TCCY Releases State of the Child 2024 Report: Weakley County Sees Increase in Youth Crime Rate

The Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth has released its State of the Child in Tennessee 2024 report. The purpose of the State of the Child is to provide an annual overview of the well-being of children, youth, and families in Tennessee through the available data. The report seeks to cover as many topics affecting children, youth and families as possible, spanning from maternal and prenatal health to youth aging out of foster care. The data contained in the State of the Child report comes from publicly available reports or data sets.

Weakley County saw an increase in the youth crime rate from children aged 10-17 years of age. In 2013 crimes committed by 10-17 year olds totaled 54 in Weakley County, increasing by 5 to 59 in 2023. However, the population in 2013 for Weakley County was 3,126 for that age group which increased by 196 to 3,322 in 2023. The crime rate percentage for youth increased by 0.49% in the past 10 years which, despite the increase, remained below pre-pandemic numbers. The highest increase in youth crime in Weakley County was for crimes against persons. Weakley County actually saw a decrease in crimes against property and crimes against society.

KEY TAKE AWAYS FOR WEAKLEY COUNTY:

• Weakley remains the second to lowest for child care centers per 1,000 children aged 0-12 in 2024. There are approximately 5 child care centers per 1,000 children in Weakley County.
• Annual Infant Care Costs for Weakley County are $6,526 which is lower than average in comparison to the rest of the state. Annual Toddler Care costs were $6,461 which was also lower than average in comparison to the rest of the state.
• Weakley County is in the 58^th-76^th percentile for Food and Nutrition, the second to highest percentile group in the state coming in at 21%. The lowest County reported was Williamson at 3.5% and the highest reported was Lake County at 35.3%
• Weakley County’s access to care came in at less than the National average at 32.2%. Access to care covers the amount fo pediatricians available per 100,000 children. The County’s available OBGYN’s per 100,000 came in at 3.03 per 100,000 people, also less than the national average.

KEY TAKE AWAYS FOR THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

• In 2023, 19.7 percent of Tennessee children lived below the federal poverty line.
• Tennessee continues to see growth in TCAP English Language Arts with 39 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2023-24.
• In 2023, 5.6 percent of Tennessee children were uninsured.
• Among Tennessee high school students, nearly one in four had considered attempting suicide within the last year.

The State of the Child is one of several reports that TCCY releases annually. Additionally, TCCY publishes County Profiles, Budget Recommendations, the Youth Transitions Advisory Council Report, and Resource Mapping Report. Each report relies heavily on data gathered by state and federal departments as well as non-governmental organizations. Now, many indicators used for each of the reports as well as additional information can be found in one location, TCCY’s data dashboard, FUTURE.

When using FUTURE, users can

• See premade interactive graphs and infographics with the latest data on child well-being.
• Access county-level indicators to learn more about children in their community.
• See changes in child well-being throughout the decade by selecting previous year’s data.
• The Dashboard also allows users to download the displayed data, and if available, additional historical data in excel format to work on their own.  

To access the FUTURE site, which will be available on January 9, please visit this website: TCCY's FUTURE Data Dashboard

“As we continue to move forward toward improving lives for children, youth and families across the state. It is important to take time to celebrate the successes we have had, while also continuing to work and invest to make Tennessee the best state for children, youth and families,” said TCCY Executive Director Richard Kennedy.

“Building the best future for Tennessee children, youth and families requires understanding where we are and where we have been. We believe the FUTURE Data Dashboard will be a critical tool to empower Tennesseans and shape decisions as we all work together to build that future,” said TCCY Director of Data, Policy, and Communications Kylie Graves.