Over 1.6 million children are homeless in America; how does your state rank in their care?

One in 45 American children experience homelessness annually, according to a new report from The National Center on Family Homelessness. This is an increase of 38 percent during 2007 to 2010. Alabama is ranked the nation's worst state for well-being of homeless children. "The problem is even worse in rural counties throughout the state, where there are no shelters and fewer agencies to assist homeless families," Joan Wright of Childcare Resources in Birmingham told WIAT News.

Mississippi, Arkansas, Arizona and California finish out the five worst states for well-being of homeless children. Vermont, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Maine were ranked as the five best. To see where your state ranks, click here for an interactive map.

Looking at trends in child homelessness from 2006 to 2010, researchers ranked states based on "the extent of child homelessness, child well-being, risk for homelessness and state policy and planning efforts," the center said in a news release. The recession is considered to be the contributing factor for the increase in homeless children, Ellen L. Bassuk, president and founder of the center and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "There are more homeless children today than after the natural disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita."