Does every child matter to you?

Social worker Michael Petite and his organization Every Child Matters has set out this election season to bring to light the disparate treatment of children in the US. Some states provide the funding necessary to provide for vulnerable children, while others are scraping the bottom to piece together funding for children’s programs. These states just happen to coincide with different political ideologies, according to their voting record. In his book, Homeland Insecurity…American Children at Risk, Petite notes 6 of the top 10 states for overall child well-being are blue states, while the bottom 10 states are all red states. In a recent NASW Specialty Practice Sections Teleconference, he encouraged social workers help Every Child Matters focus the attention of the 2008 Presidential Campaign on children’s issues.

How do you feel about Petite’s assessment of the state of well-being for children in the US?

How does your state rank? As a social worker, what do you feel can be done?

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