Kansas and Missouri children are more economically secure than many of their peers across the country, but the latest Kids Count report shows many are still struggling to access health insurance.
The annual child wellness report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, based on 2024 data, ranks states on kids' economic well-being, education, health, and family and community. Kansas ranked the same as last year at 14 overall, and Missouri ranked 28, a slight downtick.
This year's report also introduced a new scoring system to better track how policies and public investment impact children's lives over time, not solely how states compare against each other. Kansas received an overall score of 636 out of 1,000 and Missouri received a score of 567.
The country's overall score was 547. New Hampshire ranked the highest in the nation with a score of 838 and Mississippi last with a score of 271.
Tracy Greever-Rice, program director for the Missouri Kids Count at the Family and Community Trust, said the ranking shows life for most of the state's children has remained relatively stable.
But she said the new annual score shows the state is doing well in some areas and lagging behind in others. Missouri ranks 15th for economic well-being and 29th in education.
"The new metric really helps emphasize areas to focus on in terms of policy and observance and trying to be responsive to the needs of kids," Greever-Rice said.
Both Kansas and Missouri had fewer children living in poverty in 2024 and more children whose parents were securely employed. In 2024, Missouri reduced the number of teens who are not in school and not working.
Fewer children in Kansas and the same number in Missouri lived in households that spent a large portion of their income on housing costs. Greever-Rice said Missouri has maintained relatively stable housing costs compared to other states heavily impacted by inflation.
Nathan Kessler, the principal economist with Kansas Action for Children, a nonprofit child advocacy group, said another factor for his state is tax credits. He said that includes a state earned income tax credit for residents with low to moderate income and a 50% match on the federal Child and Dependent Care tax credit.
"(I) want to acknowledge and recognize the progress we've made in areas, but not let that overshadow the improvements that there still are to come," Kessler said.
But the report found tens of thousands of children in Missouri and Kansas don't have health insurance.
In Kansas, the number of uninsured children increased in 2024. Kansas Action for Children said the 51,000 children without health insurance in 2024 represents the highest number since 2012.
Kessler said more outreach would let parents know about available health insurance options like Medicaid.
Kessler said when the COVID-19 pandemic began, many families were able to get on Medicaid or the state's children's health insurance program. When redeterminations began again in April 2023, many children lost coverage.
Parents may have had trouble meeting paperwork requirements, or were unaware there were requirements, Kessler said.
"I think it's really important to be getting information to families, (to) do that outreach at the state level, because it's possible that many of these parents aren't aware of the assistance that is available to them," Kessler said.
Greever-Rice said the number of uninsured children in Missouri was stable from 2019 to 2024. During that time frame, she said the state hit a low of just 5% of children without health insurance.
When Missouri expanded Medicaid eligibility in 2021, Greever-Rice said more adults were able to join the program and also enrolled their children. But with recent policy changes and the end of federal subsidies, she said some households might not realize they have access to coverage for their children.
Kansas also saw a decline in all of the report's indicators for children's health, including an increase in the number of babies with a low birth weight and the number of children and teens who are overweight or obese.
Mortality rates for both states' children and teens rose, according to the report.
The report also found both states are still struggling to rebound from reading and math learning loss after schools shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Missouri, 77% of eighth graders were not proficient in math and 73% of fourth graders were not proficient in reading. In Kansas, 74% of eighth graders were not proficient in math and 72% of fourth graders were not proficient in reading.
Proficiency is based on results from the National Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP. Missouri education officials said the NAEP requires a high level of reading and mathematics comprehension to score proficient or advanced.
A new report found young students are making ground in reading and math after years of declines that preceded the pandemic.
Greever-Rice said the state saw declines on all of the report's education metrics, except for the percent of high school students who graduated on time. Kansas followed the same trend.
"This is a policy conversation about prioritization of resources and equity across the Missouri population, in terms of ensuring all children in the state have ready access to quality early childhood and K-12 education," Greever-Rice said.
KMUW's Roger Nomer contributed to this report.
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