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Survey of children's wellbeing places Florida in the bottom half of states • Florida Phoenix

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Survey of children's wellbeing places Florida in the bottom half of states • Florida Phoenix


Florida ranked 30th overall in the 2024 Kids Count Data Profile, a survey of wellbeing by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, with the biggest changes in math and reading scores and child deaths. 

Four categories — economic wellbeing, education, health, and family and community — factor into the ranking, including data on teen birth rates, children living in poverty, single-parent families, and children whose parents lack secure employment. 

The number of eighth grade students not proficient in math in Florida increased from 69% to 77% between 2019 and 2022, a time when the COVID pandemic closed schools and forced distance learning across the country.

In that same period nationally, a similar trend occurred, with a math proficiency increase from 67% to 74%. 

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At the same time, Florida fourth graders fared better than the national average in reading proficiency. Fourth graders not proficient in reading dropped by 1 percentage point, from 62% to 61%, in Florida, while nationally their number increased from 66% to 68%. 

States varied on how they delivered instruction during the pandemic; in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis ended classroom instruction between March 2020 and the beginning of the next school year.

The Sunshine State’s best category was education, ranking 5th. The other three categories ranked in the bottom half — 42nd for economic wellbeing, 31st for health, and 30th for family and community. 

Florida high school students who did not graduate on time improved by 3%, with 13% not graduating on time in 2019 compared to 10% in 2021.

Karen Woodall, speaking at a Capitol press conference. Photo via Twitter

Karen Woodall, executive director of the Florida People’s Advocacy Center, said a high education ranking seems inconsistent with the lower rankings in the remaining categories. 

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“We rank toward the bottom in those categories, and so it’s kind of interesting to see that we’ve made improvements in education,” Woodall said. “Because usually if the child is struggling with housing and food and poverty and all that, it’s not conducive to them having high scores in education.”

A failure to invest in people-focused infrastructure contributes to Florida’s bottom-half ranking, according to Woodall. 

“We’re not a poor state, we’re not a revenue-poor state,” Woodall said. “Mississippi is a revenue poor state, Florida is not, we just don’t spend the money on our human infrastructure and invest in that capital. When we make strides when there’s some money put in, we’re coming from so far behind that it’s just a drop in the bucket.”

Woodall pointed to an unwillingness to expand Medicaid, attempts to limit access to KidCare coverage, and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ refusal to apply for federal funds to provide summer lunches to children. 

Child deaths

Child and teen deaths in Florida increased between 2019 and 2022, rising from 25 per 100,000 to 30, the same as the national rate. The report found that firearms were the leading cause of death for teenagers and motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause for children. 

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Florida’s overall ranking improved one spot, from 31st in the 2023 data profile. New Hampshire ranked the best overall, while New Mexico was ranked the worst. Other southeastern states, including Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi, ranked worse than Florida. 

The nonpartisan Florida Policy Institute responded to the data with a call to maintain motivation in education. 

“With 61% of fourth graders who are not proficient readers and 77% of 8th graders who are not proficient in math, there is so much work to be done and a need for greater investment in education,” Norín Dollard, the Kids Count director at the institute, said in a news release

“The rankings in the other three areas of child well-being, economic (42nd), health (31st), as well as family and community (30th) highlight the fact we need continued attention on Florida’s children and communities,” Dollard said.

The Casey Foundation made recommendations for Florida, including increased investments in public schools and ensuring internet access, places to study, and access to intensive tutoring for students who fall behind. 

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Woodall said Florida policy can be “consistently inconsistent with stated goals of improving the lives of our children and families.”

“A lot of times there will be an increase in some service but a contradictory move in an overall general policy. So, increasing funding for mental health but then passing policies that restrict what teachers can use to teach, that go after kids that are transgender, or kids that are LGBTQ. They’re just contradictory,” Woodall said. 

Florida “has never done a very good job of funding health and human services,” she added.

“If we looked back across all of their data books, we would see Florida ranking in the bottom every year on most indicators simply for what I said — we don’t invest in our human infrastructure, our children, our families; we spend money on big tax breaks and development.”

Since 2012 Florida has risen from 34th in education and 39th in health. In 2014, Florida ranked 45th in economic wellbeing and 35th in family and community.

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FBI says suspects tried to rob Offset outside a Florida casino when he was shot in the leg

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FBI says suspects tried to rob Offset outside a Florida casino when he was shot in the leg


The rapper Offset was ambushed by a “large group” of people who tried to rob him outside a Florida casino last week when he was shot in the leg, the FBI said Tuesday.

Federal investigators said that they are still searching for the suspects who assaulted Offset last Monday night outside of Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, just north of Miami. Throughout the assault, a single shot was fired into Offset’s leg before an unsuccessful attempt to remove the rapper’s watch, the statement said. Offset, who rose to fame as part of the influential hip-hop trio Migos, was hospitalized for a couple of days, but swiftly returned to the stage at a performance at a music festival at the University of Arkansas on Saturday.

The suspects fled the scene in two Chevrolet SUVs that went in separate directions: A black Suburban that fled towards Hollywood, Florida, and a Tahoe that fled southbound towards Miami.

Following the shooting, officers detained two people, but law enforcement hasn’t shared evidence to directly tying either one to the shooting.

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One of the people detained was rapper Lil Tjay, born Tione Jayden Merritt. He was arrested in connection with an altercation that occurred before the shooting, the Seminole Police Department in Florida said. He was charged with disorderly conduct and operating a vehicle without a valid license. His lawyer, Dawn M. Florio, told The Associated Press last week that Lil Tjay did not have a gun and was not charged with any weapons or gun-related crimes. He was swiftly released after posting bond.

Offset, born Kiari Kendrell Cephus, launched his career with Migos, one of the most popular hip-hop groups of all time. The Atlanta trio is celebrated for their rapid-fire triplet flow, an often-imitated delivery that changed the trajectory of trap.

The group had several multiplatinum selling singles, including “Bad and Boujee,” which went No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Stir Fry,” and “Narcos.” Migos released four full-length albums across their career.

More than three years ago, Offset’s cousin Takeoff, another member of Migos, was shot and killed at a Houston bowling alley.

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Florida teenager charged with sexually assaulting and killing stepsister Anna Kepner on cruise ship

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Florida teenager charged with sexually assaulting and killing stepsister Anna Kepner on cruise ship


A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in Florida in the 6 November death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival cruise ship, the US justice department said Monday.

Timothy Hudson was initially charged in February and subsequently indicted on 10 March. But the breadth of the case was not known until a seal was lifted Friday, weeks after US district judge Beth Bloom in Miami said he would be prosecuted as an adult at the request of the government.

Anna Kepner, Hudson’s stepsister, had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship with her family. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with two other teens, including the younger stepbrother.

The cause of Kepner’s death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.

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Email and voicemail messages seeking comment from Hudson’s attorneys about the charges were not immediately returned Monday. Hudson, whose name was disclosed through his signature on documents filed in federal court, has remained free in the care of an uncle since his arrest in February.

Kepner’s father, Christopher Kepner, released a statement, saying the family was placing “trust in the justice system to pursue the truth with care and integrity”.

“At the same time, we are deeply troubled that, despite the seriousness of the charges, he has not been taken into custody,” Kepner said. “The situation is deeply painful and complex for the entire family.”

In a written statement, US attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said, “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family during this unimaginable loss. A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging serious offenses that allegedly occurred aboard a vessel in international waters.”

Kepner was a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian school in Titusville, Florida, about 40 miles (65 kilometres) east of Orlando. At her memorial service in November, family members encouraged people to wear bright colors instead of the traditional black “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul”.

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Teens are rarely prosecuted in federal court. Hudson pleaded not guilty when he was initially charged in February, though the proceedings were not public because of his age – and neither were court documents. He was seen at the courthouse wearing a ball cap and a hoodie pulled tightly around his face.

A judge on 6 February said Hudson must wear an electronic tether while living with an uncle. The order was changed to allow him to join his father for a few days recently at a landscaping business, newly unsealed court records show.

Prosecutors objected to Hudson’s release, citing dangerousness, and asked a judge Monday to revisit that order now that he has been charged as an adult. Defense lawyers were given a week to respond.

“He committed these crimes against a victim with whom he had no apparent relational strife, and whom he was being raised to view as a sibling,” assistant US attorney Alejandra López said in a court filing.



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16-year-old from Florida charged with sexually assaulting, killing stepsister on Carnival Cruise ship

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16-year-old from Florida charged with sexually assaulting, killing stepsister on Carnival Cruise ship


MIAMI – A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in Florida in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise ship, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.

The teen, identified by the government as T.H., was initially charged as a juvenile on Feb. 2, but the case was sealed until U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom ordered that he would be prosecuted as an adult, the department said.

An email and voicemail seeking comment from T.H.’s lawyer about the indictment were not immediately returned.

Anna Kepner had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November with her family. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with two other teens, including the younger stepbrother.

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The cause of Kepner’s Nov. 6 death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.

Kepner was a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian School in Titusville, Florida, some 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Orlando. At her memorial service in November, family members encouraged people to wear bright colors instead of the traditional black “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul.”

Teens prosecuted in federal court are extremely rare. T.H. was seen at the Miami courthouse on Feb. 6, wearing a ball cap and a hoodie pulled tightly around his face. But his status at that time was not fully known because his age barred public disclosures by his lawyer, the government or the court.

Experts believe the case is in federal court, and not a state court where teens are commonly prosecuted, because Kepner died in international waters.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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