Priska Neely

There are so many public health workers, researchers and community organizers across the country who have dedicated their lives to improving birth outcomes for black babies. Here are some of them.

"You have to start somewhere as a department, put a stake in the sand about what's intolerable - and this is intolerable." --Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health for LA County

The issue is not new, but we know more about the causes than ever before. Will society fix it?

After Raena Granberry lost her first baby, she turned her grief and anger into action. Now she does community outreach for a group that's working to close the gap.

Black babies in the U.S. are twice as likely to die before their first birthday as white babies. KPCC's Priska Neely has a personal connection to this issue.

Black infants die before their first birthday at twice the rate of their white counterparts. Over the next few weeks, reporter Priska Neely will be sharing stories of people in Southern California and across the country who are trying to change that statistic.

Early childhood advocates have been working for years ahead of the election to make sure the top candidates are thinking about the state's youngest constituents.

In the L.A. Unified School District, 28,000 preschoolers are getting hands-on training in how to build friendships, be empathetic and self-aware.

More state leaders are putting funding into preschool programs, but the quality of those programs isn't keeping pace with the quantity, according to a new report.

"Reading and play really does change the way your child approaches their feelings, their behavior and, ultimately, their readiness to learn," said researcher Alan Mendelsohn.

In L.A. County, black babies are three times more likely than white babies to die in the first year of life. The county has a new five-year action plan to reduce that disparity by 30 percent.

While more than half of babies and toddlers in L.A. County are eligible for state subsidized care, only 6 percent are getting them.