The report uses data from the Census Bureau (most recent data is from 2004 and 2005) to measure each state’s progress since 2000 in specific key areas: infant mortality rates, teenage birth and mortality rates, child mortality rates, rates of low-birth weight infants, and child poverty rates.
Minnesota, New Hampshire and Connecticut ranked the highest overall in the report and Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi ranked the lowest in terms of these areas. According to the report, the national infant mortality rate decreased to 6.8 per 1,000 live births in 2004 from 6.9 per 1,000 in 2000. The report also found that the national birth rate among teens ages 15 to 19 decreased to 41 per 1,000 in 2004 from 48 per 1,000 in 2000 and that the mortality rate among teens ages 15 to 19 decreased to 66 per 100,000 in 2004 from 67 per 100,000 in 2000.
This report is just one more indication of the challenges facing lawmakers as they battle one another over extending and increasing State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP. The 10-year-old program covers children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private health insurance. The Senate Finance Committee agreed on a bill allotting an additional $35 billion for the insurance program. Bush has threatened to veto the bipartisan Senate proposal, which would increase the program's funding by $35 billion over five years. The House bill, created solely by Democrats, calls for a $50 billion increase over the same period.
Founded in 1948, the primary mission of the Annie E. Casey Foundation is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families. In pursuit of this goal, the Foundation makes grants that help states, cities, and neighborhoods fashion more innovative, cost-effective responses to these needs.