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Breaking NewsRepresentative Anitere Flores Joins Pre-K Children to Picture the FutureAdvocates Say To New Chief - Adopt Our 5-Point Plan No Relief for Florida’s Children Representatives Bill Heller and Ed Hooper Join Pre-K Children to Picture the Future The Forgotten Few? ... You Could Have Heard A Pin Drop Representative Shelley Vana Joins Pre-K Children to Picture the Future Senator Mike Fasano Joins Pre-K Children to Picture the Future Senator Nan Rich Joins Pre-K Children to Picture the Future Former Governors Invite Legislators to Picture the Future Girls on the Edge - Florida Trend Blueprint Commission Appointed Florida Takes Two more Steps to Improve Juvenile Justice Governor Crist Supports Degreed Pre-K Teachers Floridians may again provide funds to other states Promise Kept - New DJJ Mission Triplet Wins Scholarship Bay County Leaders Lunch, Listen and Learn Castor and Barreiro Educated Miami Dade Candidates and Community 300 Attend Pinellas Pancakes, Children and Candidates! Picture The Future Media Event Years of Prosperity Leave Children Where They Started 5 Promises to Parents Campaign Launches Betty Castor and Bill Sublette to Lead Five Promises Campaign Honoring an Advocate, MLK Picture the Future, New Advocacy Event |
Years of Prosperity Leave Children Where They Started
While Florida’s overall national ranking improved from 35th in the 2005 KIDS COUNT Data Book to 33rd in the 2006 edition, this improvement, unfortunately, was not due to any significant gain for Florida’s 4-million children. “While some will herald this new ranking as justification for continuing current policies, that decision would be misguided,” said Roy Miller, President of Children’s Campaign, Inc. Florida actually performed more poorly in three main areas. These include low-birth weight babies, teen death rate, and teens not attending work or school, with, respectively, 8.5% of Florida’s babies born under-weight, 775 teen deaths annually, and 9% of teens not attending school or working. This is a clear indication of Florida’s need for strong leaders willing to invest in the state’s children. You can help make this case by sending a letter today, using the Campaign’s online system, in support of 5 Promises, that will improve the lives of Florida’s children. According to KIDS COUNT, 8% of Florida’s children continue to live in extreme poverty, 42% continue to live in low-income families, and 15% continue to live without health insurance, reflecting no change in the past year. 68% of children in low income families - a 3% increase from last year - spend more than 30% of the household income on housing alone. One appropriations leader in Florida took issue with the call for more investment in children, saying many of the programs were “dubious” and that the legislature only funded programs “that work”. No list was provided and no recognition was given to the fact that many of the best programs in Florida have struggled for years without significant rate increases or with funding that has not kept pace with either inflation or population growth. Help us demand a more conscientious and reasoned response from Florida’s next leaders. Send a letter today to the gubernatorial candidates, urging them to make children their investment priority. Since 2000, Florida’s performance in the 10 main child well-being indicators has been relatively stagnant. Only one area has shown noteworthy improvement - the teen birth rate, which has decreased by 8 births per every thousand. What direction will the next leader of Florida take us? To read the KIDS COUNT media coverage:
To visit the 5 Promises website, click here. |
Despite years of economic growth and state budget surplus, Florida has failed to show significant improvement in any of the 10 child well-being indicators portrayed in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2006 KIDS COUNT Data Book.