Report puts region at low end for child well-being

Southeast Missouri counties tend to have the lowest level of child well-being in the state, according to a report released today by Citizens for Missouri's Children.

The annual report -- Kids Count 2003 -- numerically ranks by county the level of child well-being using statistics such as foster home placements, teenage births and socioeconomic status.

Cape Girardeau did well in comparison with surrounding counties, improving in four of 10 measures in this year's report, which uses 2002 data, the latest available. However, the number of child abuse and neglect reports in the county nearly doubled between 1998 and 2002.

Lynne Cairns with Division of Family Services in Cape Girardeau said the increase in abuse reports might be due to a training program that educates people who are responsible for reporting suspected abuse, such as teachers and ministers.

"That's probably a piece of it, but there probably was more abuse during that period," Cairns said. "The county has seen an increase in drug and alcohol abuse and mental health problems, so it's reasonable to assume that child abuse would increase, too."

Of the 500-plus reports made in 2002, Cairns said, only about 1 percent were substantiated.

In the Kids Count system of ranking 115 counties, the lower the ranking, the better a county's well-being is. The rankings are based on 10 different statistics. A final composite ranking is based on those statistics.

Cape Girardeau County ranked 23rd out of 115 counties as an overall composite for child well-being in 2003. Scott County ranked 88th, Bollinger County 69th and Perry County 41st.

Both Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties significantly improved in ranking this year, while Scott County remained stagnant in its composite score.

Other Southeast Missouri counties fared much worse. Stoddard ranked 100, Ripley 103, New Madrid 104, Butler 106, Dunklin 110, Mississippi 111, Wayne 113 and Pemiscot 114.

St. Louis City ranked the worst, while Nodaway County in Northwest Missouri had the top ranking in the state for the second straight year. Northwest Missouri tends to have the best ranking in the state year after year, but CMC's senior policy analyst Cande Iveson attributes that in part to the low population density.

Organizations such as the University Outreach and Extension Center in Jackson use the Kids Count data to develop community programs and apply for grants. Donna Taake, the 4-H youth specialist at the extension center, said county trends in the Kids Count report come and go depending on what programs have been targeted in a particular year.

"The community should realize that even though Cape Girardeau County has so many resources, we still need to work on some of these issues," said Taake.

Child advocates with the Citizens for Missouri's Children, based in St. Louis and Jefferson City, say the national economic recession is accountable for much of the decline in child well-being.

Game of 'Survivor'

According to the report, the number of Missouri children who qualify for the free or reduced lunch program in public schools reached a 10-year high in 2002. Statewide, six measurements of child welfare improved and four declined.

"The budget crises of the past three years has forced the legislature to play a game of 'Survivor' with children, where one program gets voted off so another can be funded," said Iveson. "We need to do better than this win-lose method of budgeting."

For more information about Kids Count or to access data from a particular county, visit the Citizens for Missouri's Children Web site at www.mokids.org.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128