FLORIDA'S RANKING ON CHILD WELL BEING

The Annie E. Casey Foundation released its 2004 National KIDS COUNT Data Book, which reveals that Florida's maintains the same ranking as last year. The state, again, has placed 34th among all states regarding the well-being of our country's children.

However, current data shows that from 1996 - 2001, Florida did improve in eight of 10 measures that reflect child welfare in the nation.

Specifically, the number of children living in poverty decreased from 24 percent in 1996 to 18 percent in 2001; there was a 6-percent drop in the number of teen deaths as a result of accidents, homicide and suicide; and there was a slight decrease (from 31 to 30 percent) in the percentage of children living in a single-parent home.

Voices for Florida's Children reports that although these changes indicate that the state of children in Florida has improved, the overall ranking and the numbers, themselves, reveals a critical need for state and local leaders to:

* build support for youth, ages 18-24, who are most likely to falter as they transition to adulthood; this is especially true for children who have faced a number of risk factors, including being in foster care, wards of the juvenile justice system, high school dropouts and/or becoming teen parents.

The essay that accompanies the Data Book, titled "Moving Youth From Risk to Opportunity" by Annie E. Casey President Douglas W. Nelson, details the four calls to action that advocates should consider when helping America's--and Florida's--kids reach adulthood with the skills and confidence they need to be contributing members of society.

For more information on the 2004 KIDS COUNT Data Book and Florida's ranking, go to Florida Kids Count.