Children First for Oregon

2008 Report Card Released

Oregon Earns a ‘D’ Grade in Child Well-Being for the Second Year in a Row

Children First for Oregon’s annual report shows increasing health care for children should be the next step toward moving Oregon to an ‘A’.

Oregon earned a grade of “D” in overall child well-being in the annual Report Card on the Status of Children. The grade remained the same as last year, though modest improvements were made in a number of categories.

The Health category is the only failing grade on the report, a result of Oregon’s high number of uninsured children. Currently, over 100,000 children throughout the state are without health coverage, a number likely to rise as the economy weakens. “If we ever want Oregon to earn an ‘A’ in child well-being, we’ve got to finish the job and cover all kids,” said Robin Christian, Executive Director of Children First for Oregon.

The Child Welfare category shows the most important improvement for the year: the rate of child abuse and neglect has gone down for the first time in ten years. The Early Care and Education category also improved, going from a failing grade last year to a ‘D-’ this year. The grade change is the direct result of a $39 million investment to expand the highly successful Head Start Program during the 2007 Legislature.

“A solid foundation for our state depends on strong families and communities,” said Christian. “We’ve made smart investments for children over the past couple of years. We must continue this momentum for positive change, particularly as more and more families struggle to make ends meet.”

Along with the report card release, Children First announced a new initiative, “Vision 2020: Moving Oregon to an ‘A,’” focused on raising the state’s grade in child well-being.