Tennessee Ranks in the Bottom Half for Child Well-Being Nationally Jun 22, 2021 at 02:58 pm by WGNS Tennessee was performing well on high school graduation rates immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic but was falling short on percentage of children living in poverty and other measures, putting the Volunteer State in the bottom half nationally across four key domains of child well-being. That’s according to the 2021 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report of recent household data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how families have fared between the Great Recession and the COVID-19 crisis. This year’s Data Book shows nearly a decade of progress could be erased by the COVID-19 pandemic unless policymakers act boldly to sustain the beginnings of a recovery from the coronavirus crisis.