January 2008 No. 5Table of ContentsSpecial Report - Youth |
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State of Union. Only 19% of Americans agreed with President Bush that the “current state of the country” is strong, according to a mid-January Harris Poll. Bush said, “we have unfinished business before us,” and so we do. Two youth issues are:
Both issues may wait until after the election dust settles before their fate is finally decided.
IN’s high-school grads. Hoosiers saw a few more kids finish high school with a diploma last year. Indiana’s overall high-school graduation rate moved slightly up—4/10th % last year—to 76.5%. Success rates vary widely across the state: 15% of public high schools saw 80% of their students graduate; in half (52.3%) of schools, 80% finished; and 66% of schools met or exceeded the state average. Of the youth that didn’t graduate, 11.9% had dropped out after turning 16, 1.3% eventually got GEDs or a non-diploma Course Completion certificate, 1% took home special ed certificates, and 7% were still enrolled after their 12th year in school. There were 19 school systems with less than 50% graduation rates.
Indiana got a grade of B- from the Education Research Center in its 6 categories of scoring, compared to the C grade given the nation as a whole. Indiana’s “standards, assessments, and accountability” earned an A with school finance getting a B. Yet there was a C+ for Indiana’s “chance-for-success index” that looks at family income, parent education levels, preschool and kindergarten enrollments, reading and math scores, and adult higher ed achievement. And Hoosier teachers got a C-. You can find both Indiana’s and national “quality counts” reports, done in partnership with Education Week, at www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_ektid33264.aspx. For the high school grad rates for your area, see www.doe.state.in.us/htmls/gradrate.html.
Hoosiers are discouraged. Only half think public schools do a good or excellent job, and fewer say Indiana’s teachers are top-notch, 62% compared to 71% awhile back, according to a recent Indiana University survey. While few (16%) know much about Indiana’s educational outcomes measurement system, almost all (90%) want teacher pay tied to student performance on tests. School financing is now a political issue with 64% wanting to pay for education with only income or sales taxes and no property taxes which are in the current mix. Most (81%) think preschool is important, especially for at-risk kids.
There are education improvement initiatives all over Indiana with businesses, United Ways, youth agencies, and parents working together to prepare kids for the challenges of citizenship, family life, and success in the 21st century global economy. Get involved.
Racial imbalance. A 33-member Indiana Commission on Disproportionality in Youth Services (created by the Indiana legislature last year) met for the first time on January 28. Its job is to determine (1) why minorities make up a majority of kids served by Hoosier child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health, and special ed agencies and (2) what Indiana can do to reduce the disproportional rate of youth of color in the use of youth services—a daunting task that has been undertaken across the country. A sample:
Two-thirds of states have collected data and set targets to reduce “disproportionate minority contact” of youth with government and private correctional and social service systems, spurred by federal grants.
The Commission must submit a report to the legislature by August 15 and to the public by December 1 this year. Indiana Black Expo and the Indiana Youth Institute released “State of Our Black Youth” report in conjunction with the commission’s meeting. It gives local data on 16 Hoosier communities as well as state-level stats on Indiana’s black families and children. A summary is at www.iyi.org, or the detailed report can be ordered at www.indianablackexpo.com.
Child abuse prevention. Across America, $104 Billion was spent on child abuse and neglect services in 2007. Only 10% of that went to prevention programs. Likewise in Indiana, of the $843 Million spent on child welfare, 10% went to prevention and family preservation programs, reports the Dept of Child Services. According to a new report, Kids Are Waiting, Indiana has the 10th highest family reunification rate in the USA. Indiana’s Healthy Families program of voluntary home visitation aims to help at-risk families learn problem-solving skills and positive parent-child interaction. It cost about $42M last year, serving 23,000+ families. The Community Partners program is more comprehensive and costs $6M. Get http://kidsarewaiting.org/tools/reports/files/0011.pdf.
Hoosier adoptions. In the past two years, the number of adoptions of troubled children in Indiana increased 40%. Indiana’s Dept of Child Services (DCS) will ante up an extra $4 Million to get more Hoosier youth into permanent families. DCS is reaching out to minority parents through churches and community groups to encourage them to adopt kids who have been stuck in foster care after being abandoned or removed from abusive or neglectful parents. States that improve their adoption rates earn federal bonus funding. Indiana got $900,000 in 2006, doubling its 2005 bonus.
In the first 5 years of the 21st century, Indiana’s number of children available for adoption has grown by 60% to 3,200. Too many will turn 18 without ever knowing the benefits of a permanent family. Nearly half (45%) of these adoptable children are minorities. On average nationally, a majority of adopted kids have been in foster care for 4 or 5 years. While part of this time is to determine whether these children can be reunited with their birth parents, the biggest challenge is the shortage of adoptive homes. These kids are usually older or have siblings that need to stay together or have emotional or physical problems. For a sketch of youth in foster care—their mental health, sexuality, and spirituality—download from www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/CFOMH.htm.
Only adults with records for abusing children themselves or with convictions for violent or sex crimes are not eligible to adopt. About 3/4ths of adopting families get financial assistance, some $75M statewide in 2006. To get more info, call 888-252-3678 or log onto www.in.gov/dcs/adoption. I’m an adoptive parent, and it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Ask me!
Youth obesity. More than one-third of American kids ages 6-19 are overweight, and half of those—11 million—are obese. Obesity has doubled for young children and tripled for teens. The nation spends $177B a year on obesity-related healthcare: http://healthyamericans.org/
reports/obesity2007/Obesity2007Report.pdf. IN’s new blueprint to reduce obesity among adults and youth wants to increase by 10% the number of youth with a healthy body mass index by 2015. See www.in.gov/isdh/programs/cnop/PreventionPlan.htm.
Children’s health. USA kids get the appropriate outpatient medical care only 47% of the time. See http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/15/1515. What to do? A report from the Annie E. Casey Fdn spells out how Canada, the USA, and Mexico can tackle the seeming paradox of hunger, malnutrition, and anemia amid growing childhood obesity. It’s at http://www.ccsd.ca/pubs/2006/cina.
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