ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 17, 1996 TAG: 9606190001
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
A CELEBRATION in order? In the latest Annie E. Casey Foundation report on the status of American children, Virginia was ranked 18th from the worst among 50 states and Washington, D.C., in providing for children's well-being. That ranking, while certainly no source of pride, marked an improvement.
Virginia was rated 15th worst last year by the foundation, based on its nationwide survey of key indicators of well-being or risk to the health, safety and survival of youngsters. At the least, Virginia seems to be moving in the right direction.
On the foundation's scale, the status of Virginia children has improved in some critical indicator-categories. For instance:
nThe state's infant-mortality rate - once among the highest in the nation - has declined. As of 1993, Virginia's infant death rate was 8.7 per 1,000, just slightly higher than the national average of 8.4 deaths per 1,000 live births.
* The death rate among children ages 1 to 14 is also down slightly - from 30 to 28 deaths per 1,000 children.
* That the well-being of Virginia's children has been ratcheted up in these categories is good news. And it should be understood that the decline in the death rates is not attributable solely to improved access to medical care.
The infant mortality rate, for example, is associated as much with socioeconomic factors - such as poverty, limited education, and unemployment - as with the quality of prenatal care for pregnant women and medical care for babies.
Far too many Virginia children are living in poverty, but the percentage has decreased from 15 percent to 13 percent - boding well for the health of children if the trend continues.
And it's doubly good news that Virginia's high-school dropout rate has dropped significantly - from 12 percent to 7 percent, now lower than the national average of 9 percent.
Unfortunately, the infant-mortality rate also has a well-established link to the absence of a father in the home, and the Casey Foundation report offers no encouragement for Virginia in this regard.
Statewide, the number of children being raised by a single parent increased from 20 percent to 22 percent. The rise in the number of unmarried teen-age girls who had babies was particularly sizable and alarming.
Various groups are focusing on these demographic trends. In Virginia, Gov. George Allen recently launched a campaign to reduce the number of fatherless families; in Roanoke, a city task force finally has issued recommendations on ways to reduce teen pregnancy.
Will such efforts make a difference? It's not nearly time to celebrate.
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