Family Connection Partnership News

FCP Releases Georgia 2005 Kids Count: Report Highlights Disparities for Georgia's Children and Families

Family Connection Partnership is pleased to announce the recent release of Georgia 2005 Kids Count. The annual report on children and families in Georgia shows that while overall trends for child and family well-being are improving across the state, children in many communities are lagging behind. Key findings reveal that major gaps exist for children in Georgia based on their race and ethnicity, family income, and where they live.

"For children of color, children in rural areas, and children with limited English skills, the risks to their health and well-being are particularly high," said Gaye Smith, executive director of Family Connection Partnership. "Too many of these kids are living in poverty, not graduating from high school on time, and becoming teen parents. If we can help children in these circumstances, they'll grow up and be more likely to live healthy, more fulfilling lives."

Georgia KIDS COUNT tracks the status of children across five areas: healthy children, school readiness, school success, strong families, and self-sufficient families. The latest report says that while Georgia's national ranking among 50 states improved by one to 39th this year, supporting families in Georgia requires combined efforts from individuals, communities, agencies and policy makers to promote healthier futures for children and families.

"It is critical that we all play a role in addressing these issues to ensure that each child has the opportunity to be healthy, ready to start and perform better in school, and have a stable, economically self-sufficient family," Smith said.

Key Findings: Georgia 2005 KIDS COUNT

Health and Safety:
Children in Georgia continue to be born into circumstances that place them at risk. Black children have lower birthweight, higher infant mortality rate, and mothers reporting less prenatal care than white mothers. The state average for the infant mortality rate improved in 2003 to 8.5 per 1,000 compared to 8.9 per 1,000 in 2002, but the rate for black infants remains high. The infant mortality rate for black infants has remained above 13 per 1,000 for the last decade. More than one-fifth of all mothers and more than half of Hispanic mothers have less than a high school education. Child safety data show mixed results. The number of abuse events has decreased but neglect has increased. White male teens are twice as likely to die from motor vehicle accidents compared to other teens. The rate of deaths by homicide for black males is five times higher than for white males.

Education:
Students who are black, migrant, Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, or have limited English proficiency lag behind in the 4th- and 8th-grade Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests for 2003 - 2004, as well as the High School Graduation Test. High school graduation rates slightly improved over the past two years to 65 percent. Yet, nearly half of students considered economically disadvantaged and more than half of Hispanic students do not graduate high school on time.

Economic Security:
Poverty continues to plague many Georgia families. Nearly 1 in 5 children in Georgia lived in poverty in 2002. The majority of poor families with children included a family member who worked. Of the children in low-income families in Georgia, 59 percent of children have at least one parent who is employed full-time/year-round, and 17 percent of children have parents who are unemployed.

Patterns of Disparities:
An index of children at risk compiled from three indicators (child poverty, high school graduation, and teen births) shows startling geographic patterns for Georgia. Georgia is worse than the national average for each of the three indicators, and most counties in the state are worse than the Georgia or national average. Only 16 counties out of 159 were more than 10 percent better than the state high school graduation rate; 39 counties were more than 10 percent better than the state teen birth rate; and 49 counties were more than 10 percent better than the state child poverty rate. When all three indicators are grouped, only nine counties are more than 10 percent better than the state average on all three indicators: Cherokee, Cobb, Columbia, Fayette, Forsyth, Lee, Lumpkin, Oconee and Rockdale.

To view the full data for the report, visit file:///S:/~PublicAffairs/~Web/fcpwebsite2005/kidscount/index.html. To receive a copy of the report, e-mail communications@gafcp.org.