One of the most concerning aspects of this year's report was youth mental health. Nearly 14 percent of seventh grade students and older seriously contemplated suicide.
(Courtesy of the Indiana Youth Institute)
The Indiana Youth Institute said there’s some good and some bad in this year’s Kids Count Data Book. Among the positives: Indiana’s median household income grew and child poverty is at its lowest in a decade.
Tami Silverman is the CEO of the Indiana Youth Institute. She said Indiana adults need to be “clear-eyed” on both the positives and negatives of this year’s report.
One of the negatives: 60 percent of Indiana’s 3- and 4-year-olds weren’t enrolled in an early childhood education program.
“We know that that early enrollment really has a ripple effect, over time, that really compounds,” Silverman said. “So that’s important too.”
Silverman said the data book is a “report card” grading how Hoosier adults are supporting youth.
“You know, the data is intended for action. Go take some action, read another data point. Come back. You know, it’s a reference guide,” she said. “It’s a reference guide that really tells us how kids in Indiana are doing.”
The Indiana Youth Institute also highlighted the work of a state-based national nonprofit, Jobs for America’s Graduates, or JAG.
Angel Tunny is one of the students enrolled in the JAG program. She said JAG gave her the support to be who she wants to be.
“JAG taught me to believe in myself, and we ask the same of you. It’s hard being an adult sometimes. And you won’t have all the answers. The important thing is to work hard and do your best — just like you ask of us.”
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Indiana’s JAG chapter announced plans to double the number of programs in the state from 125 to 250 by the end of the 2024-25 school year. There are currently more than 200 active JAG programs in the state.
Silverman said JAG does double-duty when students are part of the program.
“Through that extensive mentorship, through that community connection, through that nurturing and support and that real talk that they have in a lot of those programs — it translates into career aspirations,” she said.
Silverman said that helps combat one of the most concerning aspects of this year’s Kids Count Data Book. She said Indiana’s youth are experiencing “an epidemic of loneliness.”
