TAMPA, Fla. — The Florida Policy Institute has released its 2022 numbers – ranking the well-being of children in the Sunshine State's 67 counties.
The well-being index ranks counties by how well kids are doing when it comes to the four major categories of economic well-being: education, health, and family and community support.
“We’re really not trying to put one county against another, but we really are saying, 'Let’s take a look here,'” Senior Policy Analyst Norin Dollard said. “Because the kids in this county aren’t getting, you know, their share. Aren’t getting the investments that they deserve.”
Dollard says the survey found Florida is improving overall in most categories.
Things are ranked the same or better statewide compared with measurements taken up to a decade ago.
“It’s really up to us as a state to help those counties make investments in their kids so the quality of their education is higher…[and] they’re getting the access to healthcare that they need,” Dollard said.
The well-being index uses 16 criteria, including the number of children in poverty, employment rates, school enrollment and proficiency. It looks at health issues like low birth weight, obesity and drug use as well as family structure, abuse and crime.
“Hillsborough made gains, particularly in economics and family community,” she said.
None of the Tampa Bay area’s 10 counties cracked the top 15.
Sarasota County scored highest at No. 17 followed closely by Hillsborough at No.18 and Hernando at No. 19. Polk County, which ranked No. 51, and Hardee County, which ranked No. 55, still had challenges, although both showed improvement being made in several categories.
“Counties with lower rankings tend to have disinvested in kids or they just don’t invest to the same degree or are able to invest in their kids to the same degree that other counties are,” Dollard explained.
The most current statistics for many of the categories were from 2020 and last year. That means the full impact of this year’s record inflation might not be fully known yet.
“Because the numbers that we do have for ‘21 aren’t really those that are directly economic. So, yes, next year will be telling for sure,” Dollard said.
Florida Policy Institute is a nonpartisan group. Their goal, they say, is to compile this data so that state and county leaders can see where resource disparities might exist, gauge what’s working along with what’s not and make educated decisions about where to direct resources so improvements can be made.
When compared with other states, Florida is ranked No. 35.
The Florida Policy Institute says Florida has held the same rank for the past three years.
“Holding our own,” Dollard said. “When we should be making greater progress.”