Indiana kids hit by COVID-19 with uptick in poverty, mental health struggles: report

Apr. 19—The COVID-19 pandemic hit Indiana children with more living in poverty and struggling with their mental health, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Indiana Youth Institute.

The 28th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, a nearly 250-page report, measures a range of social factors affecting the state's children. The state ranked 29th nationally in child well-being, the same since 2019, it said.

"The past couple of years have been relentless and challenging for all of us," Indiana Youth Institute president & CEO Tami Silverman said in a release.

"While it will be some time before we understand the total impact of the pandemic on our communities, there have been thousands of bright spots: the youth workers, educators, parents, and caregivers who continuously adapted and showed up to support Indiana's kids," she said.

Child poverty

The report states 30,000 more kids are in poverty, compared to 2019 — now at 17.2%. Disparities continue to be exacerbated for Black (25%) and Hispanic children (17%), even though they are only 11% each of the state's population, respectively.

Lake County continues to rank high — second for Black children in poverty (27%) and third for Hispanic children (25%). Overall, it ranked 10th in the state with 24.5% of kids in poverty. About 22% of all students in Lake County were food insecure in 2021, up from 19% in 2019. It ranked third in homeless students with about 1% — or 612 — claiming federal homeless benefits.

Both Lake and Porter showed progress in driving down the number of homeless students with both counties having about 75 fewer students each claiming homelessness in 2020-21, it said.

Mental health

Indiana's mental health ranking dropped to 42nd in 2022 from 33rd last year, it said. This was likely impacts from pandemic-related school closings, virus precautions like social distancing, gaps in care if parents lost insurance coverage.

Young people in the state reported higher levels of feeling hopeless in 2020 for two-plus weeks, compared to the national average, it said. The Indiana Suicide Hotline got 2,259 calls from March 2020 to March 2021 from callers under 24, it said.

Indiana also had the highest percentage of kids who needed and did not get mental health treatment among surrounding states in 2019-20: 52%, with 48% in Kentucky, 47% in Ohio, 44% in Illinois and 39% in Michigan. The 52% rate represented an uptick in the Hoosier state from 49% between 2018-19 and around 50% between 2016-18.

However, the report estimated the ratio of mental health providers to clients dropped, it said to 590 to 1; compared to 30 more clients per provider in 2019.

Foster care

The report notes the number of children in foster care has declined, but Indiana still ranks second among neighboring states. Nearly 27,000 children were in the foster care system in 2020, down 11% from 2019. However, some reasons may be pandemic-related, it said. About 44% of placements were with a nonrelative, it said. Children spent an average of 615 days in the foster care system, up by about a month in 2019.

Child population

Indiana ranks 14th in child population in the U.S., it said, with 1.57 million children under 18. About 30% of children identify as nonwhite, compared to 21.5% of adults, according to the report.

Lake County has the state's second highest under-18 population, making up 7% of the county. About 2% of Porter County is under 18, it said.

Juvenile justice

The report estimated 261 kids served time in an Indiana Department of Correction juvenile facility in July 2021. Over half, 53%, were incarcerated for violent crimes, it said. Just under half, 48.8% were children of color, compared to one-third of Indiana's population. Of those in prison, 87.5% were male, with an average age of 16.

Education

Indiana ranks 17th in education, knocking it down two spots from last year, the report states. Pre-K enrollment is among the "lowest in the nation" with under half (41%) signed up, compared to 47% across the U.S.

About 86% of teens graduated high school on time, it said, while 59% enrolled in college classes within a year of graduation. About 44% of Hoosier college students also graduated on time, with 63% completing their diploma in six years.

Infant mortality

Indiana's infant mortality rate — already problematic and higher than national averages — jumped slightly in 2020, according to the report. Racial disparities continue with Black children suffering acutely with a 13.5 per 1,000 death rate, compared to 6.6 per 1,000 rate in the state overall.

About 552 children in the state died in 2020 before age 1, it said.

Teen births

Following a national trend, Indiana's teen births dropped slightly in 2019, 21 per 1,000, compared to 22 the prior year. It is still above the national average of 17 per 1,000, the report said.

Environment

Indiana ranked 46th nationally in air quality, according to the report. The greatest number of the state's 75 toxic Superfund sites located near minority communities are in Marion, Lake and Elkhart counties, it said.

The report is available online.

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