Indiana's Care of Its Children

 Ah, the Indiana General Assembly was so quick to ban abortion, the Republicans so eager to prove their pro-life bona fides and concern for children.

When will they address the problems shown by Data shows mental health, education declines for Hoosier kids from the Indiana Capitol Chronicle's  Whitney Downard:

The Hoosier State continues to lag behind its peers when it comes to child wellbeing, ranking 28th overall – just one place ahead of its ranking last year. But it has made strides in reducing the number of foster children in the state.

“Just like we keep stats for all of our basketball games… we also keep track of the data on child wellbeing,” Tami Silverman, the president and CEO of Indiana Youth Institute said. “We’re driven by the understanding that Indiana is a great place to be a kid – it certainly was for me. But it is not yet that way for all kids.”

The organization annually releases its Kids Count Data Book, documenting child well-being across metrics that include: family and community, health, economy and education. Across the six editions, Indiana’s rank has barely budged.

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Hoosier students reported increasingly high levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Yet the state, all of which is considered a mental health care desert, doesn’t have many resources for kids.

“We know that every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or income may experience a variety of mental health issues. However, data does show that certain groups – particularly our Black, Hispanic and multiracial students – have poor mental health compared to that of their peers,” Johnson said. 

One in four Hoosier students seriously contemplated suicide while one in five made a plan. In total, one in nine students attempted suicide at some point in their lives.

“All of us know that these statistics are not simply percentages on a slide or numbers in a report – they represent our kids, our students, our communities,” Johnson said. “Many of these children, especially those who are unable to find the care that they need, the answer in their minds… is suicide.”

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Though the legislative session just passed the halfway point, Silverman noted her organization’s year-round efforts, offering the institute as a resource for drafting legislation or supplementing their knowledge.

One area that has received a lot of attention this session is mental health, which senators named as one of their priority issues. Senate Bill 1 continues to advance through the process but doesn’t yet have a price tag.

Inaction leaves Indiana with a culture of death.

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Along similar lines from today's Muncie Journal feed, ‘Inside Out’ Addresses Significant Need of Local Children:

MUNCIE, IN—With the mission of empowering the Muncie community through food-based initiatives, Inside Out has been serving healthy food to children since 2014. The local non-profit organization, which grew out of Blood-N-Fire Ministries, now serves 68,000 meals per year.

Since one out of three children in the community are food insecure and around 18% of families are below poverty, Inside Out plays an important role in helping kids get healthy meals. Inside Out program administrator, Angelica Lasley said the organization serves more than 1,000 meals to well over 200 children per week by partnering with schools and after-school programs.

sch 3/17