Children's Defense Fund Special Report
September 14, 2000

Children's Defense Fund Releases New Report: Children in the States 2000

****************************************************************
CHILDREN IN THE STATES 2000: How Does Your State Fare?

On Tuesday, September 12, The Children's Defense Fund released a new edition of the annual Children in the States publication. Children in the States 2000 provides accurate, timely, and comprehensive information about the condition of children and their families in each state in a concise, uniform format. The state profiles are tools for planning and action - particularly useful as state and local governments, as well as the private sector, take on increasing levels of responsibility for the design and implementation of programs affecting children. The presentation of this key state and national data enables readers to take a look at how their own state is doing, compared to neighboring states and the national average, and then urge their elected officials (at the federal, state and local levels) to do more for children.

The profiles for each state include snapshots of recent information on the condition of children in a variety of areas. Children's health is examined through data on uninsured children, state-specific information on the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility, prenatal care, low birthweight births, infant mortality, child immunizations and the teen birth rate. Information is provided on the number of families receiving child care help in the state compared to the eligible number, the average cost of child care compared to that of public college tuition in the state, and state-specific child care regulations. State-specific family income is explored through recent information on the number of poor children in the state, along with participation rates in the food stamp program, Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), School Lunch and Breakfast programs and Child and Adult Care Food Programs (CACFP). The safety of children in each state is assessed by reports of total firearm deaths, Child Access Prevention (CAP) Laws and Trigger Lock Laws, as well as numbers of children reported victims of abuse and neglect. Education in the state is compared to the national average in terms of class sizes, 4th grade reading proficiency, high school completion rates and expenditures per pupil. The available funds for children reported are the total state budget balance, available tobacco settlement money, unspent CHIP funds, and unobligated TANF funds.

Children in the States also includes tables which rank the states in alphabetical and declining (best to worst) order, according to their numbers of uninsured children, early prenatal care, infant mortality, low birthweight births, child immunizations, children in poverty, child support collection, and per pupil expenditures.

It is our hope that the data provided in this book encourages states to learn from those doing much for children, and improve situations where children's needs are being overlooked. The information from this report can be viewed online at www.cdfactioncouncil.org . To order a copy of this publication, please contact Michael Kugelman at (202) 662-3665 or email cdfactioncouncil@childrensdefense.org. 



************************************************************

FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT FEDERAL LEGISLATION, PLEASE EMAIL CDFFieldteam@childrensdefense.org 
-- OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR NUMBERS --

PLEASE FORWARD THIS LEGISLATIVE UPDATE TO YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND COLLEAGUES!

Our typical email is about a page or two long and is delivered once a week. To join the CDF Update list, sign up on our website or send an email to: majordomo@listbox.com  and write in the body of the message: subscribe cdfupdate. (Your email address DOES NOT need to be in the body of the email, but the update will automatically be sent from the address from which you have signed up.) To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to: majordomo@listbox.com  and write in the body of the message: unsubscribe cdfupdate.

************************************************************************
Amy Judge
Children's Defense Fund
25 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Fax: (202) 662-3550
http://www.childrensdefense.org

CDFfieldteam@childrensdefense.org