By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas has slipped to 47th in an annual ranking of the well-being of its children, according to a report released Tuesday.
For the past three years, Arkansas had been ranked 45th.
“Hearing that Arkansas regressed in these important indicators of how children are faring is disappointing,” said Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
The 2009 Kids Count Data Book by the Annie E. Casey Foundation of Baltimore, Md., ranks states based on their performance in 10 categories. In nine of the 10 indicators, Arkansas was ranked in the bottom 10 states, according to the report.
The one exception was Arkansas’ teen birth rate, which went up one place to 46th. Child poverty continued to increase, according to the report, which found one in four children under the age of 18 lives in poverty in the state.
“Persistent child poverty continues to hold our children and families back across a number of indicators,” Huddleston said. “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 47th is based on data from 2006 and 2007. Arkansas has maintained a ranking between 44th and 45th since a previous low of 47th in 2003, which was based on data from 2000.
Paul Kelly, senior policy analyst for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, said the report was “particularly disconcerting because a lot of it was economic-related and dated before the economic downturn occurred.”
“Most child well-being indicators are directly related to family income,” he said.
Recent spending increases by the Legislature on public education because of a 2002 Supreme Court decision, plus additional funds for pre-k programs, the expansion of the ARKids First insurance program for children and additional health programs and a statewide trauma system funded by a recent hike in the tax on tobacco products could help improve the state’s ranking in future years, Kelly said.
“We’re kind of hanging on and dropping a little bit because other state are doing better in addressing these issues,” he said.
Kelly also said he is hopeful a poverty task force created by the Legislature will develop some programs and initiatives to help improve the well-being of children in the state.
Gov. Mike Beebe was unavailable for comment Tuesday, but his spokesman Matt DeCample said steps recently by the Legislature are expected to have a positive impact on children in the next few years.
“These numbers don’t reflect the steps taken recently, including the trauma center and the graduated licensing for teens kicking in at the end of this week,” DeCample said.
“Of course, the area where we’ve seen the most progress is education and the reforms there,” he said. “Of course we’re not happy with being ranked so low, and you’ve heard the
governor give speeches about how we want to push our way up every set of rankings.
“I think over the next few years as the numbers catch up with the steps we’ve taken, you will see some improvement,” DeCample said.
