Kids Count 2012: Michigan Slips In Child Well-Being

The latest Kids Count in Michigan Data Book underscores the need to act to help children in Michigan with eight of 15 indicators of child well-being showing worsening trends.

Eaton County ranked 23rd of 82 counties for overall child well-being with No. 1 being the best ranking. This is the first time since 1992, when the first state data book was released, that the report ranks counties on the overall status of child well-being using 13 of 15 indicators. This provides a bigger picture of local child well-being and how the county compares with others.

The Kids Count Data and the work of Michigan League for Public Policy is our weather vane in helping to determine what our agency partners need to assess, plan and allocate resources needed to enrich our children in our county.

 

“We clearly see a connection between higher-income communities and better outcomes for kids, but even in more affluent counties, child poverty and the need for food assistance jumped dramatically,’’ said Jane Zehnder-Merrell, Kids Count in Michigan Project Director at the Michigan League for Public Policy. “No area of the state escaped worsening conditions for children when it comes to economic security.”

Child poverty in Eaton County increased 23 percent over the trend period compared with a statewide jump of 28 percent. The rate of young children in the county qualifying for food assistance increased 83 percent, compared with a statewide increase of 55 percent. The period covered in the book is generally 2005 to 2011. The rate of confirmed victims of abuse and neglect, linked to poverty, increased by 56 percent in the county compared with a statewide increase of 28 percent.

"We cannon forget the role that economic security plays in the health, education and well-being of a child," says Colette Scrimger, Health Officer at the Barry-Eaton Disgtrict Health Department.

Statewide, the biggest improvements were the decline of kids in foster care, decreasing from 17,000 in 2005 to 11,000 in 2011, and a drop in fourth-graders not proficient in reading from 40 percent to 32 percent of test-takers in the Michigan Educational Assessment Program.

Statewide, mortality rates for infants fell by 8 percent between 2005 and 2010 while the death rate for children/youth ages 1-19 declined 11 percent. Eaton County's best ranking is 8th of 83 counties for children in poverty. Only 15 percent of children, ages 0-17, live in poverty, compared with 23.4 percent statewide. The county lowest ranking was 60th of 82 counties for students not graduating on time, with a rate 27 percent of students not graduating on time. The statewide rate is 26 percent.

“We are in desperate need of additional resources in order to give our children the start they need to be successful in school” says Ronda Rucker, Director of the Eaton Great Start Collaborative. “Research shows that we get the biggest bang for our buck if we invest in our youngest students.”  “Unfortunately, we often put our funding into intervention instead of prevention." 

The annual Data Book is released by the Kids Count in Michigan project. It is a collaboration between the Michigan League for Public Policy (formerly the Michigan League for Human Services), which researches and writes the report, and Michigan’s Children, which works with advocates statewide to disseminate the findings. Both are nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organizations concerned about the well-being of children and their families.