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Most
picking up this book want to lessen the difficulties faced by
many of Oklahoma's children – child abuse and neglect, poverty,
violence, crime, teen pregnancy. For many of us public debates
and private soul searching have not provided clear answers about
where to begin. There are few clear distinctions between causes
and consequences. In the pages which follow you will find much
to suggest that causes and consequences are inextricably linked.
Children born to teen mothers are more likely to repeat the cycle
of teen childbearing. Child abuse victims later become abusers.
Poor children are more likely to quit high school without graduating,
and youth not graduating from high school face lives of poverty.
Oklahoma's
very young – infants, toddlers and preschool children –
are the focus of this edition of the Oklahoma KIDS COUNT Factbook.
With all the issues facing children today, why concentrate on
early childhood? Precisely because of the difficulties faced by
many of Oklahoma's children – child abuse and neglect, poverty,
violence, crime, teen pregnancy. Attending to Oklahoma's youngest
holds the promise of Oklahoma's future. A hope of breaking the
cycle. A promise of less abuse and neglect, less poverty, less
violence, less crime, fewer children having children.
The
time is now. There is not one more child to waste. First, we must
marshal a serious effort to reduce teen pregnancy, lessen poverty
and eliminate child abuse.
The
rewards will include better care and education for Oklahoma's
infants, toddlers and preschool children. Second, we must marshal
a serious effort to improve the care and education of Oklahoma's
infants, toddlers and preschool children. The rewards will include
fewer Oklahoma children having children, living in poverty or
suffering abuse. The problems are complex, but not without promising
solutions. Community understanding, combined with action, will
improve the well-being of today's children and secure a safe,
healthy and happy future for tomorrow's.
The
Oklahoma KIDS COUNT Partnership, a project of the Oklahoma Institute
for Child Advocacy (OICA), uses key strategies to achieve its
goal. First, KIDS COUNT "counts kids," providing accurate and
up-to-date data on the status of Oklahoma's children and youth.
Second, KIDS COUNT cultivates leadership on behalf of children
and youth, giving voice to their needs at the local level. Third,
KIDS COUNT communicates the needs of children and youth, using
extensive public awareness activities.
The
Oklahoma KIDS COUNT Factbook uses benchmarks to profile the status
of children and youth in our state. Benchmarks are quantifiable
measures that, when taken together, help determine child, family
and community well-being. The seven benchmarks in this KIDS COUNT
Factbook are low birthweight infants,
infant mortality, births to young teens, child abuse & neglect,
child death, high school dropouts and juvenile violent crime arrests.
This book, the sixth Oklahoma KIDS COUNT Factbook, shows the interrelatedness
of these benchmarks and how they impact each other.
From
an established baseline, OICA is tracking progress, or the lack
of progress, for each benchmark over time. Progress requires action.
Progress requires using all of this information – and more
– to make good decisions about state and community budgets
and programs that affect children and youth. Effective programs
and policies work together with strong communities and families
to improve the benchmarks.
More than one in every four Oklahomans (26.3%) is a child. One
in four (23.7%) of those children live in poverty. Today, almost
eight hundred eighty thousand (879,367) children live, play and
go to school in Oklahoma communities. Most young people in Oklahoma
are doing well most of the time.
There is good news. Oklahoma KIDS COUNT reveals
that only two of the seven benchmarks tracked worsened when compared
to data from a dozen years ago:
Low
birthweight infants
Child
abuse & neglect
Five
benchmarks improved over the comparable older data:
Infant
mortality
Births
to young teens
Child
death
High
school dropouts
Juvenile
violent crime arrests
There
is bad news. The improved rates obscure the challenges
faced by large numbers of young Oklahomans each year. More than
two hundred thousand (210,470) Oklahoma children live in poverty.
More than fifteen thousand (15,518) are abused or neglected. Almost
ten thousand (9,289) quit high school. More than one thousand
(1,089) are arrested for murder, rape, aggravated assault or robbery.
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