2013
Rhode Island
Kids Count Factbook

New at Rhode Island KIDS COUNT

Pawtucket Data in Your Backyard held on Tuesday, June 18, 2013 The Pawtucket Data in Your Backyard presentation included highlights of improvements and declines in the well-being of children and youth in Pawtucket, based on the 2013 Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Factbook. The presentation was brought to the community in partnership with the Pawtucket School Department Child Opportunity Zone, and was held on Tuesday, June 18, 2013 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Click to view the press release, presentation, and photos.

Rhode Island KIDS COUNT launches City/Town Tuesdays Rhode Island KIDS COUNT is pleased to announce the launch of “City/Town Tuesdays,” a weekly online initiative that will share data and information about the well-being of children in one city or town in Rhode Island. City/Town Tuesdays provide a statistical profile of the featured city/town across five subject areas: Family and Community, Economic Well-Being, Health, Safety, and Education. Community-level data will be shared, along with state-level data. Each Tuesday, beginning June 11, 2013, Rhode Island KIDS COUNT will highlight a different Rhode Island city or town on their website, Twitter (@RIKidsCount - #CityTownTuesRI) and Facebook (Rhode Island KIDS COUNT).

Providence Data in Your Backyard held on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 The Providence Data in Your Backyard presentation included highlights of improvements and declines in the well-being of children and youth in Providence, based on the 2013 Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Factbook. The presentation was brought to the community in partnership with Providence’s Children and Youth Cabinet, and was held on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Gilbert Stuart Middle School. Click to view the presentation, press release, and photo gallery.

Teen births in Rhode Island, US fall to record low According to newly released CDC report, the number of babies born to RI teenagers dropped 27% between 2007 and 2011. The largest decrease in RI was observed among non-Hispanic black residents at 41%, which was one of the three largest decreases in the country during this time period. Teen births fell by 26% among non-Hispanic white Rhode Islanders and by 30% among Hispanic residents. Nationally, the overall rate declined 25% — a record low.

Help for Working and Unemployed Families Resource Sheet Released Many working and unemployed families in Rhode Island are eligible for services and benefits to help support their families. Programs such as health insurance (RIte Care), child care subsidies, tax credits (EITC), nutrition assistance (SNAP and WIC) and cash assistance (RI Works) are available to families with low or moderate incomes. Rhode Island KIDS COUNT has released a fact sheet in English and Spanish, to help working and unemployed Rhode Island families access these services and benefits. Please click here for the order form.

COUNTDOWN TO COVERAGE:  An Interactive Workshop on Health Care Reform in Rhode Island held on May 22, 2013 The Rhode Island Health Coverage Project hosted a workshop about Affordable Care Act implementation in Rhode Island for staff of community organizations who help connect people to health coverage. Workshop materials: Agenda, Contact Sheet, Family Resource Directory, Health Coverage Project Presentation, RI Health Benefits Exchange Presentation, RI Health Benefits Exchange Letter to the Community, RI Health Benefits Exchange FAQ, RI Health Coverage Project Overview, Who is the ACA Helping in RI. For the RIte Care Materials, please click here.

Let's Get It Right: Improving Outcomes for Babies & Toddlers in Child Welfare Summit to be held on May 20, 2013 The Let’s Get it Right Summit was held on Monday, May 20, 2013 from 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM at Children's Friend in Providence, RI. The Summit was hosted in partnership with Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, and brought together service providers, educators, corporate and community partners, and policymakers dedicated to improving the outcomes of all young children in child welfare.

The RI Interfaith Coalition Fifth Annual Conference to Reduce Poverty Conference held on May 13, 2013 The 5th Annual Conference to Reduce Poverty was held on Monday, May 13 from 7:30am to 2:30pm at Rhode Island College. The Conference brought together faith and community leaders to discuss ways to reduce poverty in Rhode Island, and features keynote speaker Erik Stegman, Manager Of Half in Ten At the Center for American Progress.

2013 Lipsitt-Duchin Lecture held on May 2, 2013 The 2013 Lipsitt-Duchin Lecture on Child and Youth Behavior Development, sponsored by Brown University's Center for the Study of Human Development and Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, was held on Thursday, May 2, 2013 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m at Brown University Salomon 001. This year's presentation, "Reflections on Race, Child Development and School Reform" was given by James Comer, MD. Dr. Comer is the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Child Study Center, and has been a Yale medical faculty member since 1968. Discussants were Deborah Gist, Commissioner of Education, Rhode Island Department of Education; and Gigi DiBello, MEd, Head of School, Sophia Academy.

Access to Early Learning Programs Health Issue Brief Released at Policy Roundtable April 29, 2013 - Rhode Island KIDS COUNT released its latest Issue Brief - Access to Early Learning Programs in Rhode Island - at a policy roundtable attended by more than fifty community members. Senior Policy Analyst Leanne Barrett presented the findings, and Commissioner of the RI Department of Education Deborah Gist and Director of the RI Department of Human Services Sandra Powell were discussants. Please see the press release here.

2013 Factbook Released Rhode Island KIDS COUNT released its nineteenth annual report on the well-being of Rhode Island’s children at a policy breakfast attended by over 500 people, including the Governor, members of the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation, General Assembly leaders, community leaders, and policymakers from education, health, and human services. The event took place on Monday, April 8, 2013, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick. The 2013 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook charts improvements and declines in the well-being of children and youth across the state and in each of Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns, and provides the latest available statistics on 68 different aspects of children’s lives, from birth through adolescence. The Factbook indicators are grouped into five interrelated categories: family and community, economic well-being, health, safety, and education. View the 2013 Factbook »

Watch our recent episode of the Rhode Island KIDS COUNT TV Show. The February 2013 episode discusses access to children's mental health services with Gregory Fritz, MD.

President Obama Announces New Early Childhood Initiatives On February 12, 2013, in his State of the Union address, President Obama called for expanding access to high-quality Pre-K by partnering with states to reach all low- and moderate-income 4-year-old children.  Rhode Island's Pre-K program has been recognized as one of only five in the country to meet research-based quality benchmarks.  The program has also been shown to reduce the achievement gap between low-income children and their higher-income peers by 75% at kindergarten entry.         President Obama also announced a plan to expand access to child care subsidies and Early Head Start with a focus on ensuring that high-quality programs are available for more infants and toddlers.  In addition, the President wants to expand access to full-day kindergarten across the country and increase investments in evidence-based home visiting programs to serve the most vulnerable young children and their families.  Rhode Island's evidence-based home visiting programs include Nurse-Family Partnership, Healthy Families, and Parents as Teachers.       More details about the President's early childhood initiatives can be found in a recent White House press release.

Read Rhode Island KIDS COUNT’s Budget Analysis of Governor Chafee's proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget, which includes many items that will affect the well-being of Rhode Island's children and families.

Rhode Island KIDS COUNT is tracking bills and budget items relating to children and youth during the 2013 Legislative session. Check out Legislative Info for the latest on important legislation and upcoming hearings, and to read our public testimony on behalf of Rhode Island's children, youth, and families.

Watch our recent episodes of the Rhode Island KIDS COUNT TV Show. The December 2012 episode focuses on college access and features Simon Moore, Executive Director of College Visions, and Ralph Johnson, Director of College Advisors. The January 2013 episode focuses on youth violence and features Teny Gross, Director of the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence, and Lorena Garcia, Americorps member.

The Pew Children's Dental Campaign has released a 50-state report on dental sealants. Rhode Island earned a grade of C, which reflects the high percentage of high-need schools with sealant programs and high quality data and surveillance, as well as severe restrictions that prevent dental hygienists from applying sealants and not attaining national benchmarks for sealants among children.

In the Aftermath of Newtown - Data to Inform Urgent Policy Decisions 　 As state and federal policymakers develop policy responses to the tragic events in Connecticut and work toward preventing future gun deaths among children and youth, Rhode Island KIDS COUNT offers the following data and policy resources on the two key policy issues of gun violence and mental health: 　 Gun Violence According to the Children's Defense Fund, 2,694 children and teens were killed by gunfire in the U.S. in 2010 - 1,773 of them were victims of homicide and 67 of these were elementary school-age children. If those children and teens were still alive, they would fill 108 classrooms of 25 each. For additional information, please see the following indicators from the 2012 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook: Teen Deaths, Youth Violence 　 Access to Mental Health Services One in five children ages six to 17 in Rhode Island has a diagnosable mental or addictive disorder and one in ten has significant functional impairment. The vast majority of children and youth who need mental health treatment do not receive it. Read the recent Op-Ed in the Providence Journal by the Mental Health Association of Rhode Island about their report that details the difficulties that Rhode Island youth and their families face in accessing appropriate and timely mental health services. For additional information, please see the following indicator from the 2012 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook: Children's Mental Health

Rhode Island KIDS COUNT is the proud recipient of the Michelle Norris Memorial Award. Children's Friend, which provides child welfare, family support, mental health and child development services, presented its highest honor to Elizabeth Burke Bryant and Rhode Island KIDS COUNT at its 178th annual meeting in June. Click to read a Providence Journal article about the award.