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The ranks of Hoosier children living in poverty or with unemployed parents are growing, according to a state-by-state study on the well-being of America’s youth.
The 2009 Kids Count Data Book found that Indiana ranks 31st in the nation for child well-being, a step up from its 34th-place rank last year.
The statistics date to 2007 and should come as no surprise to anyone after news of plant closings, layoffs and foreclosures since then. The statistics suggest the state will continue to see increases in child poverty, said Bill Stanczykiewicz, Indiana Youth Institute president and CEO.
Although it’s good to see Indiana moving up three spots in the national rankings, Stanczykiewicz said, that news should be tempered by the reality that even in areas where the state has improved, it’s doing worse than the nation as a whole.
“That says there is much work to be done on behalf of Hoosier children,” he said.
The 20th annual data book uses a set of 10 indicators to measure children against their peers in other states.
Indiana showed slight improvement in five areas since 2000. But since then, more Indiana children are living in poverty (17 percent), in single-parent families (32 percent) and in families where no parent has full-time employment (32 percent), the study said.
Areas where Indiana showed slight improvement since 2000 were child death rates, teen death rates, teen dropout rates, teen birth rates and the percentage of teens not attending school and not working.
The data book’s reminder that the statistics represent real children is unnecessary for Timothy Smith, social-services director at the Salvation Army.
The more than 1,400 children who have applied to receive donated school supplies in the organization’s Tools for Schools program represent a 34 percent increase – an all-time high – from last year, Smith said.
The increased need also was reflected in the Salvation Army’s Christmas programs, which saw a 40 percent increase in families served.
Smith worries most about the people his agency has to turn away.
“You hear legitimate stories, and you want to help people, but you’re limited by your funding,” he said.
Other initiatives are also handling greater demand, such as Fort Wayne Community Schools’ Blessings in a Backpack program.
Need for that program, which sends food-filled backpacks home with children, has grown as the school district has continued to see rising numbers of children eligible for free and reduced-price lunches, FWCS spokeswoman Krista Stockman said.
At the end of the school year in May, more than 65 percent of the district’s students were eligible, compared with nearly 63 percent at the beginning of the year. The total has risen steadily for several years.
“We expect that number will continue to go up,” Stockman said.
And keeping better track of those youths will be crucial to improving their lives, said the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which publishes the data book.
The foundation Tuesday called on government leaders and children’s advocates to fully fund, properly manage and successfully promote the 2010 census, update the U.S. poverty measure and increase data collection on child and family well-being.
aturner@jg.net
