The states scoring the lowest on the index for African Americans are in the South and the Midwest. Nevada also scored low on this index. Conditions in the American South always have been especially difficult for African Americans.
In 2014, the Casey Foundation released Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children. The Race for Results report described the disproportionate barriers facing children of color, and it recommended strategies that policy, community and civic leaders could use to guide their decisions so that all our children have a fair chance to thrive.
Race for Results was our first report to measure how children from different racial backgrounds — African-American, American Indian, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino and white — were faring on the path to opportunity. The report introduced an evidence-based set of 12 key indicators that serve as stepping stones to opportunity, which were combined to generate a composite index score for children of every race in every state.
The Casey Foundation made a commitment to publishing Race for Results every three years to track progress, with the hope that life chances for all kids will continuously improve. This 2017 report is the second to provide detailed data for children of all races and in each state.
In this KIDS COUNT policy report, the Foundation explores the intersection of children, opportunity, race and immigration.
The report features updated data for the Race for Results Index, which measures how children are progressing on key milestones by race and ethnicity at the national and state levels.
The report also explores the significant barriers facing children in immigrant families, the majority of whom are also children of color, and offers recommendations for helping children in these families secure the stability, economic resources and opportunities all of the nation's children need to thrive.
In conjunction with this report, the Foundation released a methodology document describing the Race for Results Index, an expanded look at the data definitions and sources and a news release with a national take on the Race for Results findings.
There are 18 million children and youths who are sons and daughters of immigrants or are immigrants. Only a small proportion of children living in immigrant families are immigrants themselves — 88% are American citizens. Eight out of 10 are children and youths of color who face many of the systemic and institutional barriers encountered by other children of color living in the United States. More than half (54%) are Latino, with the majority of their families emigrating from Mexico and Central America. Significant proportions of immigrant children are Asian or Pacific Islander (17%) and black (8%).