Published: January 29, 2009 05:21 pm      

Kids Count study — Troubling statistics must be addressed

The 2008 West Virginia Kids Count study is once again painting a troubling picture of the well being of youngsters across southern West Virginia.

The Kids Count program has published an annual report of data on the well being of West Virginia’s children since 1992. The 2008 study found that 64,000 of West Virginia’s children spend a large part of their day in the care of someone other than their parents. It also concluded that only 8 percent of all West Virginia child care centers are nationally accredited.

As in year’s past, the 2008 study also includes some troubling statistics for McDowell and Mercer counties. McDowell County was ranked near the bottom of the study, falling only behind Lincoln County. Mercer County was ranked 44th out of the state’s 55 counties.

In McDowell County, the study found the well being of children was “worse” in five categories over the previous year, including the percentage of low birth-weight babies, infant mortality rates, the percentage of children approved for free and reduced price school meals, the percentage of high school dropouts and the teen death rate.

McDowell County did show improvements in several categories, including the percentage of children served by Head Start and improvements in the county’s juvenile delinquency case rate.

Mercer County also was ranked “worse” in several categories, including the percentage of low birth-weight babies, the percentage of children served by Head Start, the percentage of children approved for free and reduced price school meals, the teen birth rate and the percentage of high school dropouts.

Mercer County showed improvements in the categories of child death rates; the juvenile delinquency case rate; the percentage of births to unmarried teens; and the percentage of births to mothers with less than a 12th grade education.

Sadly, the region has faired poorly for years on the Kids Count study. The report — and the alarming statistics concerning the well being of youngsters in the region — must be viewed as a call to action by local health care providers and community leaders.

It is also our hope that the Kids Count program can continue to look for solutions to the troubling statistics facing the well being of youngsters in southern West Virginia as part of its future endeavors. Just last March, the Kids Count program launched a new initiative designated to bring parents, child care providers and community leaders together to advocate better child care. The Kids First Communities campaign is designed to provide a regional framework to communicate the importance of high-quality child care to the state’s future. The program is currently focused on Beckley, Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, Parkersburg and Wheeling.

We would like to see the campaign — and similar endeavors — expanded to include southern West Virginia, and specifically Mercer and McDowell counties.