High-quality data on the well-being of Hawaiʻi’s keiki are now available through a long-standing partnership between the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and (HCAN). The new is an interactive website that monitors the well-being of Hawaiʻi’s children. It includes demographic, education, economic, and health and safety data.

“This project gives the public and decision makers a clearer picture of how keiki are faring across the state,” said Deborah Zysman, executive director of Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network—an organization that has long invested in research and uses data to promote policy that aims to ensure that all children are healthy, safe and ready to learn. “We hope this data dashboard will spark conversations and inspire solutions to ensure all children and families in Hawaiʻi can thrive.”

The Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT Data Dashboard provides statewide and county-level data on 19 metrics and allows users to track changes over time. Data is gathered from various state and national sources, with rolling updates to the dashboard as new data become available from original sources. The Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT Data Dashboard represents a subset of child well-being indicators that the partnership shares on the .

“It’s difficult to make policy without good data,” said Kathleen Gauci, data center manager at the ������Ƶ Mānoa Center on the Family. “We hope that the dashboard, as well as other data we make available through the Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT project, will serve as tools to assess where we are doing well for our children and where we need improvements.”

• Read more on KIDS COUNT research.

Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT project is a partnership between , the , and the .

Hawaiʻi has been hit particularly hard with record-high unemployment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. While all major industries have experienced employment losses, the state’s tourism and related industries have sustained the biggest blows. In its latest brief, , the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (COF) presents data highlighting the vulnerable workforce in most affected industries by the COVID-19 pandemic.

COF‘s Hua Zan, Ivette Rodriguez, Noreen Kohl and Kathleen Gauci used data from the American Community Survey collected by the U.S. Census Bureau to examine characteristics of the workforce in the most affected industries. Researchers found that the most impacted workers were those already struggling to make ends meet prior to the COVID-19 crisis, earning very-low or low wages; Filipinos are overrepresented among the lowest-wage industries (i.e., retail trade and leisure and hospitality); and young adults under 35 make up more than 4 in 10 workers in the industries most impacted.

Half of the workforce in these industries have a high school diploma or less education and women make up much more than half of workers in retail trade, which has the largest share of low-wage workers. The findings further suggest that as Hawaiʻi looks to rebuild its economy, it must do so with innovation and the goal of generating higher-quality jobs, not with the goal of returning to the February 2020 economy.

“The pandemic crisis stands to exacerbate the economic hardship that so many of Hawaiʻi’s vulnerable workers and their families were already experiencing. Understanding this workforce is critical for identifying solutions to support them,” said Zan, an associate researcher at COF. “In the brief, we highlight immediate support such as CARES Act funding and policy solutions such as updating tax credits that allow low-income workers to keep more of what they earn. In the long-run, we need a diverse economy that generates more high quality jobs for Hawaiʻi’s workers.”

The research was done as part of COF’s Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT, which aims to provide unbiased and high-quality data and research to policymakers, child and family advocates, and other stakeholders in an effort to inform their work and advance sound policies and initiatives that support Hawaiʻi’s children and families.

Income loss in Hawaiʻi is worse than the United States as a whole, according to a new by faculty at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa . The graphics were published to raise awareness of the current economic struggles in Hawaiʻi and highlight the implications on family and child well-being roughly two months into the COVID-19 crisis.

Ivette Rodriguez Stern, Barbara DeBaryshe and Hua Zan use data from the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey to highlight what local families are going through amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent survey results show that many households in Hawaiʻi have experienced job loss and expect employment income loss, while some have experienced food scarcity and housing insecurity. Adults have delayed medical care, and K–12 learning has been significantly modified during the current crisis.

“When the current moratorium on evictions is lifted, will homelessness increase? What will the long-term effects of food and housing insecurity be on Hawaiʻi’s families, especially children?” asked Rodriguez Stern.

“The federal data confirms what we know already, that Hawaiʻi is being hit harder than the mainland on income loss,” said DeBaryshe. “The stopgap measures to help struggling families—how long will they last, and are they enough to meet the need? We hope the economic policies to rebuild our economy will focus on families’ ability to pay rent and put food on the table.”

Financial and emotional stresses ripple through homes as COVID-19 lockdown orders continue. That tension has left some parents feeling overwhelmed as they attempt to juggle the roles of provider, home-school teacher and counselor during an unparalleled pandemic.

“This is uncharted territory for all of us,” said University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Director Barbara DeBaryshe. The child development specialist offers tips on how parents can face those daily stresses during the crisis.

Routines are comforting

• Keep a consistent bedtime and daily routine that pinpoints time for school work, household chores, play and downtime.

Give kids a role

• Children want to contribute to family life. Allow them to help cook, care for pets, plan fun family activities or assist younger siblings with schoolwork.

Physical activity

• Daily outdoor time does wonders. Kids can also burn off energy through active play in the living room or on the lānai.

Maintain social contacts

• Let children keep in contact with grandparents, friends and teachers via the phone or platforms like Zoom or Facetime.

Be loving, cuddly and a good listener

• Physical affection is a stress reliever for both parent and child. Ask
  your child what he or she knows about the virus or why we are staying at home. This lets you answer questions or correct misinformation at an age-appropriate level.

Take care of yourself too

• Focus on your own physical and mental well-being. Sleeping, healthy eating, me time, virtual contact with your friends and family, exercise and/or meditation—whatever works for you in terms of helping you handle your own stress.

Experts fear child abuse cases will skyrocket during the COVID-19 outbreak as strain within the home builds. DeBaryshe wants to help parents avoid reaching a boiling point.

“Ask for help. There is no shame in feeling at the end of your rope. Talk to your friends. Talk to your family members. Call a help line if needed,” said DeBaryshe. If frustration mounts and a parent feels like he or she is losing control, she suggests taking a parent time out by leaving the room until you are calm.

DeBaryshe advises parents to be sensitive to how stress affects their keiki. “Your child’s behavior is not misbehavior, it’s a signal. It’s communication of their fears, feelings of loss or confusion. So as much as you can, stop and think about your child’s perspective,” she explained.

As Hawaiʻi enters month two of the stay-at-home order, DeBaryshe believes there is a silver lining for our ʻohana. “We have a lot of time together now which gives us a chance to learn more about each other, to strengthen our bonds and really reflect on our priorities and values. We all have the potential to emerge from this crisis even stronger than we were when we started,” she said.

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—By Moanikeʻala Nabarro

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The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa released the most recent , which examines the well-being of communities throughout the state.

The latest series—an expansion of work conducted in 2018—presents measures of quality of life and community well-being for 42 communities throughout the state, as well as state and county-level data. Data from a variety of national and state sources on 38 indicators are organized into five key well-being domains: family and social environment, economic well-being, education, health and community. The profiles present the relative conditions of each community in comparison to the state, and communities are also ranked into five tiers (tier 1 being the highest and tier 5 being the lowest) based on overall well-being.

While Oʻahu has a number of communities in the top tier of overall well-being, the county offers a mixed bag with communities on the Leeward coast and urban Honolulu landing in the bottom tier. Communities in Maui and Kauaʻi counties tend to place in the mid-range tiers, while Hawaiʻi Island has a number of communities in the lower tiers.

Having an informed understanding of a community helps in the planning, implementation and evaluation of programs and services. The individual profiles can be used as a tool to assist anyone who is interested in using data to inform efforts that improve the well-being of these communities and their residents.

Authors invite the public to provide feedback on the series . Additionally, those who would like to host a data party or workshop to discuss their community’s data and how it can be used to inform their efforts, can contact Kathleen Gauci, Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT Project Coordinator, at kt728@hawaii.edu.

Hawaiʻi once again ranks 24 out of 50 states on overall child well-being, according to the , released June 17 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The 2019 KIDS COUNT Data Book is the 30th edition of an annual data study that examines trends in child well-being across areas that represent what children need most to thrive.

While all four indicators of child economic well-being tracked by the report have improved since 2010, conditions have shown little to no improvements in more recent years, with the state’s rank for this domain slipping from 30 in 2018 to 34 in 2019.

“Hawaiʻi now ranks in the bottom third when it comes to the economic well-being of our children,” said Ivette Rodriguez Stern, Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT project director at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s in the .

Affordable housing challenges

Of concern is the large proportion of children living in households with a high housing cost burden. Hawaiʻi ranks among the bottom five states on this indicator, with nearly two in five children living in these households.

“Affordable housing remains a challenge in Hawaiʻi. High housing costs present a significant challenge to low-income families that already have limited resources. When families are paying too much for housing, they have a harder time meeting other basic needs, such as child care, food and health care, and they can’t save or build financial stability,” said Stern.

Hawaiʻi’s ranking in the education domain has also slipped—going from 37 in 2018 to 40 in 2019—signaling the ongoing need for greater investments in children’s education. Despite improvements over the past decade, the state continues to rank in the bottom third on reading and math proficiency and is ranked 33 in the on-time high school graduation rate.

• See how Hawaiʻi has fared in previous KIDS COUNT rankings.

Findings in other domains

The annual Data Book uses 16 indicators to rank each state across four domains—economic well-being, education, health, and family and community.

• With nearly all Hawaiʻi’s children covered by health insurance, the state ranks among the top 10 states in the health domain. The percent of low birth-weight babies, the child and teen death rate, and the percent of teens who abuse alcohol or drugs have all remained relatively stable during the period examined.
• Hawaiʻi is similarly doing well in the family and community context, ranking 15 in this domain. With only seven percent of children living in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma, Hawaiʻi ranks among the top 10 states on this indicator. Following the national trend, the teen birth rate has also seen a dramatic 42 percent decline during the period examined.

Not every child counted

This year’s KIDS COUNT® Data Book also calls attention to the roughly 4.5 million young children in the United States who live in neighborhoods where there is a high risk of failing to count kids in the 2020 census. With roughly 39 percent of Hawaiʻi’s young children living in hard-to-count census tracts, an undercount of young children would shortchange child well-being over the next decade by putting at risk hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding for programs that are critical to family stability and opportunity.

For more information, read the .

Hawaiʻi falls in the middle range on overall child well-being, ranking 24th out of 50 states according to the , released June 27 by the .

The KIDS COUNT® Data Book—which examines trends in child well-being across areas that represent what children need most to thrive—found that while there have been some gains on education measures, Hawaiʻi still falls behind in the education domain, ranking 37th in the nation.

“Reading and math proficiency rates have seen improvements over the past decade,” said , the Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT project director at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s in the . “But our proficiency rates are still below the national average and Hawaiʻi has hovered in the bottom third in the country when it comes to education for a good part of the decade. This signals a need for greater investments in our public education if we’re going to work toward greater improvements.”

Findings in other domains

The annual Data Book uses 16 indicators to rank each state across four domains—education, economic well-being, health and family and community.

• Economic well-being: Hawaiʻi has seen improvement in almost all indicators of economic well-being over the post recession years, including the percentage of children in poverty, children whose parents lack secure employment, and children in households with a high housing cost burden. However, Hawaiʻi continues to have one of the worst housing cost burden rates in the nation, ranking 48th on the housing indicator, and 30th in the economic well-being domain.
• Health: Hawaiʻi continues to do well in the health domain, ranking 13th. The state has among the smallest share of children without health insurance (2 percent), tying for second in the nation on this indicator.
• Family and community: Hawaiʻi is also doing well in the area of family and community, ranking 12th. There were no significant changes in the percentage of children in single-parent families, in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma and living in high-poverty areas over the past decade. However, following the national trend, the teen birth rate in Hawaiʻi has continued its impressive decline and is down 42 percent from 2010.

Not every child counted

This year’s KIDS COUNT® Data Book also calls attention to the roughly 4.5 million young children in the United States who live in neighborhoods where there is a high risk of failing to count kids in the 2020 census. In Hawaiʻi, about 39 percent of children under five years live in hard-to-count census tracts.

An undercount of young children in the upcoming decennial census would short-change child well-being over the next decade by putting at risk hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding for programs that are critical to family stability and opportunity, including Head Start, SNAP, school lunches and child care subsidies. Based on census data, Hawaiʻi receives more than $630 million annually in federal funding for programs that impact children.

For more information, read the or or (PDF).

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa , and released the first comprehensive research study of its kind since the 1980s on homeless and runaway youth in Hawaiʻi. The study offers a detailed snapshot of homeless and unaccompanied youth on Oʻahu, allowing for a more current and relative understanding of this population’s experiences and service needs.

Homelessness among youth is a serious and complex problem, with research showing that youth aged 12–17 are at higher risk than adults of becoming homeless. Older youth between 18 and 24, considered as transition-aged youth, are one of the fastest growing homeless populations. Nationally, most of the unaccompanied youth (89 percent) in the point-in-time estimates of homelessness were between the ages of 18 and 24. Transition-aged youth are still developing as young adults and need support until they are able to care for themselves. They require unique housing and services that are different than those tailored for adults or families.

Hawaiʻi’s 2017 homeless point-in-time count reported 319 unaccompanied youth, with 82 percent of these youth living unsheltered and 92 percent of them between the ages of 18 and 24. In fiscal year 2016, the state’s homeless service system served a total of 624 unaccompanied youth and almost all of them (93.6 percent) were transition-aged youth. Among service users, unaccompanied youth aged 18–24 had the lowest rate of permanent housing placement with only 26.1 percent moving to a permanent home compared to 49 percent of all homeless service users.

The Street Youth Study includes data that describes the basic demographics, homeless and runaway experiences, risk factors, well-being and service utilization and needs of Oʻahu’s unaccompanied youth. The data paint a picture of street youth on Oʻahu, but only in broad strokes. Being able to accurately describe the breadth of youth homelessness across the state is imperative for providing effective supports that will transition youth from the streets and toward a brighter future.

For more on the Street Youth Study read the or .

A new report from the University of Hawaiʻi finds that Hawaiʻi lacks sufficient childcare and preschool seats to meet the community’s needs, and has some of the nation’s least-affordable care.

The report provides a statewide assessment of the early learning system for children from birth through age five and focuses on child care and preschool centers, family child care homes and family-child interaction learning programs.

• (PDF)

The report serves as a critical tool to evaluate and improve how Hawaiʻi supports the development of all of its children. Findings reveal areas of crucial need and bright spots.

Action needed

Areas in need of action include increasing the number of childcare and preschool seats. Overall, there are only enough seats to serve about one in four children, but many communities are childcare deserts with few or no options for families.

The report shows there is a critical shortage of infant-toddler care. Hawaiʻi has 37 children under age three for every licensed infant-toddler center seat, and some islands have no infant-toddler centers. As a result of the shortage, parents try to get on a waiting list long before their baby is born.

Cost is a factor

Cost is a second key concern. Hawaiʻi has the nation’s least affordable center-based care, relative to family income.

The federal government defines affordable childcare as 7 percent of family income for all children, combined. However, care for only one child in Hawaiʻi consumes approximately 13 percent of the typical Hawaiʻi family’s income.

A third area of need is support for the early childhood providers themselves, many of whom do not earn a living wage. Some providers need access to on-site professional development and a pathway to earning a credential or college degree in the early childhood field.

Finally, the cost of running a childcare program is prohibitive. Centers and family childcare providers struggle to keep tuition as low as possible while remaining a viable business.

Bright spots

“Hawaiʻihas much to be proud of,” said , interim director of the ������Ƶ Center on the Family and lead author of the report.

“We have many childcare centers with national accreditation, which is an indicator of quality. Public pre-kindergarten is growing and we have unique options such as Hawaiian language immersion, family-child interaction groups where parents and children play and learn together, and programs for children who are homeless,” DeBaryshe added.

According to the study, a strong, high quality early childhood system is a necessary investment in Hawaiʻi’s future. High quality early learning programs help children develop to their full potential. Reliable, affordable child care allows parents to remain in the workforce, increasing family self-sufficiency and ensuring stability for employers.

The study was conducted in partnership with the Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network with funding from the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation.

To learn more see the complete .

Economic conditions may finally be improving, and families continue to offer a strong foundation for Hawaiʻi’s children, according to the released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Data Book, which examines trends in child well-being during the post-recession years, found that Hawaiʻi now ranks 23 in child economic well-being, and 17 for child well-being overall.

“We’re seeing a steady decrease in the number of children living in families where the parents lack secure employment,” says Ivette Rodriguez Stern, the Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT project director at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa . “As parental employment improves, we begin to see improvements in other indicators of economic well-being.”

The rate of children living in households with a high housing cost burden—defined as a household spending more than 30 percent or more of income on housing—is one indicator that has steadily improved, decreasing from 46 percent in 2010 to 38 percent in 2015. However, Hawaiʻi still has among the worst housing cost burden rates in the nation, ranking 46th for this indicator.

“High housing costs remain a significant challenge in our state. When families spend so much of their income on housing, they have fewer resources to meet other basic needs. We all—including government and the private sector—need to come together to build more affordable housing in Hawaiʻi,” said Nicole Woo, senior policy analyst at the .

Despite some improvements on individual indicators, Hawaiʻi is lagging in the education domain, ranking 36th. Although there have been some improvements in reading and math proficiency, Hawaiʻi’s children are still below national proficiency rates and more than half of 3- and 4-year-olds are not enrolled in preschool programs.

“Access to high-quality, affordable child care and preschool must remain a priority in our state,” said Barbara DeBaryshe, interim director of the ������Ƶ Center on the Family. “Strong programs support school readiness and give an extra boost to children facing the difficult odds of poverty or family hardship. Sadly, we simply do not have enough child care seats in our state, especially for infants and toddlers. We need policy incentives that allow providers to serve more children, give families more assistance paying for care and help more programs reach quality benchmarks. Investments in our keiki now will have large payoffs in the future.”

Significant Hawaiʻi findings

The annual KIDS COUNT Data Book uses 16 indicators to rank each state across four domains that represent what children need most to thrive. Findings for Hawaiʻi include the following:

• Three of four economic indicators—the percentage of children whose parents lack secure employment, children in households with a high housing cost burden, and teens not in school and not working—have improved since the release of the 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book. The percentage of children living in poverty has failed to improve past 2010 levels and returned to 14 percent in 2015.
• There were improvements in three of the four indicators in the education domain compared to 2010 data—reading and math proficiency and the percentage of high schoolers graduating on time—however, the percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds not in preschool increased by 18 percent from 2010 to 2015.
• With only 2 percent of our children lacking health insurance coverage, Hawaiʻi continues to lead the nation in health, ranking eighth in this domain. This represents a 50 percent decrease in the percentage of kids without insurance compared to 2010.
• Hawaiʻi is also doing well in the family and community context, ranking 10th in this domain. The teen birth rate has continued an impressive decline of 36 percent since 2010, and we have fewer children living in high poverty neighborhoods in 2015 than in 2010.

Besides emphasizing investments in early childhood education programs, with the Data Book, the Annie E. Casey Foundation demonstrates the need for protecting health insurance coverage for children and expanding programs that create economic stability for families at the state and federal levels.

“We’ve done well in making sure that our children have health insurance coverage. However, health care reforms that limit federal funds coming to our state for Medicaid or that allow insurers to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions will threaten the well-being of our most vulnerable children and youth. We must continue to work hard at all levels to make sure that coverage is not jeopardized,” said Stern.

Woo adds, “On a positive note, this year the Legislature approved a state earned income tax credit (EITC). Unfortunately, the state credit is non-refundable, which will limit tax refunds available to families when the amount of their EITC is larger than what they owe in state income tax. Nevertheless, this is a great start and represents breakthrough legislation that supports low-income families and children in our state.” 

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa , a unit within the , will sponsor the symposium, Data Matters: New Insights on our Children and Youth, on March 31, 8–11:45 a.m. at the Waiʻalae Country Club.

The syposium will showcase and discuss new studies and data on children and youth in Hawaiʻi. Offering important insights on our keiki, the event will feature studies by Hawaiʻi researchers using local data sets from early childhood through emerging adulthood.

The keynote address will be presented by Bill O’Hare, president of O’Hare Data and Demographic Services, LLC, and a former senior consultant at the , a private charitable organization dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the U.S. His talk will examine the undercounting of young children in the U.S. Census and the implications of the undercount.

Panel presentation topics and speakers

• Early Childhood Programs in Hawaiʻi: Data for Planning and Policy, Barbara DeBaryshe, interim director and specialist, Center on the Family
• Hawaiian Cultural Connections as Youth Developmental Assets, Brandon C. Ledward, research associate, Strategy and Innovation Group, Kamehameha Schools
• The Hawaiʻi Data eXchange Partnership: Education to Workforce Data Sharing, Jean Osumi, project director, Hawaiʻi Data eXchange Partnership, Hawaiʻi
• Ethnic Disparities in the Hawaiʻi Juvenile Justice System, Karen Umemoto, professor and chair, ������Ƶ
• Homeless Children and Youth in Hawaiʻi, Sarah Yuan, associate specialist, Center on the Family

Registration and parking are free. .

Hawaiʻi ranks 23 in the nation on overall child well-being, a slight improvement from 24th last year, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2016 KIDS COUNT^© Data Book.

The 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book continues to look at child well-being in the midst of the country’s economic recovery, after the recession ended in June 2009. The data book focuses on trends over the last six years (roughly 2008 to 2014). It also examines the influence of parents’ education, health and other life circumstances on child well-being.

“The most troubling news from this year’s report is that Hawaiʻi continues to see increases in the share of children growing up in poverty and harsh economic conditions,” said Ivette Rodriguez Stern, Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT project director at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s , a unit within the . “One bright note is that, despite economic challenges, Hawaiʻi teens are making progress.”

The teen birth rate decreased during the period examined, down 41 percent since 2008. The proportion of high school students graduating on time has increased slightly, up to 78 percent in 2012 to 2013 (the most current year for which data are available) from 76 percent in 2007 to 2008.

Areas of concern

However, despite the economic recovery and rising employment, an increasing number of Hawaiʻi’s children are growing up in economic hardship. “While we are below the national average, the percent of children in our state living in poverty increased by 50 percent between 2008 and 2014, compared to the 22 percent increase seen across the nation during that time,” explains Stern. “Our child poverty rate now stands at 15 percent, which is also slightly higher than the 13 percent reported last year.”

In addition, increases in the number of children whose parents lack secure employment and the number of children who live in high-poverty neighborhoods have persisted. And while the share of children living in households with a high housing cost burden (i.e., where more than 30 percent of the household income is spent on housing) has improved slightly (decreasing from 47 percent in 2008 to 41 percent in 2014), Hawaiʻi has among the worst housing cost burden rates in the nation, ranking 45th out of 50 states on this indicator.

“These data understate the proportion of children growing up in economic hardship,” said Stern. “Research shows that families need income at least twice the poverty level, probably more in Hawaiʻi given our high cost of living, just to cover basic living expenses like food, housing, transportation and childcare. According to Census data, about one-third of our children are now growing up in those low-income families that are facing the challenges of just getting by, up from a little over a quarter in 2008.”

Decades of research show how growing up in financial hardship can have profound effects on children, especially when the hardship occurs early in life, impacting their cognitive, social, emotional and physical development. If these issues go unaddressed or a child continues to experience economic hardship, chances increase for difficulties later in life, such as dropping out of school, teenage pregnancy and poor employment outcomes.

Addressing the issues

The encouraging news is that the Data Book outlines policy recommendations that are consistent with efforts gaining momentum in Hawaiʻi to increase opportunity and reduce poverty and inequality.

“To ensure good outcomes for this generation of young children, we must continue to expand access to high quality preschool and early childhood services for keiki age birth through four,” said Barbara DeBaryshe, a specialist at the Center on the Family and an expert in early childhood education. “We currently have 19 state Pre-K classrooms located in DOE (Department of Education) schools throughout the islands. The state Legislature also recently increased funding for the Preschool Open Doors Program so that more low-income children can attend early learning programs. However, with nearly half of our three- and four-year-olds still not participating in early learning programs, we must continue to do more so that all of Hawaiʻi’s children have a fair chance to develop their potential as they grow.”

The report also provides a recommendation to ensure family economic security in the face of a health crisis or when a major family event occurs, like the birth of a child. Paid family leave is recommended as a way to help low-income families and low-wage earners balance their obligations at home and in the workplace. Legislation was proposed this past session for a paid family leave program in Hawaiʻi. While the measure did not pass, progress was made with the passage of a Senate resolution that establishes a task force to examine the benefits and costs of such a program in Hawaiʻi. “While all employees in Hawaiʻi will be positively impacted by a paid family leave program, such a policy is especially critical for low-income families that have few resources and support when a family member is ill or a baby is born,” said Stern.

Hawaiʻi’s rankings

The Data Book ranks each state on overall child well-being. Hawaiʻi sits in the middle range for national child well-being, ranking 23 out of 50 states. Findings in the four domains measured include the following:

• Two of the four economic conditions—children in poverty and children whose parents lack secure employment—worsened over the six-year period, with the increases being statistically significant. The percent of teens (16- to 19-years-old) not in school or working has remained somewhat stable, increasing only slightly. The percent of children in households with a high housing cost burden has decreased, but Hawaiʻi remains well above the national average (with 41 percent of children living in such households in Hawaiʻi, compared to 35 percent across the country). Hawaiʻi ranks 32 out of 50 states in the economic well-being domain.
• Gains in the education domain have been made over the period examined. Reading and math proficiency scores improved and, though the increase has been slight, so has percentage of high school students graduating on time. However, there has been a small but statistically significant increase in the proportion of preschool-aged children not in school and Hawaiʻi continues to rank near the bottom in the education domain (33 out of 50 states).
• The health conditions measured—percent of low-birthweight babies, children without health insurance, the child and teen death rate and the percent of teens who abuse substances—have remained relatively stable or improved slightly. Hawaiʻi ranks 8 out of 50 states in the health domain.
• Hawaiʻi is also doing well in the area of family and community well-being, ranking 12th out of 50 states. Two indicators—children in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma and the teen birth rate—have improved. The proportion of children in single-parent families has remained somewhat stable, increasing only slightly. The share of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods (i.e., where 30 percent or more of the residents are poor) has also increased.

The 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book may be viewed in its entirety at .

The at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Homeless Programs Office of the have released the Homeless Service Utilization Report: Hawaiʻi 2015. Authored by Associate Specialist , Hong Vo Kristen Gleason and Javzandulam Azuma, the report provides the most current data on the utilization patterns of homeless services in the state during the 2015 fiscal year, based on agency-entered data in the Homeless Management and Information System (HMIS).

The 2015 report discusses overall patterns of inflow, outflow and return flow to the homeless service system and highlights factors associated with changes since last year. In addition to providing information on the usage of homeless service programs, the current report compares service outcomes among different homeless sub-populations.

Thematic maps show geographic areas where people last resided before becoming homeless and where outreach services achieved tangible outcomes. This report also examined the permanent supportive housing programs that serve formerly homeless individuals, which include programs that adopt the “Housing First” approach.

Highlights of the report

• The 2015 fiscal year reported the highest number of people who sought homeless services in the state’s history: 14,954 in total — an increase of 4.7% (672 clients) from last year.
• The increase was highest among unaccompanied homeless adults: 8,250 accessed services in FY 2015, 9.9% (740) more than those served in FY 2014.
• The only group that showed a noticeable decline in numbers this year was homeless children, who dropped 1.8% from the statewide peak seen in FY 2014, to a total of 3,494 in FY 2015.

For more report highlights, .

“We have more children in poverty now, more children living in high-poverty neighborhoods, and over a quarter of our children living in families where parents lack secure employment,” explains Ivette Rodriguez Stern of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa . That’s over 40,000 children, or about one in eight, living in poverty in Hawaiʻi—worse than in 2008, at the height of the recession. The mainland is also seeing worsening child poverty. These numbers are from the just-released from the , which presents data on education, health and family and community as well as economic well-being.

Stern, the Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT project director, explains that three of the four economic conditions tracked have worsened since 2008. The only one that improved was the share of children living in households with a high housing burden—where more than 30 percent of household income goes for housing. Despite this improvement, Hawaiʻi still has the fifth-worst high housing burden rate in the nation. In general, Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living makes the poverty burden worse.

Living in poverty can also worsen other outcomes for kids. “Research shows that growing up in poor and low-income households can have long-lasting effects on children’s learning, health, and earning potential as adults,” warns Marianne Berry, director of the Center on the Family.

Income boosters can help change outcomes for children

There is hope, however. “The good news,” Berry points out, “is that when we invest in the right strategies and policies, we can make a difference for kids.” Stern confirms, “Studies show that boosting low family income by just a few thousand dollars can really make a difference in changing outcomes for children, especially early in childhood.” She suggests that a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) would bolster the effects of the successful federal EITC to provide those critical dollars. High-quality and reliable early care and education programs targeting low-income families can also minimize achievement gaps caused by poverty.

The Data Book, which ranks each state on overall child well-being, shows Hawaiʻi is right in the middle, 24 out of 50. There have been some gains in education, with steady improvements in reading and math proficiency rates and in on-time high school graduation. However, Hawaiʻi is still near the bottom third among states in education. Health conditions—percent of low-birthweight babies, children without health insurance, child and teen deaths, and percent of teens who abuse substances—have remained somewhat stable since 2008, and Hawaiʻi has the second-smallest share of children without health insurance. Hawaiʻi is also relatively high among states in the area of family and community well-being, 11 out of 50.

• Related: (subscription required) – Star Advertiser, July 21, 2015

To read the full report, visit the .

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Just in time for Father’s Day, family researcher Selva Lewin-Bizan has released the preliminary results of an evaluation of a fatherhood program conducted in Hawaiʻi, showing that men who attend the program are likely to improve their parenting skills, knowledge, attitudes and family relationships. Lewin-Bizan is an assistant professor in the and the in the ������Ƶ Mānoa .

The program follows the curriculum created by the , which attempts to raise awareness of the importance of fatherhood in the U.S. and to provide tools to fathers that will help them be involved, responsible and committed twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. The program covers the five characteristics of the 24/7 Dad: self-awareness, caring for self, fathering skills, parenting skills and relationship skills. The participants meet one evening a week for a period of 12 weeks. Over pizza and soft drinks, they discuss topics such as family history, the meaning of being a man, showing and handling feelings, men’s health, communication, the father’s role, discipline, child development, getting involved, co-parenting and work.

To date, this is the only experimental study focusing on Hawaiʻi’s population of fathers, who are extremely diverse ethnically, culturally and economically. Lewin-Bizan followed different cohorts of fathers–custodial and noncustodial–who participated in the program and provided information about the conditions and capabilities of fathers in the state and over time. These fathers were assessed on their knowledge and skills, involvement, self-perception of the parental role and additional measures of the quality of the relationship with the child.

Lewin-Bizan found preliminary evidence that participation in the program improved not only fathers’ pro-fathering knowledge and attitudes but also father involvement, the quality of the father–child relationship and the quality of the father­–mother relationship, as measured by improvements in co-parenting. Moreover, the program also affected fathers’ happiness in being a parent: fathers reported being happier as a parent after completing the program. However, she cautioned that the results provided so far are preliminary as this is an ongoing study.

For more information about the study, including how to participate in the 24/7 Dad program in Hawaiʻi at no cost, email Lewin-Bizan at selva@hawaii.edu.

A policy report released by the highlights the importance of family placements for young people in the child welfare system. The report, which emphasizes that group placements are the least favorable setting for children in foster care, also highlights the promising ways that state and local government leaders, policymakers, judges and private providers can work together as they strive to help the 56,000 children who are living in such settings throughout the country.

In the U.S., 40 percent of young people who live in group facilities while in the child welfare system have no documented behavioral or clinical need to be in such restrictive settings. Such placements have been shown to be harmful to a child’s opportunities to develop strong and nurturing attachments.

“Kids who grow up in families have the best chances for success through life,” said Ivette Rodriguez Stern, the Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT project director. “Research shows that having secure attachments provided by nurturing caregivers is critical to a child’s healthy physical, social, emotional and psychological development. Young people who don’t grow up in families are at greater risk for poor outcomes as they grow up, such as being arrested.”

Percentages of young people in group placements within states range from as low as 4 percent in Oregon to as high as 35 percent in Colorado. The good news is that Hawaiʻi is doing well with 92 percent of children in foster care living in family settings, and only 7 percent in group placements. Nationally, 84 percent of young people in the child welfare system are in family settings, and 14 percent are in group placements.

Every kid needs a family

recommends how communities can widen the selection of services available to help parents and children under stress within their own homes, so that children have a better chance of reuniting with their birth families and retaining bonds important to their development.

“Some of what’s recommended in the policy report is already taking place in Hawaiʻi, which is the good news,” said Marianne Berry, child welfare expert and director of the at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s . “For example, Hawaiʻi was recently approved to use federal foster care dollars flexibly to prevent foster care placement of children and expedite permanency for those already in foster care. These efforts will include working with service providers, with families in crisis and with extended family members so that children can move out of the child welfare system and into family settings.”

Helping more children live in families means starting with the families they already have, even those in crisis. Keeping kids connected to family – their kin if not their parents – helps them stay safe and strong. When birth parents cannot care for a child, relatives can offer an existing relationship and connection to the child’s identify and culture, making an eventual return home easier. When kin care is not possible, foster parents play a critical role in nurturing and protecting children until they reside in a permanent family. When properly supported, foster families are capable of caring for the same children who otherwise end up in group placements.

Data from this report is available on the , which also contains the most recent national, state and local data on hundreds of measures of child well-being. Data Center users can create rankings, maps and graphs for use in publications and on websites, and view real-time information on mobile devices.

—A College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources news release

The at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Homeless Programs Office of the have released the . Authored by Center on the Family Associate Specialist Sarah Yuan and Graduate Assistants Hong Vo and Kristen Gleason, the report provides the most current data on the utilization patterns of homeless services in the state during the 2014 fiscal year, based on agency-entered data in the Homeless Management and Information System (HMIS).

Yuan presented findings of the report at the Statewide Homeless Awareness Conference at the Pacific Beach Hotel.

The format and information presented in this year’s report departed from what was typically presented in previous years. In addition to providing information on the usage and outcomes of particular homeless service programs, the current report discusses new developments in the state’s approach to homelessness. Also, it has used HMIS data to discuss overall patterns of inflow, outflow and return flow to the homeless service system in order to begin monitoring the future effectiveness of these developments. Results from these system- and program-level analyses are presented.

Report highlights

• A total of 14,282 individuals were served by the homeless service system in Hawaiʻi during FY 2014. This represents a 3 percent increase from the last fiscal year.

• 5,461 homeless individuals (38 percent) were new to the system, meaning they enrolled in one or more of the homeless programs for the first time in the FY 2014.
• 5,454 individuals (38 percent) were continuing clients from FY 2013.
• 3,367 individuals (24 percent) were returnees to the homeless system.

Read more highlights of the report in the ������Ƶ Mānoa or .

The 2014 , released on July 22 by the , marks 25 years of bringing attention to national and state-level data on the well-being of children. According to data presented in the annual report, Hawaiʻi ranks 25th out of 50 states on overall child well-being.

The report presents data on 16 indicators in four areas essential to child well-being: economic well-being, education, health and the family and community context. Recent trend data (many from 2005–2012) presented in the book show how children did mid-decade prior to the economic recession, compared to how they are faring in the aftermath. Certain conditions for Hawaiʻi’s children have improved during the period examined, however, others have worsened.

“The well-being of our children is the most important indicator of how well our state is doing in terms of longterm economic success and how well we will do in the future,” said Ivette Rodriguez Stern, the Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT project director. The at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has served as Hawaiʻi’s KIDS COUNT affiliate since 1994.

“The good news is that we’re no longer slipping in rank where it comes to the overall well-being of Hawaiʻi’s children, as had been the case in recent years. We’re now somewhere in the middle and while we’re doing well in the areas of health and in the family and community context, we’re ranked much lower where it comes to the economic well-being of our children and education,” Stern added.

Over the past two decades, the nation has gained significant knowledge on how to give children a good start and help them meet major milestones throughout childhood. The report addresses this knowledge and policies that set children up for success throughout life. “One of the things that we clearly know from the research is that a focus on the early years is critical in order to promote healthy child development and to give children a strong foundation for success,” said Marianne Berry, director of the Center on the Family. “Children who have access to high quality early care and learning experiences tend to have better outcomes across domains, with life-long benefits. Efforts to improve the overall well-being of Hawaiʻi’s children must, therefore, consider investments in providing our young children with high quality care and education.”

• ������Ƶ News story:

Hawaiʻi report data

• Three of four economic conditions worsened since the pre-recession period. However, two conditions (children in poverty and children in households with a high housing cost burden) have remained stable since the 2013 Data Book, and two conditions (children in families where parents lack secure employment and teens not in school and not working) improved slightly from the previous year. Hawaiʻi has among the highest rates of children in households with a high housing cost burden, and continues to hover near the bottom third in the economic domain.
• Gains in the education domain have continued, with improvements in all four indicators. Despite steady improvements in reading and math proficiency and on-time high school graduation rate over the past several years, Hawaiʻi continues to rank near the bottom third on these three indicators and in the education domain as a whole.
• Hawaiʻi is doing relatively well in the health domain, ranking 22nd in the nation. The health conditions measured—child and teen death rate, percent of low-birth weight babies, percent of children without health insurance and percent of teens who abuse substances—have remained somewhat stable, showing little to no change over the period examined. Hawaiʻi has among the smallest share of children without health insurance and among the lowest death rates, ranking 2nd and 7th, respectively, in the nation on these indicators.
• Hawaiʻi is also doing well in the area of family and community well-being, ranking 13th out of 50 states. Despite this ranking, there has been a worsening on two indicators, with an upward trend in the share of children living in single-parent families and children living in high-poverty areas.

Read the for more information or go to the to download the full report.

In a new data snapshot, the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds that a large majority of children in the United States are not reading proficiently by the time they reach fourth grade—a key predictor of a student’s future educational and economic success. finds that while there have been overall improvements in reading scores over the past decade, the gap between students from higher- and lower-income families is growing wider. Proficiency levels have increased significantly more for higher-income students than for their lower-income peers.

The at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the of the Hawaiʻi State Department of Human Services have released the . Authored by Sarah Yuan, Ivette Rodriguez Stern and Hong Vo, the report provides the most current data on individuals and households who accessed homeless services and the state’s overall service utilization in the 2013 fiscal year, based on agency-entered data in the Homeless Management and Information System.

The report includes information for both the Shelter Stipend Program (i.e., emergency and transitional shelter services) and the Outreach Program (i.e., services to those living outside, in a car or park or on a beach). It provides a demographic profile based on an unduplicated count of shelter and outreach program clients, a seven-year trend of homeless service utilization, and an analysis of outcomes of the Shelter Program.

The total number of homeless clients served by the Shelter and Outreach Programs has dropped for the third consecutive year. There have been some improvements in shortening the length of stay in shelter programs, and in moving more clients into permanent housing more quickly. While more progress needs to be seen in helping those who were successfully housed to remain in permanent housing, data show that the large majority of clients exited the homeless service programs by the third year and did not return.

Report highlights

• From July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013, the Shelter and Outreach Programs served a total of 13,639 individuals statewide. The total number of clients served by these programs dropped for the third consecutive year, and by 2.4 percent since 2012.
• Forty-two percent of those who received services were “new clients” (i.e., individuals who received services but had no prior intake recorded in the system, dating back to July 1, 2006).
• The average length of stay has shortened for certain program and household types compared to last year.
• Compared to 2012, more clients had obtained permanent housing in the community.
• Of those exiting shelter services to permanent housing in FY 2013, nearly equal shares of singles and families (48 percent and 49 percent, respectively) who utilized emergency shelter services exited in less than 60 days.
• About one-third of households exiting the emergency shelter program had cash income, with a median of $734 per month for those on Oʻahu and $791 for those in the other counties combined.
• Among those who entered the Shelter Program in FY 2010, two-thirds of the emergency shelter cohort and over half of the transitional shelter cohort exited homeless programs by the second year (FY 2011) and have not returned since. By the third year, 83 percent of the emergency shelter cohort and 76 percent of the transitional shelter cohort exited and have not returned to a homeless service program since.

Read highlights of the report in the or .