(Phoenix, AZ) Arizona’s overall ranking on conditions for children dropped from 42^nd to 46^th worst in the nation, according to the 1999 KIDS COUNT Data Book published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The statistical summary tracks key indicators for children in every state and the District of Columbia. This year’s report compares threats to children in 1985 and 1996.

"These numbers confront us with some alarming results from our actions and our inaction in the early and mid-1990s," said Nadine Mathis Basha, President of the Board of Children’s Action Alliance. "While these years have been the best of times for our economy, they have been the worst of times for thousands of Arizona’s children and families."

According to the report, Arizona performed worse than average on all indicators except low birth-weight babies (see attached summary chart). And the trends in Arizona between 1985 and 1996 were much less positive than the national trends. The rate of Arizona’s children living in poverty, for example, rose 24% between 1985 and 1996 while the national child poverty rate declined 5%.

Arizona’s rankings were the worst for teen indicators. Sixteen percent of Arizona teens were high school dropouts in 1996, ranking Arizona 50^th. Arizona’s teen death rate by accident, homicide, and suicide ranked 44^th worst. And although the teen birthrate has begun to decline here and across the country, Arizona’s problem remains huge. Only Mississippi and the District of Columbia had more babies born to teen moms than Arizona in 1996.

"As westerners, we put high value on our independence ," said Carol Kamin, Executive Director of Children’s Action Alliance. "But too many leaders have turned this positive value into a negative attitude toward public investment and we have left many kids stranded. Now our kids are growing up with more obstacles than kids in other western, growing states like Colorado and Texas and California and Nevada."

"I am proud to say that a new spirit has emerged this past year, exemplified by a coalition of state lawmakers and Governor Hull ," said Mathis Basha. "With the leadership of representatives like Carolyn Allen, Susan Gerard and John Loredo, and senators like Sue Grace, David Petersen, and Ruth Solomon, we are seeing new policies that will bring better results for our children -- policies like improved public education and expanded efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect."

Representative Carolyn Allen said, "We cannot just stand by and watch while parents struggle and children suffer. Voters throughout the state have asked us to make children a higher priority and we are committed to do just that. Responsible public policies and budget priorities can make a tremendous impact on children’s lives and futures."

Senator Sue Grace agreed: "This session we took positive steps to help working parents get quality, affordable child care and health care for their children. We invested in public education as well as prevention efforts for struggling families. We will continue these trends next year; the pendulum is swinging in favor of kids."

"The steps we took for kids this year are certainly not enough by themselves to push our rankings up," Kamin concluded. "But if we keep the momentum going and focus on the issues that concern most Arizonans, we can expect to see real progress toward healthy and achieving children."

Arizona Kids Count Trends Charts

• Child Poverty Worsens While AZ Leads Country in Job Growth
• Arizona's Overall Kids Count Ranking
• AZ Child Trends Worse Than U.S. 1985 to 1996

 Source: 1999 KIDS COUNT Data Book, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, Maryland. (Statistics use 1996 data.)

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