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• Report Summaries
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• Report Summaries
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Content Summary
The 2000 KIDS COUNT Factbook provides statistical data on the status of children in cities and towns across the state of Rhode Island, and is an important resource for community leaders and policy-makers. This sixth annual work also includes an aggregate profile based on data from five core cities (Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Newport, and Central Falls) in which more than fifteen percent of children are impoverished. Using the most current available data, The 2000 KIDS COUNT Factbook presents 37 indicators in the areas of Family and Community, Economic Well-Being, Health, Safety, and Education. A new safety indicator for 2000 is “Children and Domestic Violence.”

Major Findings
Child Deaths
Unintentional injuries disproportionately affect poor children, young children, males, and minorities.
Black children have the highest death rate of any ethnic group.
Teen Deaths
Between 1994 and 1998, leading causes of death due to injuries in Rhode Island teens ages 15 to 19 were motor vehicle accidents, homicide, and suicide.
Homeless Children
Poverty and lack of affordable housing are factors in family homelessness.
In 1999, the top specified reasons for families needing shelter were domestic violence, housing problems, no income, family separation, and natural disaster.
Homeless Youth
Many homeless and runaway youth are fleeing disruptive and abusive family conditions.
Juveniles Referred to Family Court
Two-thirds of the youth at the Rhode Island Training School, a residential detention facility for adjudicated youths and those awaiting trial, are ethnic or racial minorities.
Risk factors for juvenile crime and delinquency include poverty, family violence, inadequate supervision, limited education and job skills, substance abuse, and mental health problems.
The core cities accounted for a disproportionate percentage of all juvenile violent crime in 1999.
Children and Domestic Violence
In 1998, police reports indicate that children were present in 39% of domestic violence incidents reported.
Child Abuse and Neglect
Poor families and families of color are more likely to be identified by the child welfare system and are more likely to have their children removed or placed in foster care.
Once in foster care, children of color are more likely to remain there for long periods of time, and to experience multiple placements in different homes.
In 1999, 25% of children in foster care homes in Rhode Island were Black, 16% were Hispanic, 2% were Asian, and 2% were American Indian.

Unaddressed Issues or Concerns
This report states that families of color are more likely to be identified by the child welfare system and are more likely to have their children removed or placed in foster care. While this statistic may imply that families of color are unfairly over-represented in the child welfare system, it fails to address the diversity of this trend among minorities. The findings from a 2003 study indicate that much of the child abuse and neglect data on American Indians does not reach the federal reporting system and remains solely at the tribal level. The study raises many significant points that need to be addressed in order for a more accurate and better equipped data collection on child abuse and neglect in Native communities. The author concludes by emphasizing the needs of the different tribal groups, especially in terms of the resources used to collect child abuse and neglect data. Generalizations about families of color, such as what is found in this report, can conceal unique problems in individual racial communities.

Reference List
Fox, Kathleen A. “Collecting Data on the Abuse and Neglect of American Indian Children.” Child Welfare 82.6 (2003): 707-726

How to Access Report
http://www.rikidscount.org/matriarch/LinksPage.asp_Q_
PageID_E_196_A_PageName_E_2000Factbook