By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | The urban-rural divide remains stark in South Carolina, particular when it comes to child well-being, according to numbers from the Children’s Trust of South Carolina.
Using KIDS COUNT data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children’s Trust on Thursday released the annual child well-being profiles for each county in South Carolina.
The profiles rank South Carolina’s 46 counties on 16 indicators of child well-being across four domains: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community.
The bottom 10 counties were: Marlboro, Orangeburg, Jasper, McCormick, Marion, Barnwell, Dillon, Lee, Williamsburg and Allendale, which ranked last.
York County ranked No. 1 overall in child well-being for the sixth consecutive year. Also in the top 10 were Dorchester, Greenville, Lexington, Beaufort, Pickens, Berkeley, Anderson, Richland and Spartanburg counties — all counties that have experienced growth and are near larger cities.
But some rural counties have made strides. The counties making the biggest leaps forward were Union, which improved by 17 spots to 21st; Clarendon, which climbed 10 places to No. 32; and Colleton, which jumped eight spots to No. 29. Calhoun and Hampton both improved seven places.
“However, as the profiles show, too many of South Carolina’s children live in environments that may put them at risk for negative outcomes, including child abuse and neglect. Rural counties with high poverty rates historically struggle in these rankings,” a statement from Children’s Trust stated.
Dr. Aditi Srivastav Bussells, Children’s Trust’s research and community impact manager, oversees the S.C. Adverse Childhood Experiences Initiative by managing data dissemination and providing leadership for the ACE training program.
She said the county data can help community leaders identify where additional support is needed to build well-being and resilience.
In other recent news:
Few snags report for new machines. The state Election Commission touted its new paper-based voting system this week after its first real test in Tuesday’s municipal and local elections. In a statement, commission director Marci Andino called the election “successful” and credited a statewide effort to implement the new machines. League of Women Voters of South Carolina Vice President for Issues and Action Lynn Teague released this statement to Statehouse Report: “South Carolina is very fortunate to have had very small local elections for a first test of the new voting systems. We are told that in Richland County there was about 16 percent turnout. A few computers were not working and a few were not calibrated properly. In some cases there were not enough power cords or outlets. With an average of one voter every four minutes in each polling place, and an average of four to five ballot marking devices in each polling place, the problems were accommodated without significant inconvenience to voters. We hope that these issues will be resolved by the time of the first more serious test, the statewide primary, so that voters will not experience delays.” Teague has been among the critics of the new ballot system.
- Related: Last week, nonprofit online journalism group ProPublica released a report this week that looked at how ES&S cornered the electronic voting market — the vendor that supplies South Carolina’s new voting machines. The report says that there are security concerns and little competition among ballot-makers. Read it here.
- In Charleston County, no problems reported but some confusion among voters. Read it here.
State agency mulls increase to Medicaid reimbursements. A home health care company recently reached out to Statehouse Report and said the state has not raised Medicaid reimbursement rates for home health providers in more than a decade. That “means that nurses, who can make much more money in settings like hospitals, schools and doctor’s offices, are not able to take the home health jobs that so desperately need to be filled,” said nonprofit BAYADA Home Health Care. The company said it is one of the only home health care providers left in South Carolina, “due to low reimbursement rates and scarcity of change and industry improvement.” S.C. Department of Health and Human Services media liaison Colleen Mullis saidt in response: “As a result of (an agency) review, SCDHHS believes a rate increase for private duty nursing services is warranted and has proposed a rate increase in its annual budget request.”
S.C. unemployment tax rate to drop to 34 percent. Gov. Henry McMaster announced Thursday that businesses around the state can expect to pay 34 percent less in unemployment taxes in 2020 than in 2019. Read more.
S.C.’s infant mortality rate up sharply. An average 7.2 infants out of every 1,000 born died within 12 months in 2018, according to new data from the state. In 2017, the average rate was 6.5. The numbers haven’t been so high since 2012, when the state’s infant mortality rate was 7.6. The leading cause of infant death was congenital malformation and deformation, followed by disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight and accidents. See the report here.
Rape, incest exceptions put back in abortion ban bill. State senators are continuing to debate a bill that would ban most abortions in South Carolina. The measure already passed the House earlier this year. After a panel stripped the bill of rape and incest exceptions to banning all abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, the full Senate Medical Affairs Committee — led by Republican moderates — reinserted the language Tuesday. Read more.
Murder rate in S.C. is at a 5-year high. As the overall violent crime and property crime has decreased around the state, there have been more murders in the state last year than any year recently. Read the report from SLED.
Public input sought on Edisto River basin. South Carolina agencies are looking for public input on one of eight major river basins in the state with two stakeholder meetings: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 18 at Clemson University’s Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville, and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Lovely Hill Convention Center in St. George. The meetings are part of the state’s effort to draft a comprehensive and forward-looking State Water Plan. Learn more.
Conservative groups weigh in on vaping debate. Two conservative think tanks have claimed that two initiatives aimed at curbing adolescent smoking could undermine small businesses: flavor bans and raising the age of nicotine use to 21. Americans for Tax Reform said vaping flavor bans would “devastate Main Street,” and Competitive Enterprise Institute said raising the tobacco purchase age to 21 “has little basis in fact” for curbing youth use. Both regulations have been floated in South Carolina as lawmakers look to keep teens off nicotine.
Full Senate Education Committee to meet on education overhaul. The full Senate Education Committee will look at whether to recommend its panel-revised version of the House-passed education overhaul bill. The meeting is 1 p.m. Nov. 13 in room 308 of the Gressette building on the Statehouse grounds in Columbia. See the agenda here.
Checks are in the mail. Fifty dollar reimbursement checks cut from surplus money in state coffers are being sent this week to about 400,000 homes in South Carolina, according to a press release from the state Department of Revenue. More than 1.2 million households qualify for the rebate, and the checks will be sent in waves, with most receiving checks before Dec. 2. Read the full release.
2020 candidate calendar
Throughout the campaign season, we are working to keep South Carolina informed of candidate events in the state. Have an event you want us to know about? Email us at 2020news@statehousereport.com.
Booker returns to S.C. today. New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker will attend a presidential forum with College of Charleston at 1 p.m. Nov. 8 (learn more), and a forum with The Post and Courier 3 p.m. Nov. 8 (learn more). Other events scheduled:
- 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at National Black Legislative Caucus Environmental Justice Forum at S.C. State University in Orangeburg; and,
- 10 a.m. Nov. 9 at a Charleston office opening at 4112 Dorchester Rd., North Charleston. RSVP.
Williamson to talk environmental justice in Orangeburg. Democratic presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson will attend the 2019 Presidential Forum on Environmental Justice at S.C. State University 6-9 p.m. Nov. 8.
Steyer makes stop today. Democratic candidate Tom Steyer will speak 3:45 p.m. Nov. 8 at the 2020 National Water for Humanity Environmental Justice Rally at the Theodore Chaplin Jr. Arena in Denmark. After, he will attend the 2019 Presidential Forum on Environmental Justice at S.C. State University 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 8.
Warren makes S.C. stops Nov. 8-9. Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren will attend the 2019 Presidential Forum on Environmental Justice at S.C. State University 7 p.m. Nov. 8. She will also make two stops on Nov. 9:
- A Great Education for Every Child Forum 11:30 a.m. at Scott’s Branch Middle/High School in Summerton; and,
- A town hall 4:15 a.m. at Goose Creek High School in Goose Creek. RSVP.
Harris talks justice Nov. 11. California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris will hold several conversations in South Carolina regarding veterans issues:
- “Justice for Veterans” conversation 12:45 p.m. Nov. 11 at American Legion Post 224 in Greenwood. RSVP;
- Justice is on the Ballot Town Hall 5:10 p.m. Nov. 11 at Phillis Wheatley Community Center in Greenville. RSVP.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!