Pandemic response will be true measure of Missouri KIDS COUNT report

The report was going to be a promising one. Optimistic about signs that we’re doing better closing gaps and improving the well-being of Missouri children.

But all the indicators gathered into the 2020 Missouri KIDS COUNT data book preceded the COVID-19 pandemic.

Go here to read the 2020 Missouri KIDS COUNT data book.

All the inequities in the opportunities that Missouri children have for healthy lives — charted by the report since 1993 — will come under unprecedented strain during and after the pandemic.

The 2020 report will be our baseline going forward.

“We expect the impact of the pandemic will affect Missouri’s children and families in waves,” said Tracy Greever-Rice, the state’s KIDS COUNT program director with the Family and Community Trust.

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“Today we are focused on ensuring children are safe in their homes as well as in childcare to allow our essential workforce to serve and protect Missourians,” Greever-Rice said. “Down the road, we anticipate the economic impact on Missouri families will be substantial for many. The primary goal of Missouri KIDS COUNT is to provide trustworthy, accurate information to support the unprecedented challenges faced by our local and state policymakers and providers.”

Before the outbreak, Missouri KIDS COUNT noted, fewer Missouri children were living in poverty in 2018 compared to 2014. But child homelessness had increased by more than 17%.

“We know that kids living in underserved, higher poverty, less-resourced areas of Missouri are already at higher risk for worse outcomes,” Missouri KIDS COUNT’s statement on the report said. “Over time, the COVID-19 pandemic will provide a stark contrast between those parts of Missouri with easy access to resources versus those without.”

And while many indicators on child welfare improved, some that didn’t are particularly troubling as Missouri families cope with the economic and mental health stress of the pandemic.

The rate of low birthweight infants grew. Also increasing was the adolescent death rate, driven by an increase in suicides. The number of young people under age 20 who died by suicide doubled during this five-year period.

“We are concerned that this growing problem will be exacerbated by the economic impact on job and educational opportunities created by the COVID-19 crisis,” the statement noted.

In the county reports, Jackson County saw several of its benchmarks improve, though overall Jackson remained ranked 103rd among the 115 counties and St. Louis City in the report.

The economic well-being of Jackson County children, measured in decreasing rates of children living in poverty and who are food-insecure, continued to improve. The rates of teen births and the rates of substantiated child abuse claims also improved. And more high school seniors are graduated.

But preventable hospitalizations of youth, and the rate of low-weight births increased.

The nationwide KIDS COUNT effort is supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.