Press Releases

Arkansas Ranks 45TH in 2024 KIDS COUNT Data Book

June 10, 2024

Arkansas leaders must do more to protect children and prepare them to learn so they can flourish in adulthood.

In-depth study finds Arkansas’s tax system makes inequality much worse

January 12, 2024

for years we’ve been cutting income taxes in a way that primarily benefits rich corporations and the wealthiest individuals.

Race for Results 2024

January 10, 2024

While 9.5% of all babies in Arkansas were born with low birth weights in 2021, the low birth weight rate for Black babies in our state was almost 17%.

Arkansas Advocates 2021 Legislative Session Recap, Vol. 10

March 19, 2021

This was a BUSY week at the Arkansas State Capitol. A lot of bills we are following were heard. Despite both chambers breaking for at least a few days next week, keep an eye out on several bills under...

AACF Statement: Senate Plan Doesn’t Meet Needs of Families, Match Scope of Unprecedented Economic Challenges

July 28, 2020

The Senate COVID-19 relief plan unveiled Monday doesn’t meet the needs of Arkansas’s families and doesn’t address our looming state fiscal crisis, which means it will make the recession longer and more painful, Rich Huddleston, Executive Director of Arkansas...

Arkansas losing ground in several national child well-being rankings

June 22, 2020

Child advocates concerned about pandemic’s impact The 31st Kids Count® Data Book, the most comprehensive annual report on child well-being in the United States, is available to ensure continuity of access to data for policymakers and advocates. The number of...

Assessment Finds an Arkansas EITC Would Lead to Healthier Arkansans

July 25, 2019

Benefits of state-level EITCs go beyond economic, have positive effects on children’s health Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, along with Children’s HealthWatch, today released an assessment examining the potential health-related effects of creating a state-level, refundable Earned...

Arkansas Rises in Overall State Child Well-Being Ranking

June 17, 2019

The number of Arkansas children living in poverty has continued to improve, according to data released today in the annual Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT® Data Book. The number of Arkansas children living in poverty decreased by 9,000...

New Report Finds Medicaid Expansion Leads to Healthier Mothers and Babies

May 22, 2019

A new report shows Arkansas saw one of the sharpest declines in the uninsured rate for women of childbearing age following the state’s decision to expand Medicaid. Between 2013 and 2017, the uninsured rate for women ages 18-44 declined...

2018 State of Preschool report ranks Arkansas 5th in access for 3-year-olds

April 19, 2019

Study shows all states need faster expansion and greater investment in early childhood education In The State of Preschool 2018 annual report, the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University found that Arkansas preschool state-funded enrollment increased, but funding...

New proposal gives needed boost to Arkansas’s working families

April 10, 2019

Half a million Arkansas children stand to benefit United States Senators Sherrod Brown, Michael Bennet, Dick Durbin and Ron Wyden today introduced the Working Families Tax Relief Act, legislation that would begin to fix our tax laws to help...

Report: More Arkansas Foster Children Connected to Families

April 2, 2019

Older Children More Likely to Live in Group Settings, New Data Snapshot Shows Arkansas is slowly improving the ratio of young people in foster care who are connected to families, an important marker in the state’s effort to improve...

Judge’s ruling saves thousands more Arkansans from losing health care

March 27, 2019

Today, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg ruled that Arkansas’s work reporting requirement cannot continue because it violates the purpose of the Arkansas Works program. The decision puts a stop to a deeply flawed, misguided policy. For now, Arkansans...

Report: Arkansas Kids’ Uninsured Rate on the Rise

November 29, 2018

Nationally, Children’s Coverage Gains Reverse Course The number of uninsured children nationwide increased by about 276,000 children last year, the first significant increase in a decade, according to a new report released by the Georgetown University Center for Children...

Arkansas Advocates’ Statement Opposing Issue 1

October 11, 2018

Even if an upcoming Arkansas Supreme Court ruling keeps Issue 1 off the November ballot, it’s doubtful this issue will be going away anytime soon. We will see future efforts to pass so-called “tort reform,” just as we will...

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