Media & Resources

For Immediate Release
October 24, 2017

For More Information Contact:

Ashon McKenzie, Policy Director
614-221-2244
amckenzie@childrensdefense.org
or
Pam Kreber, Interim Director
614-221-2244
pkreber@childrensdefense.org

Columbus-Ohio- For Ohio to thrive in the future, all of it’s children must have the same opportunities to succeed.  But a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2017 Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children, shows that children of color and children of immigrant families in Ohio are falling behind their peers in the key areas of education and family financial security.

Race for Results sheds light on the well-being of children in Ohio’s diverse families and the barriers to their success. Challenges like poverty, separation, educational hurdles and joblessness are affecting Ohio’s immigrant children and children of color at unacceptably high rates. For example, just 16 percent of Ohio’s Black 4^th graders and 23 percent of Hispanic or Latino 4^th graders scored at or above the proficiency level compared with 43 percent of White children and 58 percent of Asia and Pacific Islander children. The scores for 8^th grade math proficiency are even lower with just 11 percent of Black children and 24 percent of Hispanic or Latino children scoring at or above the proficiency level compared with 40 percent of white students.

This 2017 report reflects the Foundation’s commitment to promote data-informed policy recommendations on issues of racial and ethnic equity. Race for Results measures children’s progress on the national and state levels on key education, health, and economic milestones by racial and ethnic groups. The report’s index uses a composite score of these milestones on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 1,000 (highest) to make comparisons. The index shows significant disparities in Ohio among African-American children (276) and Latino children (435) compared to Asian and Pacific Island children (822) and white children (671).

“Now is the time to support our immigrant children and children of color. We have the data and can enact the policies to make sure they excel in school, start promising careers and become strong contributors in our communities and our economy. But we have to make the choice to support them and avoid policies that pull the rug out from under them,” says Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio Policy Director Ashon McKenzie.

The Race for Results report points out key areas of progress while painting a realistic picture of the ethnic and racial disparity gaps that continue to impact children of color:

Ohio Data Highlights by Race/Ethnicity

“Our youngest are being born too small, our teens are giving birth too soon, our proficiency rates in math and reading are too low, and we have known about these conditions for our children of color for too long without action,” says McKenzie.

But it is not all bad news for Ohio. Children in immigrant families are beating the odds in a number of areas.

• 84 percent of children are living in two-parent households compared with 66 percent of U.S.-born children.
• 72 percent of children of immigrant families and U.S.-born families live in low-poverty areas.
• 89 percent of foreign-born young adults ages 19 to 26 are engaged in school or employment compared with 84 percent of U.S.-born young adults.
• 54 percent of foreign-born young adults ages 25 to 29 have completed an associate’s degree or higher compared with 40 percent of U.S.-born young adults.

This report is the second edition in the series. The Annie E. Casey Foundation released the first Race for Results report in 2014.

“Now is the time for our community leaders and policymakers to act to create opportunities for all of Ohio’s children,” said McKenzie.

Release Information

The 2017 Race for Results report is available at www.aecf.org/raceforresults/. Additional information is available at www.aecf.org. The website also contains the most recent national, state and local data on numerous indicators of child well-being. Journalists interested in creating maps, graphs and rankings in stories about Race for Results can use the Data Center at datacenter.kidscount.org.

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About the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio

The Children’s Defense Fund’s mission is to ensure every child receives a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

About the Annie E. Casey Foundation

The Annie E. Casey Foundation creates a brighter future for the nation’s children by developing solutions to strengthen families, build paths to economic opportunity and transform struggling communities into safer and healthier places to live, work and grow. For more information, visit www.aecf.org. KIDS COUNT is a registered trademark of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.