Alaska Progress Report

Alaska ranked 39th for high school graduation rate

A new report from America's Promise Alliance titled Building a Grad Nation shows Alaska has a lot of room to improve when it comes to high school graduation and dropout rates. The national high school graduation rate improved from 72.6% in 2002 to 75.5% in 2009. Alaska improved from 65.9% to 72.6%, one of the better improvement rates in that period. However, Alaska's rank overall is still poor:  we ranked 43rd in 2002 and 39th in 2009.

The report has a great discussion of the nuances of collecting and reporting graduation and dropout rates, and makes the point that a state can have a low dropout rate while still having a poor graduation rate.

2010 Trooper reports spotlight rural sex crimes, alcohol abuse

The 2010 Annual Report for the Alaska State Troopers is out, and the historical data for the period 2006-2010 shows offenses have increased over the past few years in almost all of the ten categories tracked. Yet in almost every category the number of offenses in 2010 are still fewer than the high point earlier in the period tracked.

In sheer numbers assault is the leader with 3,775 offenses in 2010, significantly higher than any other year 2006-2009. Theft is the only other category to set a high-water mark in that period. Criminal mischief is the only category to decline 2009 to 2010. More disturbing is the unequal distribution of crimes. The Anchorage Daily News reports that the C detachment, which covers Western and Southwestern Alaska from Kotzebue to Kodiak to the Aleutians, has an extremely disproportionate share of offenses, especially in the areas of sexual assault and sexual abuse of a minor: about half of all offenses in each category statewide are recorded in C detachment's area of operations.

Alcohol, not surprisingly, is often a contributing factor, as the 2010 annual report of the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement makes clear: "Of all cases initiated by the Alaska State Troopers in 2010, 37% involved drugs and/or alcohol. Of all violent crime cases, 61.9% involved drugs and/or alcohol... Alaska’s criminal justice professionals recognize that alcohol is the primary substance of abuse in Alaska and is the leading cause of violent, suicidal, and accidental deaths, especially in rural areas."

Alaska ranks 32nd on child well-being

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT Data Book is hot off the wire and Alaska is ranked 32nd overall. As usual, we stake out many extremes in the rankings:

• Low-birthweight babies, 2008. At 6.0 percent Alaska has the lowest rate in the nation, well below the national rate of 8.2 percent.
• Infant mortality, 2007. At 6.5 deaths per 1,000 live births, Alaska is ranked 19th, just under the national average of 6.8.
• Child death rate, 2007. At 31 deaths per 100,000 children ages 1 to14, Alaska ranked 49th, way above the national average of 19.
• Teen death rate, 2007. At 100 deaths per 100,000 teens ages 15 to 19, Alaska ranked 50th, well above the national rate of 62.
• Teen birth rate, 2008. At 47 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19, Alaska ranked 34th, significantly above the national rate of 41.
• Percent of teens not in school and not high school graduates, ages 16 to 19. At a rate of 5 percent Alaska ranked 9th, less than the national rate of 6 percent.
• Percent of teens not attending school and not working, ages 16 to 19. At a rate of 12 percent Alaska ranked 45th, well above the national rate of 9 percent.
• Percent of children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment, 2009. Alaska ranked 47th with a rate of 36 percent, above the national rate of 31 percent.
• Percent of children in poverty, 2009. Alaska ranked 5th with a rate of 13 percent, well under the national rate of 20 percent.
• Percent of children in single-parent families, 2009. Alaska ranked 12th with a rate of 30 percent, just under the national rate of 34 percent.

Because of our urban-rural split, many of these indicators are considerably different in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau compared to Barrow and Bethel, for example. Some of the state data are broken out by region within the state.

Alaska ranks 30th on obesity, 2nd on breastfeeding

You gotta love a report titled, "F as in Fat." Published annually by the Trust for America's Health (burp!) the report ranks states on a number of obesity-related measures:

• 25.9% of Alaskans are obese, and 64.9% are overweight or obese compared to 68% nationwide.
• In Alaska 23.9% of men and 28.1% of women are obese.
• 5.9% of Alaskan adults have diabetes, tied with Colorado for the lowest rate.
• 22.8% of Alaskan adults are physically inactive, rank 33rd.
• 24.3% of Alaskans have hypertension, ranked 48th.

These are mixed numbers to be sure, and they vary considerably by race although the margin of error for the minority samples in Alaska are very high. Policies and programs are looked at as well, and Alaska is generally portrayed in the study as lacking most best-practice efforts to curb obesity and related health problems.

On a very positive note, the report says that although only 13.3% of mothers in America are breastfeeding through six months, in Alaska that rate was 23.7% in 2007, the second highest rate in the nation, just behind Oregon.

1,857 Alaskan kids in foster care

The Alaska Office of Children's Services has a new video out promoting foster care. OCS is required to track statistics and posts updates monthly on another page. There are about 1,200 Alaskan kids in foster care in an average month. The May 15 report breaks out a total of 1,857 children in placement by region within the state as of April 1:

• Northern region, 330 children, 18% of total.
• Anchorage region, 626, 34%.
• Southeast, 179, 10%.
• Southcentral, 528, 28%.
• Western, 210, 11%.

An annual report details the substantiated allegations that land kids in foster care. In 2010 there were 2,871 unique victims of at least one substantiated allegation of harm. There were a total of 4,655 substantiated allegations, 75% of which were neglect, 14% mental injury, 8% physical abuse and 3% sexual abuse.

Alaska goes from B to A grade on children's dental health

From the Alaska Department of Health: "Alaska is one of seven states receiving an “A” on the children’s dental health report card from the Pew Center on the States — up from a “B” in the previous Pew report in February 2010.

The PEW Center on the States today released its updated state report card on policies related to children’s oral health. One reason for the improved grade in Alaska is the recent Medicaid program reimbursement of trained medical providers for preventive dental services for young children as part of their well child exams. Children from lower income families are typically at higher risk for development of dental decay."

Alaska kids enter foster care at higher rates

According to the Kids Count program, Alaska has been consistently above the national average in the rate of kids age 0-17 entering foster care. In 2009 the national rate dipped from 4 kids per 1,000 to 3, while in Alaska the rate stayed steady at 5 kids per 1,000.

Alaska is ranked 35th by this rate. Virginia has the lowest rate at 1, and Wyoming the highest at 9. Alaska's foster care population is heavily skewed Alaska Native. In 2008 there were 2,116 children in foster care, of which 61% were Alaska Native or American Indian. The percentage of children in Alaska who are Alaska Native is 25%.

Costs of deaths from motor vehicle crashes

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control shows that the costs of deaths from motor vehicle crashes in Alaska was $74 million in 2005 (is that really the most recent data?). Only half a million of that was in medical costs, the rest in work loss costs.

Nationally motor vehicle crashes are the leading killer of children, teens and young adults. Costs broken out by type of road user:

• Motor vehicle occupants: 29%
• Motorcyclists: 3%
• Bicyclists: 5%
• Pedestrians: 15%
• Unspecified/other: 48%

The CDC recommends two evidence-based strategies: a comprehensive graduated drivers license and a motorcycle helmet law. Looking at the three other states in our region, on a per-capita basis Alaska's costs were equal to Washington and lower than Idaho and Oregon.

Alaska has second highest rate of child maltreatment

New data on Kids Count taken from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System from 2000 to 2009 report Alaska as having the second highest rate of child maltreatment in 2009: "In 2009, the United States saw its lowest rate of child maltreatment since 2004 with 690,869 children, or 9 per 1000 children experiencing maltreatment. Rates range from a low of 1 per 1,000 children in Pennsylvania to a high of 24 per 1,000 children in Massachusetts. Neglect (76 percent) followed by physical abuse (23 percent) were the most prominent types of maltreatment children experienced overall."

Alaska's rate is 19 per 1,000, defined as children "...who are the subject of at least one substantiated or indicated maltreatment report, and/or who were identified as alternative response victims. Rates of maltreated children are per 1,000 children less than 18 years old." From 2005 to 2009 Alaska's rates were 13, 17, 15, 21 and 19. Our ranking from 2005 to 2009 was 14, 6, 6, 2 and 2.

Part of it is the problem with small numbers. In 2009 Alaska's under 18 population was about 200,000, so a rate of 19 per 1,000 is a total of 3,800 cases. That's still 3,800 too many, but a difference of a couple hundred cases means we move up or down in the rankings by a place or two.

Data on Alaska kids mixed

The newest Kids Count Alaska data book is available. From the cover letter: "The results continue to be mixed. Alaska remains among the best in the nation in its low percentage of low birthweight babies, and our rates of crime committed by teenagers keep declining. Yet, we still have much room for improvement in other areas.

"Alaska's teens are at much greater risk of committing suicide, especially in the Northern and Southwest regions; the number of homeless children in Alaska schools is on the rise; and Alaska's youth continue to drop out of school at higher numbers than their national counterparts."

The national Kids Count site has all the data you can digest for Alaska and the rest of the states. You can even make your own maps and charts and download widgets to display data on your web site or blog.