South Dakota ranks 18th in the nation in the annual Kids Count Survey by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The report examines child welfare in four areas: economic well-being, education, health and family/community. Of the sixteen factors examined in the report, South Dakota improved in the economic and health areas, but conditions got worse in education and family/community. The state ranks 48th in deaths of children younger than 21. This has prompted South Dakota Voices for Children to call for state legislators to enact stricter driving laws to lower the state's child and teen death rates. Jennifer Kline is the executive director of South Dakota Voices for Children.
South Dakota Report On Child Welfare
