By Larry Elliott and Patrick Wintour, May 12, 2011, The Guardian: “Child poverty in Britain fell to its lowest level since the mid-1980s during Labour’s last year in power, according to the latest official figures. Data from the Office for National Statistics released on Thursday said that 20% of children were living in a household below the poverty line in 2009-10, down from 22% the previous year. Although the figures show Labour missed its target of halving child poverty by 2010, campaigners welcomed the improvement during the longest and deepest recession since the second world war. They warned that the downward trend in the number of children in families with an income less than 60% of the national median before housing costs were taken into account was likely to be reversed as a result of spending cuts. Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, said the return on Labour’s anti-poverty spending had been poor and that the figures showed no narrowing of the gap between rich and poor households…”
• Child poverty figures fell in UK during 2009/2010, May 12, 2011, BBC News: “In 2009-10, 20% of children (2.6m) lived in households classed as below the poverty line, a two per cent decrease on the previous year. Children’s charities offered a cautious welcome to the statistics but warned the future looked bleaker. Ministers say the figures signal a poor return on Labour’s huge investment. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘These figures lay bare the growth of income inequality in the UK which is now the highest it has ever been…’”
• Cuts will force child poverty levels to increase again, says thinktank, By Larry Elliott, May 13, 2011, The Guardian: “Britain’s leading financial thinktank warned on Friday that 300,000 children would be pushed below the poverty line in the next three years as the government’s spending cuts reversed the improvement during Labour’s last years in power. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that after falling to its lowest level in 25 years, child poverty was likely to rise sharply owing to George Osborne’s decision to cut the generosity of state benefits and tax credits. In its analysis of the latest official figures, the IFS said despite 200,000 fewer children living below the poverty line in the year to the 2010 general election, Labour had missed its ambitious target for halving the total by a wide margin and after 13 years went into opposition with income inequality at its widest since modern records began in 1961…”

Milwaukee infant mortality rate still high, despite years of effort, millions spent, By Crocker Stephenson and Ben Poston, May 7, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “As other communities around the country have found ways to reduce infant mortality, Milwaukee’s rate has remained all but stagnant for nearly two decades, the result of a vacuum of leadership and a scattershot approach to tackling the problem. In Central Harlem, babies once died at a rate twice that of Milwaukee. But through a unified effort, the community has slashed its infant mortality rate by 78% since 1990. The rate there is now about 6 deaths per 1,000 births, lower than the state of Wisconsin as a whole. In Milwaukee - where tens of millions of tax dollars have been spent in the past decade - 11 out of every 1,000 infants die before their first birthday. The city continues to have one of the worst infant mortality rates in the nation, especially for African-Americans, whose babies die at a rate about 2.5 times that of whites. Year after year, the city continues its rudderless and fragmented approach, with over 100 health initiatives that, lacking collective impact, fail to generate communitywide results…”