MassBudget: MA ranks #2 in child well-being, Federal cuts threaten gains

Corrected links to new fact sheets

Massachusetts Ranks #2 in the Nation for Child Well-Being; But Federal Cuts Could Erode Gains New fact sheets show how proposed federal budget cuts would harm MA kids Children in Massachusetts lead the nation in educational achievement and also rank highly in health measures, but more than one in seven live in poverty, according to the 2017 KIDS COUNT® Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The annual report measures state-by-state child well-being across four categories: health, education, economic well-being and family and community.  Four new fact sheets from MassBudget examine these Massachusetts rankings, describe investments the state and federal governments have made to achieve these results, and explain how repeal of the Affordable Care Act and proposed federal budget cuts would threaten child well-being in each of these areas: Health (pdf) Education (pdf) Economic Well-Being (pdf) Family and Community (pdf) The 2017 Data Book is available at http://databook.kidscount.org , The KIDS COUNT Data Center also contains the most recent national, state and local data on hundreds of indicators of child well-being, and allows users to create rankings, maps and graphs for use in publications and on websites, and to view real-time information on mobile devices. MassBudget is home to KIDS COUNT in Massachusetts, a national and state-by-state effort funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to track and improve the well-being of children across the United States. The Massachusetts KIDS COUNT Advisory Council brings together leaders who work to make life better for all children in Massachusetts. #   #   # The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 15 Court Square, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108 Sent by nberger@massbudget.org in collaboration with Try it free today

The Kids Count Data Center is a resource for you

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy. Kids Count Data Center is a Resource  Everyone engaged in public policy debates about improving the lives of children in Massachusetts needs trusted data that can inform analysis of challenges and potential solutions. With so many different tools and resources, it can be hard to find trusted information. That's why we want to make sure our readers know about the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT Data Center. It contains thousands of child well-being indicators related to education, poverty, health and youth risk factors. By being able to filter by state, city, county and congressional district, users are able to access data that is relevant in their communities and comparable to other places. As part of the KIDS COUNT network, MassBudget manages this national data resource in Massachusetts and incorporates additional local data. To give an example, the state's Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) improves the economic security of working families. The EITC raises the after-tax incomes of over 400,000 low-wage workers and their families, 13 percent of all tax filers in Massachusetts. Those who benefit are mostly working parents. It also helps a smaller number of other low-wage workers. The KIDS COUNT Data Center makes it easy to see how many tax filers benefit from the EITC in each city and town in the Commonwealth. With a few clicks, you can also map the share of filers that received the EITC across the state. If you haven't done so lately, visit the KIDS COUNT Data Center today and see what it has to offer. You can also Tweet about it, and like it on FaceBook. Visit the KIDS COUNT Data Center here (LINK). The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 15 Court Square, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108 Sent by nberger@massbudget.org in collaboration with Try it free today

I queried the Kids Count Data to see what the reduced lunch price data looked like for Franklin and the neighboring communities. It was easy to do. You can add other school districts to this table or query other types of data.

• The table view of the data

Kids Count Data for local reduced lunch price data - table

• The line chart view of the data

Kids Count Data for local reduced lunch price data - line chart

How does Mass compare to other states for child well-being?

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy.    2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book finds MA youth lead in education and health; many struggle economically Children in Massachusetts lead the nation in educational achievement and also rank highly in health measures, but more than one in seven live in poverty, according to the 2016 KIDS COUNT® Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. MassBudget is home to KIDS COUNT in Massachusetts, a national and state-by-state effort funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to track and improve the well-being of children across the United States. The annual report measures child well-being state-by-state across four categories: health, education, economic well-being and family and community. For instance, the Data Book tracks reading proficiency in fourth grade and math in eighth grade. Massachusetts students lead the nation in both measures, with 50 percent of our students proficient in reading and 51 percent in math. But while the data show that Massachusetts leads the nation, the report also shows that half of our students are not achieving these goals. There are similar mixed messages for other education measures: 12 percent of our students do not graduate high school on time - that's too many, but down from 18 percent in 2008. While Massachusetts ranks at the top in educational attainment and near the top in child health, on measures of family economic well-being it ranks 11th. Raising the incomes of low and middle income families remains an important challenge for our Commonwealth. The well-being of families has a direct effect on their children. Policies that improve wages and working conditions - such as minimum wage increases and paid family leave laws that make it easier for parents to take time to bond with a new child - can help children get a better start in life. Read the 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book (HERE). There's a two-page summary of the Massachusetts profile (HERE). You can see all of MassBudget's KIDS COUNT Resources (HERE).  You can read MassBudget's recent fact sheets on Paid Family and Medical Leave, including how the program differs from similar programs (HERE), how such programs impact businesses and families in other states (HERE), how Massachusetts residents currently cope without paid leave (HERE), and answers to frequently asked questions (HERE).  For more information on evidence-based strategies to support children from pre-Kindergarten through high school, see Roadmap to Expanding Opportunity.  The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 15 Court Square, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108 Sent by nberger@massbudget.org in collaboration with MassBudget Report

MassBudget: Supports That Help Vulnerable Children and Families Thrive

Services That Help Vulnerable Children and Families Thrive  The goals of our child protective services are to help families and to make sure that children are safe and receive the supports they need to thrive. MassBudget's new report, Funding Opportunities: Services that Help Prevent Kids in the Child Welfare System from Entering the Juvenile Justice System, examines funding levels for our state programs that strengthen families and help prevent negative outcomes for children.  These services include family support and stabilization efforts, supports for children in foster care, family resource centers that help connect families with supports in the community, mental health services, and social workers who help families and children in crisis. While Massachusetts is making efforts to provide the resources necessary to make sure all of our vulnerable children receive the supports they need to succeed, there have been significant shortfalls historically with social workers handling caseloads substantially higher than national experts recommend. This report is part of MassBudget's KIDS COUNT project. It is being released with a companion report from Citizens for Juvenile Justice (a member of the KIDS COUNT Advisory Council): Missed Opportunities: Preventing youth in the child welfare system from entering the juvenile justice system. This report documents a troubling pattern of young people who have been served by our child welfare system ultimately becoming involved in the juvenile justice system. It also offers best practices for supporting positive youth development throughout our child welfare system. To read MassBudget's report, please click HERE. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108 The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

MassBudget: Massachusetts Third in Nation for Child Well-Being, But Many of Our Children Face Difficult Challenges

Massachusetts Third in Nation for Child Well-Being, But Many of Our Children Face Difficult Challenges        Children in Massachusetts lead the nation in educational achievement, and are at or near the top in a number of measures of health, but one in six children live in poverty and an increasing number of our children are growing up in very high poverty neighborhoods. These findings and detailed data on a wide array of measures of child well-being are presented in the Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2015 KIDS COUNT Data Book released today. The Data Book contains significant good news, particularly on education. In addition to our children leading the nation in reading and math proficiency, we are making real progress on reducing the number of students dropping out. Now 14% of our students don't graduate on time - that's too many, but it's down from 18% on 2008. But we remain a long way from providing each of our children with the support they need to succeed. For example, we lead the nation in the share of our children who are proficient in reading by fourth grade. But still more than half of our students - 53% - are not reading proficiently by fourth grade. We know that our economy and our society are stronger when every child has the opportunity to thrive (more info: Roadmap to Expanding Opportunity).  While Massachusetts ranks at the top in educational attainments and near the top in child health, on measures of family economic well-being we rank 17th. Raising the incomes of low and middle income families remains an important challenge for our Commonwealth (more info: The State of Working Massachusetts). The recent increase in the minimum wage, and the scheduled increases over the next two years should help - as will the likely to be enacted increase in the earned income tax credit. There is, of course, more that could be done to help working parents succeed in the workforce be better able to support and nurture their children. Working parents need affordable child care, a transportation system that lets them get to work, and often education and job training to improve their skills. There is strong evidence that when the income of low wage families increases, their children are helped not just in the short term, but also in the long term: they do better in school and earn more as adults (more info: Massachusetts's Earned Income Tax Credit). Read the 2015 Data Book HERE.  See all of our Kids Count Resources HERE.  MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108 The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108