From the Dallas Morning News: Report: Texas among worst in country for high numbers of teen moms, uninsured kids

Here's an example of how an advocacy group - a think tank actually, but they promote liberal causes - uses the media to highlight issues they'd like addressed. The organization is the Center for Public Priorities - which is the liberal counterweight to the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.

- You can see the report here: The 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book.

- Click here for the article.

Texas has some of the highest rates of uninsured kids and teen births in the country despite progress in recent years, according to a report released Tuesday.

The Center for Public Policy Priorities, a center-left think tank in Austin, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Texas 43rd in the nation for overall child well-being in their 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book. The groups found that 25 percent of Texas children are living in poverty and 11 percent are uninsured.

Texas has more uninsured children than any other state by a long shot. About 784,000 Texas children had no health insurance in 2014.

Texas is tied with Alaska for the highest percentage of uninsured kids, but in Alaska, 11 percent amounts to 21,000 children. California had the next-highest number of uninsured kids -- 497,000, which is 5 percent there.

Success will be judged based on how many of their findings impact legislation passed in the upcoming session of the Texas Legislature.