Kids and families: a snapshot of our county

The Indiana Youth Institute, with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, annually provides detailed information on the status of children and their families in our state. The information is easy to retrieve at www.iyi.org and can be broken down by county. Here's a little of what the report tells us about Madison County:

For the past decade, Madison County followed the general state and national trend line for percent of children in poverty, but while we generally fell below national but above state percentages, the gap between Madison County and the higher national average closed over that time. Between 2000 and 2004, the rate for Madison County rose from 13.4 to 18.2 percent of children.

From 2000 to 2006, Madison County's unemployment rate doubled and the number of persons on food stamps more than doubled. Significant increases also occurred in the number of families receiving TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families), percent of students receiving free/reduced lunches and free textbooks, and the number of children enrolled in Hoosier Healthwise. Per capita income did rise from $24,789 to 28,688 between 2000 and 2005.

Madison County's birth rate remains static, but the percent of low birth weight babies increased from 6.4 in 2000 to 10.5 in 2005. At the same time, the number of mothers who smoked during pregnancy decreased by nearly 5 percent. The number of births to single mothers under the age of 20 without a high school diploma decreased, but the birth rate for females between ages 15 - 17 increased, signaling an alarming trend among younger teens.

Two troublesome statistics under early childhood education have significant implications for Madison County's Born Learning initiative. Between 2000 and 2006, the annual number of children receiving child care vouchers decreased from 1669 to 842 while the average monthly waiting list for these vouchers increased from 14 to 86. At the same time, the number of licensed child care spaces per 100 children ages 0 to 4 decreased from 17 to 14 and the number of licensed child care centers in the county decreased from 11 to 6.

Over the same six years, school enrollment remained stable, but the total per pupil expenditure increased from $6,879 to $15,331. The percent of 10th graders passing the math and language standards declined - 8 percent fewer for math and 12 percent fewer for language. The number of expulsions and suspensions dropped significantly, nearly in half, although the dropout number increased from 224 to 352. The percent of graduates attending four-college has increased by 8 percent - to 56.8 - good news.

Child safety statistics, again for the period from 2000 to 2006, is also somewhat of a mixed bag. The number of child abuse and neglect cases processed by Child Protective Services (CPS) increased significantly in both categories, but the number of substantiated cases and the percent of abuse and neglect declined, as did the number of infant deaths. The number of CHINS (children in need of services) juvenile case filings more than tripled and the termination of parental rights case filings increased from 8 to 59. The number of juvenile delinquency case filings increased by about 25 percent, but the number of juveniles committed to the Department of Corrections decreased by about 20 percent.

These statistics, while certainly not telling the whole story of our children, do give us an idea of trends and help us focus our priorities. One thing hasn't changed: needs outnumber services.