Mississippi’s Infant Mortality & Foster Care Connection

Mississippi’s Infant Mortality & Foster Care Connection

Mississippi has declared a public health emergency in response to rising infant mortality rates. 

What’s not getting headlines is the parallel in foster care data that point to common connections. 

Why it Matters for Child Welfare

Infant mortality is closely tied to child maltreatment and child welfare system involvement; they share key social and family factors.

At the same time that Mississippi saw rising infant mortality rates, it saw rising infant placements into foster care, as you can see here:

Worth Tracking

Mississippi’s infant foster care rate is much higher than other age groups. That by itself isn’t unusual.

What sticks out is that while national foster care rates declined, Mississippi's rose every year starting in 2020 - with infant rates exceeding national averages even when they fell.

Strategic Implications

Marshaling a public health response alone without also tapping child welfare expertise could miss the common factors driving both.