Health programs promised money through a 2009 increase in the tobacco tax haven’t seen a penny, and dozens of others have been under budgeted in the last two fiscal years, according to an analysis by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. An expansion of the state’s child health insurance program and an electronic health records […]

The Arkansas General Assembly will likely consider one or more proposals to eliminate or reduce state taxes on capital gains during the 2011 legislative session. While the Arkansas state budget situation is not as bad as that of some states, it’s clear that state general revenue will be tight during the next two years. Proposals […]

Arkansas schools routinely fail to spend millions of dollars meant to help their poorest students catch up to their peers, according to an analysis of education spending data by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. Many school districts are rolling over poverty funds from year to year instead of investing in proven programs that help […]

Thirty-one years ago, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families cobbled together data on the well-being of children from census reports, annual reports, planning documents and grant proposals. The result, “Arkansas Children Have Problems,” was a comprehensive and accurate portrait of the state of Arkansas children—22.6 percent of whom lived in poverty. Today, 24.9 percent of […]

More than 400 children in Arkansas are waiting to find an adoptive family. They are in the custody of the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) and their parents’ rights have been terminated because they were unable or unwilling to care for them. Many of these children wait a long time for a family, especially […]

During the past three years Arkansas has created a task force of stakeholders, commissioned a comprehensive review of its juvenile justice system, developed a vision and set long-term goals for system change, and held regional meetings to discuss the comprehensive strategy for making changes and reforming the state’s approach to juvenile justice. These include redirecting […]

Every day Arkansas families struggle to make ends meet, and the recent economic downturn has made this challenge even more difficult. Just how much money does a family need to cover its basic needs? How much do various government supports and benefits help families to do so? This report will help to answer these questions.

In these difficult economic times, Arkansas faces major challenges in meeting the needs of vulnerable children and families. Decreasing tax revenues and growing demand for services and support require tough decisions, thoughtful approaches and the political courage to balance a range of demands on state government. This year’s release of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s […]

This report discusses how LGBT youth are disproportionately affected by the juvenile justices system and more likely to be funneled into the deep end of the system. It addresses the particular challenges that they face once there, and the lack of resources available to meet their specific needs. Most importantly, the report looks at the […]

The 2006 report After School Programs in Arkansas: A Solution Whose Time has Come outlined the positive impacts that afterschool and summer programs have by keeping children safe, supporting working families and inspiring Arkansas children to learn. New research continues to validate these findings in both local communities in Arkansas and across the country. During […]