Lawmakers Question Child Welfare Score

Tennessee lawmakers questioned the state’s poor rankings in child welfare today.

The national organization that annually ranks the well-being of children in each state gave lawmakers an overview of its methodology.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation publishes a report each year called KIDS COUNT. It ranks states on things like infant mortality, high school dropout rates and teen pregnancy.

Since the first KIDS COUNT report in 1990, Tennessee has consistently received an overall score that is near the bottom. Last year the stated ranked 43 out of 50 states for general child welfare. This year the state’s ranking fell to 46. During today’s meeting of the Committee on Children and Youth, members, like State Representative John DeBerry, frequently questioned one of the organization’s researchers about whether the state to state comparison was fair.

“The disturbing thing about most of these is that they paint picture of the state of Tennessee that, while on the letter, it may be true, but not necessarily a true indicator of what’s happening in the state of Tennessee. And that concerns me, and perhaps some of the information we’re sending is either more true or not as true.”

Shortly after Deberry’s comment, State Senator Doug Henry cautioned committee members against arguing with the statistics.

“I had the same reaction you did. That it’s nothing but a pack of Yankee lies, like all this stuff is, but forgetting that, people around the country who make decisions about where they’re going to spend their money look at these same statistics.”

The Annie E. Casey Researcher who briefed legislators, Laura Beavers, responded to their concerns by saying that while there may be some differences in the information collected from each state, the data they use is the best that’s available.