In the same year a Baltimore teenager died in a state-run residential detention center and a Prince George?s County youth died after a tooth infection spread to his brain, child advocates Wednesday pressured Maryland lawmakers to improve problems affecting kids that, according to a new report, appear to be worsening.

Maryland?s rank nationally fell from 23rd to 24th in an annual child- wellness report released Wednesday by the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, which analyzed factors including infant mortality, teen pregnancy and high school dropout rates. Using the foundation?s indicators and some of their own, local advocates said the ranking should be much better considering Maryland is the second-wealthiest state in the nation.