Home is where the heart is

According to a study recently released by the children's advocacy group, Children's Rights Council, some places are more ideal for raising children than others. In fact, says the fifth annual study, New England has some of the country's best places to raise children, based on several categories of criteria, ranging from rates of child abuse and neglect to infant mortality rates.

That's not to say you should sell the house in Louisiana and move to Maine, but according to this group, children tend to fare better (statistically speaking, at least) in the cooler Northern state than they would in sultry Louisiana. Washington D.C. ranked 51st out of all states/districts ranked. The findings have more to do with a commitment to children's advocacy and well-funded public health programs than climate, however.

Criteria for the rankings measured each state's records for immunizations in children under 2, child poverty, child deaths, mothers not receiving prenatal care, juvenile arrests, teen births, divorce, high school dropouts and the previously mentioned rates of infant mortality and child abuse and neglect.

The report incorporates data compiled from various sources, including the FBI, the federal Centers for Disease Control, state law enforcement agencies and the Department of Health and Human Services. A spokesman for the organization emphasized in a July press conference that parents were not expected to pull up stakes and move north, but that his organization hoped the figures would serve as impetus for change in lower ranked states.

Maine, famous for little more than lobsters and Stephen King, jumped to first place this year, after climbing from eighth place. Iowa held the number one slot last year. This year Iowa remained in the top ten (barely), at tenth place.

Massachusetts followed in second place as the best place to raise children, based on the above criteria, and Connecticut was third. Vermont took fourth place and New Hampshire fifth. Great Plains states are represented in the top ten by North Dakota, at sixth place, followed by Maryland at seventh. Rounding out the top ten are the wholesome midwestern states, Kansas, at eighth, Wisconsin at ninth and the aforementioned tenth-place winner, Iowa.

Some of the country's most populous states fail their children in some respects, according to the results of the study. California is ranked an embarrassing 46th, New York 34th, and Florida 36th. My current home state of New Jersey earned a respectable ranking of 17th-which is good news considering the exorbitant cost of living and high taxes here-and some of the more exotic, tourist-destination states, such as Alaska (14th) and Hawaii (13th) did very well.

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