We’re excited to release the 2023 KIDS COUNT Data Book! Our annual report offers national and state data across four domains — economic well-being, education, health and family and community — and ranks states in overall child well-being. https://t.co/YODJvpTDMc

“For those youth who need more sup­port, pro­ba­tion should be designed to cen­ter the youth, their fam­i­lies and sup­port net­works to cre­ate a space in which every­one is work­ing togeth­er to help the youth on a path forward.”

High school students who value a college education are more concerned with how their degree will help them earn higher salaries and find well-paid work than they are with networking or learning opportunities.

Seven children per day die as a result of gun violence — and that number has increased dramatically since the start of the pandemic, with firearm-related deaths for kids increasing by 46% between 2019 and 2022.

Decades of research have made one thing clear: Parental involve­ment in edu­ca­tion improves stu­dent atten­dance, social skills and behav­ior.

“If your child is being bullied, that to me is a mental health issue. It’s a big reason people leave their schools. Their child says things like ‘I hate school. I don’t want to go to school.’ That’s pretty common.”

About one-quarter of public school teachers in the U.S. say they spend more than $500 of their own money on classroom supplies and resources every school year. https://t.co/JcNRo2Dc1B

“How do I find the right job once I’m finished? How do I choose what classes to take so I’m not wasting my time and money as I go through the college process. A concerted effort to engage and reach out to [high schoolers] is really needed.”

CareerBound, the next phase of a longstanding workforce development program by Baltimore’s Promise, aims to help the city’s young peo­ple devel­op mar­ketable job skills and begin lucra­tive careers.

“It honestly scares me for the future of education. I’m not sure where education’s going to go if all of these colleges keep closing. It’s just another roadblock, especially with people who are struggling with tuition in the first place.” https://t.co/vYiObOZdtp

Black families are at the highest risk of experiencing evictions or foreclosures. In 2021, 45% of Black families with kids reported that they were very likely to leave their home soon due to eviction or foreclosure — well above the national average of 36%. https://t.co/CmG7ckUsYj

During the 2021–22 school year, 87% of U.S. high school students graduated on time — the highest national on-time graduation rate the U.S. has ever seen. https://t.co/KUJ9a0HN6i

“Multiplication is driven by addition, and they don’t know their addition facts because those are the early grades that they missed [in-person] because of the pandemic.”

A key part of supporting the overall well-being of children is ensuring their parents are financially stable, since growing up in poverty affects all areas of a child’s life, from their academic performance to their mental and physical health. https://t.co/Mhi0oO8qZk

Gaining access to child care through programs like Head Start can remove significant barriers for student parents working towards their college degrees. However, only 100 of the 3,000 community college campuses in the U.S. have Head Start centers on-site. https://t.co/rrq4CrizVg

Kids who were babies, toddlers or preschoolers during the pandemic are academically and developmentally behind what was typical pre-COVID, and are also less likely to have age-appropriate skills, such as holding a pencil or managing their emotions.

Over 40% of all young children ages 5 or under had a family member read to them fewer than four days a week. This is concerning considering the essential role parents play in supporting their children’s reading abilities and literacy development. https://t.co/GDPOwpS7xv

In 2022, 75% of Texas eighth graders scored below proficient in math — a significant decline in math performance among middle schoolers over just a few years. Check out the work of our partner @EveryTxn for more.

The U.S. high school graduation rate has stagnated since the pandemic, leaving experts worried that youth are entering the adult workforce without the education and skills that will help them thrive. https://t.co/Mhi0oO8qZk

Last year, our Opportunity Passport savings-match program helped over 3500 young people in foster care save a total of about $890,000 — funds that helped these youth cover housing and educational expenses, purchase cars, and meet other basic needs.

“We can't talk about infant mortality rates and racial disparities without talking about structural racism, [and] social determinants of poor health outcomes–like where someone resides, lack of transportation, food insecurity.”