Kids Count report includes disturbing trends
MICHIGAN (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Families across America are facing tough challenges from unemployment to low wages. But how are those troubles affecting children in Michigan?
Kids Count, a report released Tuesday, covers twelve indicators in assessing the well-being of Michigan children. Among them, test scores, food assistance, health care, and abuse.
On Tuesday, Newschannel 3 spoke with the people behind the study.
In Kalamazoo, they are working to help kids in need be better prepared for life, and they say the one way to turn around the Kids Count report numbers is education.
“Education is the greatest poverty reduction initiative we can make,” said Pam Kingerly, Director of KCIS.
KCIS provides a number of services to at-risk kids, from mentoring to meals. Kingerly says in order to give kids the best chance at life, a lot of factors have to line up.
“Kids being at school hungry, or kids having health issues related to poor nutrition are really critical issues,” said Kingerly.
The latest Kids Count report looked at twelve areas to measure the well-being of kids in Michigan. It shows that one in every five children is living in poverty, and the number of students receiving free or reduced-priced lunches is up fourteen percent.
In Kalamazoo County, 41.5 percent of students get free lunch.
“Which is a reflection of the increase of the poverty rate and that's not just in the urban areas of the county, but you'll find there's been an increase in school districts, all nine of them in Kalamazoo County,” said Jeff Brown, executive director of the Poverty Reduction Initiative.
There were also some positives in the report. Test scores have improved in many counties, including Kalamazoo, and the number of child deaths has also dropped. However, child abuse is up, and access to health care for low-income expectant moms is down, something poverty experts say trickles down to the kids.
“Easy access to prenatal care has taken a significant decrease in our county which is very troubling because this has ramifications, not only for the children, but for the moms and the families,” said Brown.
Kingerly says Kalamazoo has the solution, it just needs people to invest in it.
“Kalamazoo is the home of the Kalamazoo Promise, and I think that there's no better initiative with respect to education than the Kalamazoo Promise,” said Kingerly.
What may be the most alarming about the Kids Count report is that the numbers only go through 2008, when the economy started to struggle. Experts say the next year's Kids Count report to show an even worse picture.
You can see the whole report for yourself by going here.
