Investing in kids works

The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics has released its annual report titled “America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being.” This is the annual report of data from federal agencies that tracks the well-being of the nation’s children. Data are presented for the nation as a whole, not by individual states, and so it is a broad summary of children’s well-being.

The forum found very positive trends in child health and behavior (including increased access to health care, low infant and child mortality, continually declining births to teens, and declines in teen smoking). Maine KIDS COUNT data, released earlier this year, found the same trends for children in Maine. These positive trends are clearly linked to public programs that have been created or sustained to address and improve these child health outcomes.

Maine lawmakers have expanded access to health care, targeted resources to reduce teen pregnancy and teen smoking, and improved child care resources for families. This is of particular concern as the data represent trends over the last decade, a time of relative economic prosperity.

Now, as we face significant cuts to the state programs largely responsible for the success of these child outcomes, we need to make sure that the health of our children is not sacrificed in the struggle to balance the budget. We should all contact the governor and our state representatives and senators and remind them that investing in kids works, in good times and in bad.

Lynn Davey

Director

Maine KIDS COUNT

Maine Children’s Alliance

Augusta