skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

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

Putin 'inhumane,' Zelensky says, as Russia pounds Ukrainian power grid on Christmas DayReport: CT budget controls too restrictive, changes needed; Report: Future of IRS uncertain as Trump chooses agency critic as commissioner.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

President-elect Donald Trump considers reclaiming Panama Canal. Lawmakers are uncertain Trump's cabinet will help everyday Americans and, advocates feel Biden must reconsider clemency actions.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural folks could soon be shut out of loans for natural disasters if Project 2025 has its way, Taos, New Mexico weighs options for its housing shortage, and the top states providing America's Christmas trees revealed.

State of Child report: One in five children younger than 5 lives in poverty

play audio
Play

Tuesday, January 23, 2024   

Tennessee's "State of the Child" 2023 report shows some progress, but also highlights ongoing areas of concern. From the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, the report examines kids' health and mental health, education, family economics, child care and the state's child-welfare and youth-justice data.

Kylie Graves, director of policy and legislative affairs for the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, said a key finding is that, among children of all age groups, those younger than five are most likely to live in poverty. The proportion of those children living in poverty has increased to one in five.

"We did see in 2022 17.6% of children in Tennessee lived below the federal poverty line," Graves said. "That is still too high and too many of our kids, but it is closer to the national average than we've ever been. Nationally, that number was 16.3%."

Graves said the report showed between 2019 and 2021, the number of children in poverty declined. But between 2021 and 2022 among Tennessee kids younger than age five, it increased to 20%. However, the increase or decrease associated with the child poverty rate over the last couple of years was not due to pandemic assistance.

Richard Kennedy, executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, said the report highlights the continued decline in teen risk behaviors such as substance use, but mental health challenges have continued to increase. He pointed out that the Tennessee General Assembly has focused on increasing resources for access to mental health.

"We know that access to high-quality, easily accessible mental health services, especially those that are in school-based settings, can really provide those additional supports and services for young people, as they grow into adults that will help them be more successful, better citizens going forward," Kennedy explained.

Graves said the report finds progress in child welfare and neglect, including Tennessee's extended foster care, giving young people more time in the system and smoother entry into adulthood.

"In fiscal year 2023, 369 youths accepted extension of foster-care services; that's the second-largest number ever accepted," said Graves. "So, we're seeing that program expand, which just means that we're helping more and more kids bridge that transition that can be really challenging, and can be a cause of a lot of negative social behaviors."

Graves emphasized that Tennessee's rate of substance-exposed newborns is well below the national average, and the state has a successful "plan of safe care" program that helps keep mothers and babies together safely. Nearly 99% of these infants have such a plan, which is much higher than the national average of 70.4%, the report said.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Juana Valle's well is one of 20 sites tested in California's San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast regions in the first round of preliminary sampling by University of California-Berkeley researchers and the Community Water Center. The results showed 96 parts per trillion of total PFAS in her water, including 32 parts per trillion of PFOS - both considered potentially hazardous amounts. (Hannah Norman/KFF Health News)

Environment

play sound

By Hannah Norman for KFF Health News.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the KFF Health News-Public News Ser…


Environment

play sound

Animal rights organizers are regrouping after mixed results at the ballot box in November. A measure targeting factory farms passed in Berkeley but …

Environment

play sound

Farmers in Nebraska and across the nation might not be in panic mode anymore thanks to another extension of the Farm Bill but they still want Congress…


Immigration law experts say applying for asylum status can be very lengthy, and that programs such as Temporary Protected Status can fill the void for people fleeing violence elsewhere in the world. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

With 2025 almost here, organizations assisting Minnesota's Latino populations say they're laser focused on a couple of areas - mental health-care …

Social Issues

play sound

A new report found Connecticut's fiscal controls on the state budget restrict long-term growth. The controls were introduced during the 2018 budget …

As of August, enrollment in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System had reached 66,114 students, representing an increase of 8.4%, according to state data. (Adobe Stock/AI generated image)

Social Issues

play sound

Nearly a dozen changes could be made to the Kentucky Community and Technical College system, under Senate Joint Resolution 179, passed by lawmakers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jessica Scott-Reid for Sentient.Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Arkansas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collab…

play sound

By Julieta Cardenas for Sentient.Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Texas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration …

 

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