Report: Poverty greatest threat to kids' welfare

from The Bangor Daily News

By Meg Haskell

Of all the children living in Washington County in 2004, 23 percent lived in households with an annual income at or below the federal poverty level of $15,205 for a family of three — the greatest percentage of any county in the state. At 10.6 percent, Cumberland County had the smallest percentage. Statewide, 14.3 percent of children live below FPL; the national average is 17.8 percent.

Androscoggin County claimed the highest rate of arrests of Maine teenagers in 2005, while Waldo County boasted the lowest. Statewide, teen arrests declined almost 8 percent from 2004.

Pregnant women in Knox County were the most likely in the state to receive recommended prenatal care in 2004; those in Piscataquis, the least. The state average of 88 percent of all pregnant women getting timely care is higher than the national average of 83.9 percent.

High schools in Aroostook County graduated the highest percentage of students in the class of 2005, while Hancock County had the highest dropout rate. In 2005, 7 percent of Maine teens ages 16 to 19 were neither attending school nor working.

These and other facts pertaining to the well-being of Maine’s children and teens are contained in the most recent edition of the Maine Kids Count Data Book, scheduled for official release at a legislative breakfast this morning.

Ellie Goldberg, executive director of the Maine Children’s Alliance, which has compiled the annual report since 1994, said Monday that Kids Count serves as an important reference and a chronicle of Maine’s success in protecting the interests of its youngest citizens.

"When it comes to the welfare of children, people want to do the right thing," Goldberg said in an interview. "Public officials who use this data to guide their debates, reporters who use it in stories, and parents who wonder how their county measures up against others in the state know they can rely on Kids Count."

Data for the publication is the most current available and drawn from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the state and federal departments of Health and Human Services, the Maine Health Data Organization, surveys of teens and adolescents, and many other sources.

The 46-page report is divided into three broad categories: physical and mental health, social and economic status, and education and learning.

A separate section compares the data county by county, making it easy to see where counties excel and where they fall down.

Goldberg said it’s clear from this year’s report that poverty remains the greatest overall risk to Maine children.

The challenges to a child’s mental and physical health, the likelihood of graduating from high school and going on to college, and future earning potential are all linked to family finances, she said — and with 37 percent of Maine children under 18 living in households with incomes below 200 percent of FPL, there’s plenty of room for improvement.

"The single best public policy is to reduce poverty," Goldberg said, adding that poverty in childhood is the greatest predictor of dysfunction in adults.

In addition to children’s economic outlook, Goldberg said there are other red flags in this year’s Kids Count.

The parents of more than a third of Maine children younger than 6 express concern about learning, development or behavior, she said. The good news on that front is that pediatric visits to community mental health services have increased recently, indicating that parents are taking better advantage of available services.

The state’s teen suicide rate, which had declined since 2000, rose slightly in 2004 to 6.6 deaths per 100,000 Maine children. The rate is significantly higher than the national average of 4.3 suicide deaths per 100,000 children.

The decreasing teen arrest rate, and an increasing percentage of high school graduates planning to attend college — from 69.2 percent in 2004 to 72.5 percent in 2005 — are reasons to celebrate, Goldberg said.

Goldberg said her organization supports current efforts by the Baldacci administration to pare down out-of-class school spending, raise taxes on tobacco and restructure the delivery of mental health services.

The Kids Count breakfast is expected to be attended by many Democratic lawmakers, with comments from first lady Karen Baldacci, Senate President Beth Edmunds, D-Freeport, and House Speaker Glen Cummings, D-Portland.

On Monday evening, Senate Minority Leader Carol Weston, R-Montville, said she had been invited to the event but that along with many of her Republican colleagues she would be tied up in meetings this morning. Weston, who served two terms in the House and is now serving her third term in the Senate, said she keeps a stack of Kids Count Data Books in her office.

"I like to make comparisons from year to year," she said. "I do find it useful."

The data compiled by MCA is straightforward and can usually be taken at face value, Weston said, regardless of party affiliation.

The Kids Count Data
Book 2007 can viewed on the Web site of the Maine Children’s Alliance: www.mekids.org.