shutterstock_411350758_footballImagine you play on a team ranked 49th in your league against 49 other teams. Clearly, your team is doing poorly!

Now imagine your entire league is ranked 26th among 28 other leagues. Your league is also losing!

You play on a team ranked 49th out of 50 in a league ranked 26th out of 29! In this particular sport, you are on a team that simply cannot be much worse.

What am I talking about?

Our team is Louisiana (ranked 49th out of 50 states on child well-being).

Our league is the United States of America (ranked 26th out of 29 countries on child well-being).

Our sport is child well-being and we in Louisiana have played poorly for decades after decades!

Louisiana holds a 26-year average rank of 49th in our nation for child well-being. The United States ranks 26th in the world for child well-being.

We are so far down in the polls that we have only two choices, Louisiana:  stay where we are or start playing ball like we really mean it, like the lives of our children depend on it. We can choose to work on child well-being like it really matters.

Here is the ultimate truth about child well-being in Louisiana:  We must change our game because the lives of our children and, therefore, the future of our state are both on the line.


Rick Wheat, President and Chief Executive Officer
Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services

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