LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky will be strongest when all children have their best chance to thrive.
The 2021 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book examines data disaggregated by race/ethnicity, the impacts of systemic racial injustice on children and families, and solutions to advance racial equity so that every child can thrive.
The 31st edition of this publication also features the latest data on 17 measures of child well-being, showing whether outcomes for children across the Commonwealth have improved, worsened or stayed the same over a five-year period.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many families in ways that do not yet show up in the data, the book identifies pre-existing challenges and areas of needed improvement.
"We know that the impacts of discriminatory practices, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, will take sustained and focused efforts to overcome," Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates said.
"In this year’s book we are diving into data by race for each key arena of child well-being to help inform the newly created Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity and identify some clear policies that would lead to more equitable outcomes for children across the Commonwealth,” Brooks said.
Detailed data is available for every Kentucky county here.
Overall data highlights from this year's book include:
- Though child poverty rates have improved, rates remain much higher for Black (32%) and Latinx (30%) children and children of two or more races (33%) compared to White children (19%).
- While no evidence shows out-of-school suspensions work to improve student behavior, schools continue to use them – and at a high rate for Black students, who are suspended more often as early as Kindergarten. Disparities grow during middle school and high school. For example, in middle school, Black students experience out-of-school suspensions at a rate of 47.8 per 100 students compared to a rate of 10.9 for White students.
- Babies born to Black mothers experience the highest rates of low birthweight, though variations for each race by community size calls for a deeper look at local factors. For example, in rural areas, Black mothers experience a rate of 16.6 low-weight births per 100 births compared to a rate of 8.7 for White mothers and 6.4 for Latinx mothers.
- In Kentucky counties of all sizes, Black parents are incarcerated at substantially higher rates than parents of other races, with the greatest disparity in suburban counties, where 16.1 Black parents are in state custody per 1,000 adults, compared to 2.8 per 1,000 adults for White parents.
“We at Kentucky Youth Advocates believe that when we measure outcomes for kids, we can change outcomes for kids," Brooks said. "Achieving equity for Kentucky children means acknowledging that there are major barriers to opportunity based on zip code, income level, and, particularly, skin color that have created an unfair playing field. It means working together to identify and remove those barriers, build on community resilience, and boost up those most left behind."
"There is no doubt that we should prioritize the needs of children growing up in both urban and rural Kentucky, and the reality is that all children will benefit from policies that seek to remove those underlying barriers,” he said.
The County Data Book highlights data in four domains of child well-being: economic security, education, health, and family and community.
Overall child well-being data highlights from the 2021 County Data Book include:
- Nearly half of Kentucky renters (45%) experience high rental cost burden, in which households spend 30% or more of income on rent and utilities – an issue that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. In the Commonwealth’s 120 counties, 37 counties are not improving or are getting worse on this indicator that impacts family stability.
- Kentucky students have high rates of graduating on time from high school (90%), though students are not equally well prepared for the future. Eighty-seven of Kentucky’s 167 school districts with high schools got worse on this indicator from the 2015-16 to the 2020-21 school year. Kentucky’s economy depends on the youth of today being prepared for the workforce needs of the future, yet only 46 percent of 2019 high school graduates were deemed academically ready for college.
- Kentucky continues to see high numbers of children with health insurance with 95.7% covered in 2019, though coverage lags for Latinx children (91%) compared to Black (97%) and White (96%) children. While 100 of 120 counties have improved rates in children having health coverage, we must work to cover the remaining gap so that all children have access to needed health care.
- Children of all races most often leave foster care to be reunified with parents or guardians, yet Latinx (14%) and Black (17%) youth are more likely than White youth (11%) to age out of care without a permanent connection to family. Overall, the percent of children who are reunited with their parent or primary caretaker when they exit foster care continues to be lower than five years ago, with the most recent data showing only 37% of kids achieving reunification.
- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many students missing state testing, comprehensive data is unavailable for the most recent school year for kindergarten readiness, fourth grade reading and eighth grade math scores. Replacing those education data points are the proportion of public school students experiencing homelessness (3%), students with an Individualized Education Plan due to a disability (16%), and an out-of-school suspension rate (9.6 suspensions for every 100 students enrolled).
“All kids face a long climb in their journey to adulthood, but kids of color have to climb a steeper hill due to longstanding inequities and specific barriers based on their skin color or country of origin," Brooks said.
"When we invest in what all children need and tailor additional supports for children who face greater barriers, each Kentucky kid will have a brighter future."
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