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Kentucky ranks 36th in annual child well-being report
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — The Annie E. Casey Foundation has just released the nation's annual Kids Count report, which ranked Kentucky 36th in overall child well-being.
'We still have a lot of work to do when it comes to improving economic stability, student achievement, and then child health and safety,' said Kentucky Youth Advocates' chief policy & strategy officer Shannon Moody.
This year's ranking is up from 38th in last year's report and 40th in 2023, the last time Kentucky's ranking dropped. As Kentucky Youth Advocates break down the numbers, Moody said child poverty is the biggest indicator for them because of the effect it has on other metrics in this study.
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'You know, poverty obviously can impact your education, access, and quality. Poverty can impact your nutrition and access to health, healthy foods,' she said.
Kentucky has shown some small improvements in this category, but still reports more than 200 thousand children below the poverty line. Moody said she would encourage lawmakers to consider a variety of tax credits to address this area.
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In education, the report is somewhat of a mirage. While that ranking is higher this year at 25th in the nation, each indicator, like math and reading proficiency, has gone down since the last report.
'We are definitely not seeing improvements on any of those measures when it comes to education, but the overall ranking is higher because some other states are just doing worse than we are,' Moody said.
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Moody says there is positive news, like Kentucky ranking 3rd in the nation in insured children, but said a 28% rise in child and teen deaths is among the most concerning metrics. She said this indicator could be best addressed by improving the security of where people store prescription drugs and firearms, in addition to more mental health support.
The 2025 Kids Count report can be explored here.
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