Kids Count Report – Nebraska

Posted on January 13, 2010 by townsend

• Kids Count report targeting low weight babies, By Harold Reutter, January 13, 2010, Grand Island Independent: “Although Nebraska is making progress in a number of areas on the well-being of its children, there are a number of areas that should still cause concern. Those conclusions were part of the annual Kids Count in Nebraska 2009 report released Wednesday by the organization Voices for Children in Nebraska. Annmarie Bailey Fowler, host for the Tuesday webinar that preceded the Wednesday release of the Kids Count report, said the 2009 report focused on the area of infant and maternal in addition to immigrant children. She said that indicator was picked because there had been no improvement in the trend of low birth weight babies over time…”
• Report: Nebraska’s infant mortality rate jumps, By Erin Andersen, January 13, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “It’s not just children of in poverty or of immigrants who have a rough go of it in ‘the good life’ state, according to the 2009 Kids Count report. In 2007 (the latest year of statistics) Nebraska’s tiniest and youngest citizens died at the highest rate in five years — 6.8 deaths for every 1,000 births, said Dr. Magda Peck, associate dean and professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center…”
• Report: Immigrants’ children fastest growing youth population in Nebraska, By Erin Andersen, January 13, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “Nearly one in eight Nebraska kids were born to immigrants in 2008 — making them the state’s fastest growing youth population. But statistics find these kids face more barriers than children of U.S.-born parents, according to the 2009 Kids Count report released Wednesday. Sixty-one percent of children born to immigrants live in poverty — compared with 13.4 percent of Nebraska children as a whole…”
• Immigrant kids’ needs highlighted, By Cindy Gonzalez, January 13, 2010, Omaha World-Herald: “The latest ‘Kids Count in Nebraska’ report ventures into atypical and politically charged territory: immigration. Usually, authors present only a general report card on how children fare in Nebraska. They compile statistics on subjects such as dropout rates, infant mortality and juvenile crime. This year, Voices for Children, a statewide research and policy group that released the 85-page report, chose to highlight barriers faced by immigrant children and parents…”