Wednesday, July 25, 2007


Jul. 25, 2007 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
Nearly one out of every five children in Florida is growing up in poverty, and the state has one of the highest rates in the nation of single-parent families, a report released today says.

The 2007 Kids Count Data Book, a statistical snapshot of children's well-being across the country, found Florida made tepid progress in teen birth rates and the number of kids who stay in high school -- but it let more than 1,300 foster kids age out of the system with no permanent family connection.

Child-welfare advocates say the report underscores the need for more dramatic changes in the way the state spends its money.

'Progress will not be made by doing things the same way they have been done before,' said Children's Campaign Inc. President Roy Miller. 'To improve the lives of children, we must make the shift to preventive investments in children's health, early learning, and redirecting troubled youth.'

Miller's organization, a nonprofit and nonpartisan advocacy group devoted to making children's issues a legislative priority, did applaud a 2 percent drop in teen deaths and a 1 percent decline in teens giving birth. But it pointed out there are an additional 24,000 children living in poverty at latest count, and a total of 659,000 Florida children with no health insurance.

'The cost to the state for uninsured children is astronomical,' Miller said in a written statement, 'but we continue to return [matching] federal funds that go unspent because we won't pay the state's share -- which is only one out of every three dollars.'

By not making the initial investment in the KidCare health-insurance program, advocates say, Florida shifts the burden onto residents who wind up covering unpaid hospital bills through increased health-care costs and insurance premiums.

'The other number that is very troubling to us is that we dropped 8 percent in the number of 2-year-olds who were immunized,' said Amanda Ostrander, a Children's Campaign spokeswoman. 'But the thing that strikes us the most when we look at this [report] is that, regardless of how successful our economy has been in Florida over the past several years, for children it has remained exactly the same.

'It should be ringing warning bells. We should be saying, 'OK, it's time to make a change for kids.' '

In certain respects, though, the state's child-welfare programs are already making changes that are likely to paint a brighter picture in future Kids Count surveys. Because the most recent nationwide data available was often two to three years old, the report didn't consider recent successes in improving adoption rates and efforts to keep families together, said Alan Abramowitz of the Florida Department of Children and Families.

'In adoptions, we've exceeded all expectations,' said Abramowitz, DCF's acting administrator for Palm Beach County and the former head of the Central Florida district. 'We've done a lot of good work these last couple of years.'

He also cited Gov. Charlie Crist's recent appointment of a new chief child advocate -- Jim Kallinger, a former Winter Park state representative -- and the 2007 Legislature's creation of a 15-member 'children's cabinet' to coordinate programs and funding for children's services.

'The governor is focusing on prevention, which is critical. We're going to be able to have a big impact in the coming years,' Abramowitz said. 'But we do have a lot more work to do.'

The Kids Count survey is conducted by the nonprofit Annie E. Casey Foundation, whose goal is to promote public policies and community programs to help kids. Overall, it ranked Florida 32nd in the nation -- up from 33rd in the 2006 survey. Meanwhile, Florida's per-capita income ranks 23rd nationally. Go to kidscount.org to see the complete nationwide report.

Kate Santich can be reached at 407-420-5503 or  ksantich@orlandosentinel.com.

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