News from Georgia 2006 KIDS COUNT

Tour Proves that Kids Do Count in Georgia
Georgia KIDS COUNT Wraps Up Statewide Tours

by Naja Williamson

How well are Georgia's children faring? To answer this question and call attention to the data, Family Connection Partnership (FCP), Voices for Georgia's Children, and the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute teamed up in the fall to present the 2006 Georgia KIDS COUNT Tour, a series of community forums that stopped in Albany, Augusta, Dalton, Macon, Marietta, Gainesville, Savannah, and Waycross.

Experts in research, policy, and budget from these three partner organizations toured the state from late September to early November with one goal in mind—to empower citizens with data and knowledge of how policy and legislation affect their families, and what they can do to help shape a better future for all Georgians.

According to the KIDS COUNT data, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to improve the well-being of Georgia's children.

"Spending and policy in Georgia should be based on data," said Taifa Butler, director of Public Affairs and Policy and manager of Georgia KIDS COUNT. "We work to enhance dialogue among our state and local partners about child well-being and to increase our effectiveness in doing the work it takes to improve conditions for children and families in Georgia."

Making kids count is important to Family Connection Partnership, the Georgia KIDS COUNT grantee. And by an overall attendance of nearly 400 with an average of 50 participants per site, it appears that making kids count in Georgia is just as important to the Family Connection collaboratives, legislators, educators, health professionals, parents and citizens who participated.

KIDS COUNT is a state and national effort funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to track the status of children on ten indicators of well-being. FCP publishes an annual Georgia KIDS COUNT report to provide information to local and state leaders, policymakers, and citizens to inform their decisions.

Georgia KIDS COUNT managers Taifa Butler (left) and Julie Sharpe guide Tour participants through the data.

What value do the numbers add?
"KIDS COUNT pulls together data collected by credible sources nationally—from the U.S. Census Bureau—and statewide from Georgia agencies, including Bureau of Investigation, Community Affairs, Early Care and Learning, Education, Family and Children Services, Public Health, and Secretary of State," said Julie Sharpe, Georgia KIDS COUNT data manager, who shared the value of KIDS COUNT data with Tour audiences. "While each of these sources presents a piece of the puzzle, Georgia KIDS COUNT uses information to find patterns and trends, and puts the puzzle pieces together to tell the story of child and family well-being in Georgia.

How to tell the story is just as important. Georgia KIDS COUNT looks at a variety of factors that affect children, including home life, education, poverty levels and health care. "When looking at the information," said Sharpe, "we ask the hard questions: What does this mean? and So what? We explore geographical, racial, ethnic, and economic disparities, then view data relationships. Only by doing this can we fully understand what the numbers mean, how they're used, and the messages we need to craft that will clearly communicate our understanding to others."

What do the numbers tell us about Georgia's kids?
Georgia is in the top half of the nation in average income and 10th overall in gross national product, yet it ranks 44th in the nation in overall child well-being. For a state doing so well economically, Georgia's children aren't very well off. "It's not fair to the kids," says Pat Willis, executive director of Voices for Georgia's Children. "We ought to be ashamed."

Georgia remains among the bottom ten states for low-birthweight babies, infant mortality, births to teen moms, and teens not attending school and not working.

What do the maps tell us?

A look at health:
Looking closely at teen births and repeat teen births, we see that the rates have declined in Georgia over the past decade but remain high compared to national rates. Maps show us which counties have the highest and lowest rates for teen and repeat teen births.

For the past decade more than one in five babies born in Georgia have been to mothers having less than 12 years of education. Nearly 60 percent of Hispanic infants born were to mothers who had less than 12 years of education. Research shows a strong correlation between a mother's education and her child's readiness for school.

A look at poverty: We see that 103 of 159 counties have 21 percent, or one in five or more children living in poverty. Yet families with children are working. Many working families live on bare bones budgets, with wages so low that more than 40 percent of Georgia school children qualify for free or reduced-price school meals.

A look at education:
A myriad of problems result from, and lead to, the poor graduation rates, according to Georgia KIDS COUNT data. Though overall Georgia students did better at passing the reading and math portions of the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test in 2004-2005 than in 2003-2004, black and Hispanic students continue to lag well behind, the study found.

The on-time high school graduation rate has slightly improved in the past four years. Yet, when we view a map of high school graduation, we see that 106 of the 159 counties in Georgia had graduation rates at or below the state average of 69.4 percent in 2005. Georgia's high school dropout rate improved from 16 percent in 2000 to 12 percent in 2004. Yet, Georgia has the nation's third highest rate of high school dropouts.

The numbers do not paint a pretty picture of how well children fare in Georgia.

How can we make the future brighter for Georgia's kids?
The good news is this picture is not complete and can change. Georgia is the fifth fastest-growing state in the nation and has the resources to commit to the future of our children. All public policy in Georgia is driven by the state budget and the budget is driven by the tax system. Alan Essig, founder of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, recommended comprehensive tax reform and modernization to ensure long-term revenue growth for the majority of Georgians. He challenged Tour audiences to ask, "What is our will? How will we use those resources?"

Lauren Waits, policy director of Voices for Georgia's Children, encouraged Tour audiences to "become a voice for Georgia's children and ensure that our kids perform at least as well as our economy."

"Our goal is to have productive citizens to lead the state," said Butler. "Georgia's kids are our future. This Tour provided an opportunity to share how we can understand and use the numbers in our work locally to make better decisions that will improve the well-being of children, families, and communities. The Tour was our first step in making our vision a reality."

Watch FCP's entire Georgia KIDS COUNT presentation in QuickTime

Download the Georgia KIDS COUNT PowerPoint presentation

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Links to Georgia 2006 KIDS COUNT