JJPL   Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana  
Growing Up in Louisiana: Putting Our Kids At Risk
  1. Poverty
    Poverty is at the root of many risk factors for youth, including health, academic success and delinquency. In 2004 Louisiana’s poverty rate was the very worst in the nation, with an estimated 882,000 people living below the poverty line. 28 percent of children live in poverty statewide, with the highest percentage (up to 53 percent) in the rural northeast parishes. New Orleans, where 40 percent of children live in poverty, is the third poorest city in the nation for children according to The Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The Census Bureau reported that more than 19 percent of Louisiana’s residents had no health insurance.

  2. Illness
    Louisiana ranks 50th, the worst in the nation, in overall health indicators, such as disease rate. Lack of access to routine and preventive health care is a major contributor to Louisiana’s poor health status; we also rank last in terms of access to primary health care. Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of poor health. Low birth weight is a significant indicator of poor health and is linked to many physical and neuro-developmental problems. Louisiana ranks 50th in the nation with the highest rate of low birth weight among infants (10%).

  3. Pollutants
    Lead is one of the major contaminants; exposure has shown to be especially harmful to developing brain and nervous systems of young children. Louisiana is a national leader in the per capita production of hazardous wastes and in the amount of chemicals released into our air, water and soil. As of 1998, there were 128 confirmed and 342 potential (requiring further investigation) inactive and abandoned hazardous waste sites.

  4. Mental Illness
    Approximately 110,450 children (10%) in Louisiana suffer from a serious emotional disorder; yet there are only three state hospitals that provide in-patient psychiatric treatment to children. This figure does not include all the youth suffering from depression, the most common under-diagnosed condition in young people.

  5. School
    Louisiana spends on average $4,724 per child’s education and ranks 48th in the country for lowest teacher salaries. The equivalent of more than two classrooms of young people drop out every day and about 50,000 students are absent from school on any given day. A child in middle school is more likely to be suspended or expelled than an high school student.

  6. Recreation
    Spending on after-school activities, such as band, extended day programs, and athletics, amounts to less than 2% of Louisiana’s total school costs, despite research demonstrating that after-school programming can both build youth’s strengths and reduce risk-taking behavior.

  7. Violence & Abuse
    Every day, 40 children are reported as abused or neglected in Louisiana. In 1998, 14,791 children were reported abused and 5,911 children were placed in foster care. Louisiana ranked 45th for child death rate (34 of 100,000 children die each year) and 47th for the rate of teen deaths by accident, homicide or suicide.
Sources:
  1. U.S. Census Bureau 2004; 2004 Annie E. Casey Kids Count Data Book.
  2. La. DHH, 2000 Louisiana Health Report Card, p.154, 157; Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Book 2004 Annie E. Casey Kids Count Data Book.
  3. La. DHH, 2000 Louisiana Health Report Card, p.124-126.
  4. La. DHH, La. Adolescent Data Book, p.31
  5. U.S. DOE, "State Profiles of Public Elementary and Secondary Education, 1996-97" p.25; Agenda For Children, Kids Count Data Book 200, p. viii; La. DOE, 1998-99 La. State Education Progress report, p.17-19.
  6. OJJDP, Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, p.65; La. DOE, 150th Annual Financial & Statistical Report 1998-99I, Bulletin 1472, p.II-2.
  7. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Book 2000, p.89; Agenda for Children, 1999 Kids Count Data Book, p.vii.
URL: http://www.jjpl.org/WhatsHappeningToOurKids/GrowingUpInLouisana/growingup.html