KIDS COUNT

6/15/2017  Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, for which the Center on the Family is the state’s designated project grantee, recently released the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book for Hawai‘i, which uses 16 indicators to rank the state across four domains that represent what children need most to thrive. The data show that economic conditions may finally be improving for Hawai‘i’s children, and families continue to offer them a strong foundation. The Data Book, which examines trends in child well-being, found that Hawai‘i now ranks 23rd in child economic well-being and 17th for child well-being overall. However, despite some improvements on individual indicators, Hawai‘i is lagging in the area of education, 36th overall. There have been some improvements in reading and math proficiency, but Hawai‘i’s children are still below national proficiency rates, and more than half of 3- and 4-year-olds are not enrolled in preschool programs. The Star-Advertiser also published an article on the Data Book’s findings.