Kids Count Report – Missouri

Posted on January 28, 2010 by townsend

• At risk children in Missouri on rise, By Nancy Cambria, January 28, 2010, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “After periods of noted declines, teen births and high school dropout rates are on the rise in Missouri. Kids Count, an ongoing study of how children and teens are faring in this country, released the warnings Wednesday in its annual county-to-county look at Missouri. The study was released by the group Citizens for Missouri’s Children. The study examines 10 indicators of child well-being over a four-year period, and then ranks each county on the overall quality of life for children. Following a disturbing national trend, births to teens aged 15 to 19 increased in the state, up about a percentage point to about 9,150 teens. Many of those increases occurred in rural areas of the state. In the region, St. Louis City dropped its rate by nearly 10 percent, but other counties spiked, especially Jefferson and Warren counties, which both experienced about a 5 percentage point increase…”
• Report: Boone County ranks 10th in children’s well-being, By Kelly Brdicka and Kourtney Geers, January 27, 2010, Columbia Missourian: “Every day in Missouri in 2008, 255,953 children lived in poverty; 31 teens left high school without graduating, and 25 girls – ages 15 to 19 – gave birth, according to the Citizens for Missouri’s Children’s 17th edition of the Kids Count. The report was published in the 2009 Missouri Data Book, which was released Wednesday and compiles information from more than 30 organizations and covers issues important to the welfare of children including economic security, early education, health, child protection and juvenile justice…”