Neglect: West Virginia leadership can’t ignore youth problems
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Lawmakers and economic development officials talk a lot about what a great place West Virginia is for raising a family. And that is true in many respects. But not for all families. In fact, too many of our young people are struggling; and a recent study by WalletHub suggests there are only three states in the country with more at-risk youth.
It is a familiar group at the bottom of the barrel in "2022's States With the Most At-Risk Youth:" Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia.
Here in the Mountain State we are ranked second worst for the percentage of disconnected youth; second worst for our youth poverty rate; sixth worst for youth labor force participation rate; 14th worst for share of the population over age 12 that is fully vaccinated; 17th worst for percentage of overweight and obese youth; 21st worst for percentage of youth drug users and 23rd worst for the percentage of homeless youth.
One (relatively) bright spot was that we are 30th for the percentage of youth without a high school diploma.
While most of those categories are self-explanatory, the study's definition of "disconnected" is important: "share of population aged 18-24 not attending school, not working and (who) have no degree beyond high school." How we have failed our young people so badly that only Alaska is worse on that front?
WalletHub's study goes hand in hand with news of another crisis in the Mountain State. There is a shortage of behavioral healthcare providers that is leading some to call for federal help.
"This is a huge issue for us in West Virginia," said Mark Drennan, CEO of the W.Va. Behavioral Healthcare Providers Association. "The workforce is something that we've been tracking for a number of years, and we predicted this to happen beginning back about five years ago. We've written progressively more and more dire letters to our state and federal partners just showing what a bad situation was coming -- and is now here."
Politicians who tell us as often as they are given a chance that their priority is to drive West Virginia back to an era in which the socio-cultural norms were simply horrific must understand voters will not tolerate their deliberate neglect of efforts that would benefit not only our young people, but the state as a whole.
After all, isn't that why we elected them in the first place?