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• Report Summaries
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Content Summary
The 2002 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 seventh 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 2002 KIDS COUNT Factbook presents 49 indicators in the areas of Family and Community, Economic Well-Being, Health, Safety, and Education. A new safety indicator for 2002 is “Children of Incarcerated Parents.”

Major Findings
Child Deaths
Unintentional injuries disproportionately affect poor children, young children, males, rural children, children in families with low levels of education and employment, and minorities.
Black children have the highest death rate of any ethnic group.
In Rhode Island in 1998 and 1999, 37% of child deaths involved minority children, although minority children were only 27% of the child population.
Teen Deaths
Nationally and in Rhode Island, the two leading causes of death for teens are motor vehicle traffic accidents and firearm injuries.
Homeless Children
Poverty, lack of affordable housing, and domestic violence are factors in family homelessness.
Homeless Youth
Between 1997 and 2001, the number of youth who received shelter from the Rhode Island emergency or domestic violence shelter system steadily increased. Rhode Island does not have an overnight shelter for runaway youth.
Juveniles Referred to Family Court
59% of juveniles referred to Family Court were White, 17% Black, 13% Hispanic, 2% Asian or Pacific Islander.
Over three-quarters of juveniles referred to Hearing Boards – which permits juveniles to complete a community-based program instead of incarceration – were White.
Juveniles at the Training School
Black youth are incarcerated at more than twice the rate of White youth.
Of the juveniles in the Training School in December 2001, 38% were White, non- Hispanic; 26% were Black, non-Hispanic; 29% were Hispanic; 2% were Asian; and 2% were Native American.
Children of Incarcerated Parents
7% of all Black children in the U.S. have an imprisoned parent, nearly nine times higher than the rate for White children. Hispanic children are three times as likely as White children to have an imprisoned parent.
Children Witnessing Domestic Violence
Exposure to domestic violence has an adverse impact across a range of child functioning, including cognitive, behavioral, and emotional health, and the effects can last into adulthood.
Child Abuse and Neglect
Families overwhelmed by multiple personal, social, or economic problems may lack the resources to meet their child’s needs and require a variety of readily accessible childcare services and interventions.
Children in Out-of-Home Placement
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 2002, 55% of children in foster care homes in Rhode Island were White, 22% were Black, 16% were Hispanic, 2% was Asian, and less than 1% was American Indian.

Unaddressed Issues or Concerns
This report notes the disproportionate percentage of Black and Hispanic children in the U.S. that have an imprisoned parent. Although there is a discussion on the effects of having an incarcerated parent on a child, and a description of programs in prisons that encourage contact between incarcerated parents and children, these analyses focus on the post-imprisonment period. In a 2003 report, Donna Coker recommends that rather than just presenting the ever-increasing evidence on racial injustices, as this report does, efforts need to be made to convince the majority, primarily White individuals, that injustices are real and prevalent within the justice system. A solution to the ethnic and minority racial disparities in prisons must address the inefficiencies of the democratic process by considering the disproportionate number of Blacks and Hispanics serving drug sentences, charged with the federal death penalty, racial profiled while driving, as well as being the primary subjects of search warrants.

Reference List
Coker, Donna. “Foreword: Addressing the Real World of Racial Injustices In the Criminal Justice System.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 93.4 (2003): 827-879

How to Access Report
http://www.rikidscount.org/matriarch/LinksPage.asp_
Q_PageID_E_201_A_PageName_E_2002Factbook