AUGUSTA – Troubles at home are pushing an increasing number of youths into the streets, according to an annual status report released at the State House on Tuesday.

The number of children under 18 living in homeless or emergency shelters has grown by 48 percent, from 285 to 413 between July 1999, and July 2000, the Maine Kids Count 2001 Data Book pointed out.

Abuse and neglect contributed to the rise in homeless children, said Elinor Goldberg, executive director of the Maine Children’s Alliance, which issued the seventh annual overview.

“They’re mostly on the street because they don’t feel safe at home,” Goldberg said Monday during an interview at the Bangor Daily News.

Their own risky behavior also spurred youths to head for the streets. Young people involved in substance abuse find it “harder to abide by rules,” the director said.

The rate of increase among the total number of youths may be small, but it signals an alarm on a couple of fronts, according to Goldberg.

“It’s a significant number statistically and just the tip of the iceberg – these are just the kids who got into a shelter,” she said.

Meanwhile, the number of shelter beds hasn’t increased, according to Goldberg, who said flophouses crammed with youths have taken hold in the state.

But Goldberg doesn’t want to come across as the prophet of doom. “Maine is a wonderful place to raise kids,” she said.

Latest figures show that the number of uninsured children has decreased from 15 percent in 1997 to 6.7 percent in 1999.

“Public policy has yielded good results,” said Goldberg, pointing out that the downtrend coincided with the increase in Medicaid and Cub Care eligibility.

More good news: The state’s infant mortality rate, which has always been good, is getting better.

At the other end of the scale, teen-agers’ aspirations appear to be on the rise.

With more than 64 percent of public high school graduates planning to enroll in postsecondary education, Maine is just about in line with the national average of 65.6 percent. Also, the high school completion rate of 17-year-olds – 78 percent -is well above the national average of 70 percent.

In addition, the rate of teen deaths from violent crime continues to decline. The five-year average between 1990 and 1994 was 5.8 per 1,000 teens, while the rate from 1993 to 1997 dropped to 4.6.

The book ranks each county in terms of children’s well-being, using indicators including physical and mental health, social and economic opportunity, education and learning, and demographics. MCA directors hope the research will be the impetus for new policy.

Some areas definitely need work. For example, more than 4,000 Maine children were substantiated by the Department of Human Services as victims of child abuse and neglect in 1999, an 18 percent increase from the previous year.

To make matters worse, 15 percent, or more than 1,000, of the 15,596 cases received by Child Protective Services were left uninvestigated due to lack of resources.

While almost 3,000 families received preventive services relating to child abuse and neglect during 1999, the state must offer more help, according to Goldberg.

“Families are doing this because they have no other way of managing,” she said.

In another disturbing trend, more than 35,000 Maine children with disabilities, ages 3-21, were reported to the Department of Education, an increase of 3 percent from the previous year and a 25 percent increase since 1990.

Most of the children were identified as having a learning disability, followed by speech and language impairment and behavioral impairment.

Maine’s education department has been able to identify and evaluate students who may have special needs, said Goldberg.

But it’s not clear whether the resources are adequate or why so many students are considered disabled. Are some youths being wrongly identified, Goldberg wondered.

Attempting to present a fuller picture of how children are faring, Kids Count has touched upon the story of the “second Maine,” Goldberg said.

While figures indicate that the statewide child poverty rate declined to 14.9 percent, they also show the stark disparity among the counties.

In 1997, between 11 and 11.3 percent of children in Sagadahoc, Cumberland and York counties were living in poverty, compared to 16.4 percent in Penobscot County, 20.6 in Somerset County and 24.5 percent in Washington County.

Surprised at the news, some legislators told her they assumed that the economy was thriving throughout the state, according to Goldberg.

But despite the state’s largest economic growth ever, some youths still are not doing well, she said.

Data contained in a special focus, “Confronting Harassment and Violence in Maine Schools,” particularly haunt Goldberg, she said.

Researchers found that only half of the more than 1,400 students surveyed completely or mostly agreed with the statement, “I feel safe in my school.”

Many students are targeted because they are, or appear to be, gay, according to Goldberg.