Making Kids Count

Maine children, more than one national group has concluded, have it great. The state regularly is listed among desirable places to live and in 1999 was called by the Children’s Rights Council the very best place to raise a child. The annual Maine Kids Count data book, released this week, agrees; Maine kids have it comparatively great. Great, at least, statewide.

If, however, you were born in one of several particular counties in Maine the chances that you, as a child, are doing great is considerably less. If you are, for instance, a teen-ager from Androscoggin County, you are twice as likely to be arrested than teen-agers from Maine as a whole. If you are from Somerset, you are considerably more likely to be subject to domestic assault. If you are from Washington County, chances are much higher you live in poverty and you are twice as likely to kill yourself. The Kids Count points these statistics out as it also highlights the good news – very low infant mortality rates, high immunization rates, low teen pregnancy rates and among the best test scores in the nation and, sometimes, the world.

The book says much else besides, and it is no surprise that Maine’s economic disparity across counties also brings about social disparities. The value in being reminded of these issues amid the good news is twofold. First, it is easy to otherwise ignore them and rob Maine citizens of services the state or private agencies could and should provide. Second, these services can be shown to work, raising the quality of life in this state for its residents and creating a place that will attract others. The fortunate result is that Gov. Angus King, for instance, can take that recommendation from Children’s Rights Council and plaster it everywhere he thought people would notice.

Consider health care coverage for Maine children. Through a combination of state and federal programs in the last couple of years, Maine has brought down the number of uninsured kids from a high of 16 percent to just under 7 percent by 1999, and it is even lower now. Health care coverage has a direct effect on people receiving preventive care, allowing children to spend more time in school and less time sick at home. Just about any teacher will say the first requirement to success in school is to be there.

There are other reasons to take notice of the data book, now in its seventh year. It highlights the small but growing problem of teen homelessness, an issue along with the need for more subsidized housing that Maine will to do more about in the near future. It talks about the need for respect and tolerance in schools and notes that only half of 1,400 students asked agreed with the idea that they felt safe in their schools.

Adults measure children in near infinite ways, wanting what is best for them, hoping that what they give is sufficient or more than sufficient. The Kids Count book is an unusually thorough measurement, but its final value rests with whether parents and policy-makers do something with its data. Once they know the numbers, what other choice do they have?