Top 7 Reports from January 2012: Children and Families

Investing in Public Programs Matters: How State Policies Impact Children’s Lives – The 2012 State Child and Youth Well-Being Index

This report compiled by the Foundation for Child Development presents state-level differences in the Index of Child Well-Being.  Among its’ chief findings: higher state taxes are better for children, higher investment in education in per-pupil spending and health care programs provide a wide spectrum of benefits for child development, child well-being depends on the state. The highest-ranked state? New Jersey. The lowest? New Mexico. (The Foundation for Child Development, January 2012.)

Prosperity at Risk: Findings of Harvard Business School’s Survey on U.S. Competitiveness 

The downturn in US economic prosperity has been brought about by a series of structural changes that began well before the Great Recession.  The report contends that these changes pose a threat to America’s long-term competitiveness. That’s the bad news. Here’s what’s worse: The study found a large majority of survey respondents, 71%, expect U.S. competitiveness to decline over the next three years, with workers’ living standards under greater pressure than firms’ success. (Harvard Business School, January 2012.)

Quality Counts 2012:  The Global Challenge - Education in a Competitive World

The nation and many states face continuing challenges in delivering a high-quality education to all students. According to Quality Counts, the annual report card published by Education Week, the nation gets a C when graded across the six areas of policy and performance tracked by the. For the fourth year in a row, Maryland earns honors as the top-ranked state, posting the nation’s highest overall grade, a B-plus. Perennial strong finishers Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia follow close behind, each receiving a B. Nearly half the states, however, receive grades of C or lower, with South Dakota ranking the worst, with a D-plus. (Ed Week, January 12, 2012.)

The Lifelong Effects of Early Adversity and Toxic Stress

This report illustrates how early experiences and environmental influences can leave a lasting signature on the genetic predispositions affecting emerging brain architecture and long-term health. The report also examines extensive evidence of the disruptive impacts of toxic stress, offering intriguing insights into causal mechanisms that link early adversity to later impairments in learning, behavior, and both physical and mental well-being. The implications of this framework for the practice of medicine, in general, and pediatrics, specifically, are potentially transformational. They suggest that many adult diseases should be viewed as developmental disorders that begin early in life and that persistent health disparities associated with poverty, discrimination, or maltreatment could be reduced by the alleviation of toxic stress in childhood.  (The American Academy of Pediatrics, January 2012.)

At Risk:  America’s Poor During and After the Great Recession 

This White Paper examines the impact of the Great Recession and its aftermath on poverty in America. The research focuses on the well-being of the poor, the near poor and the “new poor,” —the millions of families who are entering poverty because of the Great Recession’s long-term unemployment. The trends and risk factors for poverty: age, race and ethnicity, family structure, educational attainment, and employment are all examined. One major finding: The Great Recession has left behind the largest number of long-term unemployed people since records were first kept in 1948. (School of Public and Environmental Affairs Indiana University, January 12, 2012.)

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2012 Appropriations for Kids (First Focus, January 26, 2012.)

The 2012 Education Appropriations Guide (The New America Foundation, January 6, 2012.)

No matter how you slice it, children are losing support from the federal government. These top two analyses come to similar conclusions. The first finds that the first time, for a second straight year, discretionary funding for kids has been cut. In total, when adjusted for inflation, discretionary funding for kids will decline by more than 2.2%. This amounts to a loss of nearly $1.7 billion since FY 2010, at a time when almost 1 in every 4 children live in poverty. The second points out that in appropriations for the fiscal year 2012, Congress set funding for federal education programs at $68.1 billion, down $233 million from the prior year. It is the first year since 2007 that Congress did not increase total appropriations for education programs.