On the same day that the 2023 Kids COUNT data was released, LINC and other community partnerships from across the state rallied at the Capitol in Jefferson City, April 24, urging lawmakers to the work of improving the welfare of children, families and neighborhoods.

“We all know we are better when communities and neighborhoods and government work together for the betterment of our children and our families,” LINC Executive Vice President Janet Miles-Bartee said.

LINC’s team of advocates was surrounded on the Capitol’s third floor rotunda by several other community partnership organizations from across Missouri that are members of the statewide Family and Community Trust on “Community Partnerships Day.”

It was “great to have these community partnerships” at the Capitol, said state Rep. Michael Johnson of Kansas City, one of several lawmakers who met with LINC’s team, “because it gives us the opportunity to see what each organization is great at and where we can fill in and pick up the slack.”

“In return,” Johnson said, “that gives us the opportunity to build a bigger and better community-based ecosystem.

In their meetings at the Capitol, the community partnerships carried with them the latest data from the newly released 2023 Kids Count report.

While the welfare of children in Missouri, including in Jackson County and Kansas City, still comes with concerns, the data show that overall children’s lives have improved — and the collaboration between community partnerships and government have helped, said Bill Dent, the executive director of the Family and Community Trust.

The day at the Capitol was “an opportunity for all of our partnerships to meet with their legislators and talk about the good work they’re doing in their local communities around kids and families.”

Most of the measured outcomes in the report showed improvement in 2021 — the latest year of data — compared to 2017, but some areas declined.

More Missouri newborns were considered to have low birthweight in 2021 compared to 2017, which is a concern because low birthweight increases the risk of long-term health problems.

High school graduation rates also declined, possibly because of lower school attendance during the pandemic.

Mental health issues were concerning, as suicides drove an increase in the rate of death among children 15 to 17.

Increases in public assistance during the pandemic may have helped boost improvement in some indicators, including a reduction in the number of children living in poverty and experiencing homelessness.

Other positive indicators include a decrease in child hospitalizations and admissions for asthma, and a decrease in infant mortality.

And while poverty indicators improved overall, significant disparities persist between Black and white children — with the poverty rate being twice as high and asthma ER visits seven times higher among black children compared to white children.

The annual reporting should continue helping the partnerships and lawmakers advocate for the welfare of children, Dent said.

“Thinking forward,” he said, “if they look at what the data is telling them, they can think about policies that will impact those kids and families as they’re doing their work here at the Capitol.”

By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer