There are more deaths and disabilities each year in the U.S. from
substance abuse than from any other cause.
Brandeis University, 1993.
Louisiana Facts
Poverty
Louisiana’s
poverty rate is 19.2% – the second highest rate in the nation, and
the highest in the South. (U.S. Census Bureau)
More than 26% of
Louisiana children live in poverty – the second highest rate in the
nation and the highest in the South. (U.S. Census Bureau)
Ten percent of the
babies born in Louisiana are low birth weight. That’s the
second-highest percentage in the nation and the South. In many
cases, low birth weight babies face added difficulties learning and
need additional assistance to succeed in school. (U.S. Census
Bureau)
Louisiana has the
highest percentage in the nation of families with children headed by
a single parent – 35%. The Southern average is 29%. (2000 Kids
Count Data Book)
Thirty-five
percent of children in Louisiana live with parents who do not have
full-time, year-round jobs. That’s the second-worst rate in the
nation and the South. The Southern average is 29%. (U.S. Census
Bureau)
The nationally
recognized Better Homes Fund cited Louisiana as the state where
children are the most at risk for homelessness. (The Better Homes
Fund.)
In Louisiana, 13%
of teens age 16-19 do not attend school or work. That’s the
second-highest percentage in the nation and, along with Tennessee,
the highest in the South. (U.S. Census Bureau)
During the
1999-2000 school year, 34% of the “at-risk” four-year-olds in
Louisiana were not being served by any public early childhood
program. That amounts to more than 13,000 children. (LA
Department of Education)
Fewer than half
the fourth and eighth grade students who took the LEAP 21 “high
stakes” test in 2000 reached the level of basic in math. Just over
half reached the basic level in English. (LA Department of
Education)
Louisiana has the
highest juvenile incarceration rate in the nation at a cost of more
than $26,000 a year for every youngster housed in a state facility.
(Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention & LA
Legislative Auditor)
Percent of Related
Children in Single-mother Families who are Below Poverty: 2000
National
Rank
Geographic
Area
%
1
Louisiana
57.1
2
Mississippi
55.6
3
West Virginia
53.7
4
Alabama
51.1
5
Arkansas
50.0
Facts on Poverty in Louisiana
1.
Poverty
Poverty is at the root of many risk factors for youth, including
health, academic success and delinquency. The poverty rate in
Louisiana is 19%, the 2nd highest in the nation and the highest in the
South. Louisiana has the highest child poverty rate in the South (31%)
and ranks 48th in the nation.
2.
Illness
Louisiana ranks 50th, the worst in the nation, in overall health
indicators, such as disease rate. Lack of access to routine and
preventive health care is a major contributor to Louisiana’s poor
health status; we also rank last in terms of access to primary health
care. Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of poor
health. Low birth weight is a significant indicator of poor health and
is linked to many physical and neuro-developmental problems. Louisiana
ranks 50th in the nation with the highest rate of low birth weight
among infants (10%).
3.
Pollutants
Lead is one of the major contaminants; exposure has shown to be
especially harmful to developing brain and nervous systems of young
children. Louisiana is a national leader in the per capita production
of hazardous wastes and in the amount of chemicals released into our
air, water and soil. As of 1998, there were 128 confirmed and 342
potential (requiring further investigation) inactive and abandoned
hazardous waste sites.
4.
Mental Illness
Approximately 110,450 children (10%) in Louisiana suffer from a
serious emotional disorder; yet there are only three state hospitals
that provide in-patient psychiatric treatment to children. This figure
does not include all the youth suffering from depression, the most
common under-diagnosed condition in young people.
5.
School
Louisiana spends on average $4,724 per child’s education and ranks
48th in the country for lowest teacher salaries. The equivalent of
more than 2 classrooms of young people drop out every day and about
50,000 students are absent from school on any given day. A child in
middle school is more likely to be suspended or expelled than a high
school student.
6.
Recreation
Spending on after-school activities, such as band, extended day
programs, and athletics, amounts to less than 2% of Louisiana’s total
school costs, despite research demonstrating that after-school
programming can both build youth’s strengths and reduce risk-taking
behavior.
7.
Violence & Abuse
Every day, 40 children are reported as abused or neglected in
Louisiana. In 1998, 14,791 children were reported abused and 5,911
children were placed in foster care. Louisiana ranked 45th for child
death rate (34 of 100,000 children die each year) and 47th for the
rate of teen deaths by accident, homicide or suicide.
Sources:
Council for a Better Louisiana, Measuring Our Progress, The
People’s Agenda Report Card 2000, p.12 citing U.S. Census; Agenda
For Children, 1999 Kids Count Data Book, p.2.
1.
La. DHH, 2000 Louisiana Health Report Card, p.154, 157; Annie
E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Book 2000, p.89; Agenda for
Children, 1999 Kids Count Data Book, p.2.
2.
La. DHH, 2000
Louisiana Health Report Card,
p.124-126.
3.
La. DHH, La. Adolescent Data Book, p.31
4.
U.S. DOE, "State Profiles of Public Elementary and Secondary
Education, 1996-97" p.25; Agenda For Children, Kids Count Data Book
200, p. viii; La. DOE, 1998-99 La. State Education Progress
report, p.17-19.
