Mass.'s poor children are being left behind

Child welfare report ranks state dead last in caring for needy kids

BOSTON. While Massachusetts has one of the lowest rates of poor children, it ranks last in the country in caring for its needy kids, according to a report set to be released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a Baltimore-based association that focuses on child welfare.

The report ranks the Commonwealth 50th in the well-being of low-income children based on over 102,000 interviews nationwide that focused on health status, social and emotional well-being, cognitive development and educational attainment, family activities, family and neighborhood context, and socio-economic characteristics.

Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire each ranked in the top 20 overall, while Massachusetts pulled up the rear behind Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. Utah was No. 1 ahead of North Dakota, Idaho and Wyoming.

The report is the first to separate low-income children from the general population since the foundation first compiled it in 1990. The authors said this was critical to “illuminate how well states are doing in providing resources for the most vulnerable children.”

Massachusetts served as a great example.

Despite the state’s dismal showing in terms of low-income children, it ranked 21st for those in high-income families and 26th overall. Because of this Massachusetts had the largest disparity of ranking from high- to low-income children.

According to the report, only New Hampshire and Connecticut have a lower percentage of children living in low-income families than Massachusetts, where 25 percent are in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold.

Among the six categories, Massachusetts ranked last in health status and in social and emotional well-being for low-income children. It was 49th in cognitive development and educational attainment.

State officials did not immediately comment.