The state ranks 29th in the U.S. for children’s economic well-being while child and teen deaths surge, according to the 30th annual Kids Count National Data Book
A new report shows Oregon children rank in the bottom half of the country for economic well-being, and their death rate is rising.
According to the just-released, 30th edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count National Data Book, Oregon children rank 29th in the country for economic well-being, falling one spot from 28th last year.
And in the largest leap of any state, Oregon saw a 24% increase in child and teen deaths between 2010 and 2017. The data book showed Oregon’s child and teen death rate (deaths per 100,000 children ages 1 to 19) at 26, with a national ranking of 19th. For teens between the ages of 15 and 19, suicides were one of the biggest factors.
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“Kids are coming to school with so many struggles, including housing insecurity and food insecurity,” said Nancy Haque, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon. “All of it takes a toll on people’s mental health, and even very young people can feel the effect of toxic shock.”
Haque said online and school bullying and a lack of acceptance for LGBTQ+ youths are contributing factors.
“Personally, I wrote my first suicide note as a fourth-grader,” she said. “I felt a sense of hopelessness, having a family that couldn’t understand me, especially my parents who were immigrants from Bangladesh.”
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Haque wrote a short story in sixth grade about suicide, and her teacher immediately alerted the principal and sat down with Haque for a supportive conversation. Her school district in Virginia had a mandated policy for how to handle the mention of suicide by a student, and she said the conversation with her teacher helped her feel “seen.”
Seventeen-year-old Adi Staub, from Oregon, was not as fortunate. Two years after coming out as a transgender youth, she wrote a paper about the self-destructive thoughts she was having and how she worried for her future safety. Her teacher never reported it. Her parents only read the paper months after Adi died by suicide in the summer of 2017.
In honor of Adi and students facing similar struggles, Basic Rights Oregon and its partners asked Oregon lawmakers to pass Adi’s Act (Senate Bill 52), which will provide every school district in the state with a model suicide prevention policy and require districts to have a policy in place. The governor signed the bill into law last month.
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“I want to push us toward lived equality,” said Haque. “I think that means making sure our youth have more hope and really see a future for themselves, no matter who they are, or who they love or what their gender-expression is.”
The annual Kids Count Data Book is one of the tools Children First for Oregon uses to provide reliable data to child advocates and legislative decision-makers. The group also releases its own Oregon County Data Book in October, with a county-by-county breakdown. Children First Legislative Director Chris Coughlin said Adi’s Act is an example of how rankings and indicators can help bring change.
“It’s an example of a policy change that we’re hoping will help change the trajectory of child and teen deaths in Oregon,” said Coughlin. “So, now we’ll be watching over the next couple years or so to determine if we’re seeing results with a decrease in the number of suicides.”
Coughlin said the Kids Count Data Book, which dates to 1990, shows promising improvements nationwide in children’s health, economic well-being, education and family life.
In Oregon, specifically comparing 2010 to 2017, the percentage of children in poverty dropped from 22% to 16%. The number of high school students not graduating on time dropped from 32% to 23%. However, Coughlin said it’s important to note that 2010 was in the depth of the Great Recession.
“We can talk about our graduation rate improving, and it is,” said Coughlin. “But we still have the second worst graduation rate in the country.
“We need to figure out what policies and programs are needed to move Oregon from where we are stuck in the rankings.”
According to this year’s data book, 27% of Oregon children live in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment.
Statewide, 30% of children live in households where the family spends more than 30% of its income on housing.
Oregon ranks 39th in the U.S. for children living in households with a high housing cost burden.
“Children First is concerned because we see deep disparities exist for children of color, low-income children, children in immigrant families and children in poor communities,” Coughlin said.
She said policy makers need to be mindful to push investments that don’t perpetuate the barriers.
One such program endorsed by both Children First for Oregon and Basic Rights Oregon is the new Student Success Act, also signed by the governor last month.
“The Student Success Act will target the many different populations I’ve mentioned to create equity among students,” Coughlin said.
The multibillion-dollar education tax is designed to boost student performance and decrease class sizes, but it also focuses on improving students social and emotional health.
“We really need to figure out how to invest in these programs in a long-term way,” Coughlin said. “We also need to support families so they’re economically stable in good times and in bad, so we can level the playing field and allow all children the opportunity to thrive.”
One way to do that, according to Coughlin, is by using future Kids Count data books to determine if these policy investments are working, while keeping in mind that statistics don’t always tell the whole story.
“If you look at the data book, you can say, with many of these factors, there’s been marked improvement, but unfortunately, there are still so many kids who are being left behind.”
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