skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report Details Obstacles to Success for Kids of Color

play audio
Play

Tuesday, April 1, 2014   

PHOENIX - According to Census Bureau projections, by 2018, children of color will represent a majority of kids in the United States. By 2030, the majority of the American labor force will be people of color. But a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation measures major obstacles to success for children of color, including poverty, substandard housing, underfunded schools, lack of health insurance.

According to the Foundation's associated director Laura Speer, decisions made by society are treating kids in different ways, and there's still a racial component to it.

"There's an unfortunate legacy of discrimination in our country that plays itself out in investments happening in communities, and how those decisions are being made about where investments are targeted, and the amount of money that goes into schools in particular communities," she said.

Speer said children of color are more likely to be kicked out of school, to be racially profiled, arrested and serve longer sentences for the same offenses.

The Race for Results index measures 12 indicators for success. Arizona scores for Latino, American Indian and African American children are far lower than for whites and Asians.

One of the report's statistics that "really jumped out" at Joshua Oehler, research associate at the Children's Action Alliance, was that only 41 percent of three- to five-year-old Arizona Latino children are enrolled in pre-school or kindergarten.

"So that was the lowest among all the racial groups in Arizona, and across the country there were only three states that had a lower participation rate," Oehler noted.

For Joseph Garcia, director of ASU's Morrison Institute Latino Public Policy Center, the number-one success strategy for children of color is education, including an expectation for education beyond high school.

"Because then that affects everybody. It raises everyone's standard of living. It allows greater infrastructure. It allows people not taking from the system, but putting into the system. It creates better lives," Garcia asserted.

Joshua Oehler said he hopes the report will start a discussion of how to deal with the ongoing racial disparities affecting children.

"It's such a delicate subject to talk about, so just bringing it up and being able to get people together from all backgrounds and figure out ways to get rid of those disparities, I think, is a really good continuing step to make progress."

The Casey Foundation's associated director Laura Speer said children of color are "going to be the future work force of the United States, so there's a really critical imperative to look at (these issues) now and to see what we can do to improve" their prospects for success.

The full report is at AECF.org.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021