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Report: Virginia Ranks in Top Ten for Child Well-Being

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia continues to rank near the top in the nation for child well-being, according to a new report. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2019 Kids Count Data Book ranks the Commonwealth tenth overall, with steady gains in education and lower teen birth rates.
But the report also showed the state still lagging behind in reducing child poverty. More than 260,000 kids live below the poverty line in Virginia.
Margaret Nimmo Holland, executive director of Voices for Virginia’s Children, said policymakers need to consider the state’s growing diversity to help.
“We really need to be paying attention to see how different groups of children are doing and making sure that we’re targeting our policy solutions to be equitable,” Holland said. “So that if children of color are falling behind, that we can come up with policy solutions that specifically address their needs, and are not just universal for all children.”
The report said Virginia’s education gains came from improved standardized test scores. The number of eighth-graders proficient in math surged from a low of 36% in 2010 to 40% in 2017. Fourth-grade reading levels also improved during that time, from 34% to 42% of kids reading proficiently.
Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs with the Casey Foundation, said lawmakers need to provide tools to help families lift themselves up economically. For example, federal and state Earned-Income Tax Credit programs, which Virginia has, help working parents devote more take-home pay to meeting their children’s needs.
“Last year alone, 6 million people benefited from the credit,” Boissiere said. “It’s a proven program that allows families to have more access to the wages that they earn, and that allows them to provide more for their children.”
Boissiere added it’s important to have an accurate census count in 2020. Fifty-five major federal programs, including Head Start and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, allocate more than $880 billion each year nationwide based on census data.