My friend Suzanne

My friend Suzanne (gradgirl) has been working with Don Hernandez at SUNY Albany for several years. She starts later this year in a job at the census bureau in D.C., working on the measurement of poverty. She sent me this email today:

Here's our news article on the Child Well-Being Index! Don Hernandez is the lead author and he generously gave me co-authorship credit.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-27-child-gap_N.htm

Report: Black, Hispanic children making gains
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

Black and Hispanic children have made significant gains in health, safety and income over the past two decades, narrowing gaps between them and white children, according to a pioneering report on child development to be released Tuesday.

They still fare worse overall than whites, but they're catching up in several areas and are less likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, abuse drugs or commit suicide, according to the report. It was sponsored by the Foundation for Child Development, a philanthropy that funds research on children.

"There's a long way to go, but this is an enormous closing of the gap," says co-author Donald Hernandez, a sociology professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He says the overall gap between black and white children closed by one-fourth, and between Hispanics and whites by one-third. "That's stunning. I was frankly surprised by the extent of it."