Kids Count, the Anne E. Casey Foundation’s annual measure of how children are faring, ranks Maine a respectable 15 among states. But the trends in its indices show a troubling pattern this state should be watching.

Two changes over the last decade are particularly notable: Maine does not do as well in some areas as it once did, and the nation as a whole, once behind Maine in caring for children, has caught up and in some cases surpassed this state. For instance, the infant mortality rate for Maine in 1996 was 4.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, with the national rate at 7.3; by 2004, the last year the numbers are available in Kids Count, Maine’s rate was up to 5.7 and the national rate was down to 6.8.

More telling is the child-death rate. From 1985 to 1996, Maine’s number of deaths per 100,000 children ages 1-14 dropped from 29 to 22, ranking the state eighth in that category. In 2004, it was still 22 but now the state ranked 27th. Similar results can be seen for the percentage of teens who are high school dropouts and the percentage of children in poverty.

This suggests that where Maine once was a model in the care of children, it no longer is. Instead, it ought to be increasing its effort to look at what other, more successful states are doing. (It won’t have to look far – New England generally does very well in these rankings, with Maine once leading the way. Now it is fifth among the six states.)

In addition to its rankings, Kids Count provides an outline of how states can improve the welfare of children. This year, the foundation focuses on foster care, choosing this topic “out of a conviction that, as a nation, we have not yet challenged ourselves to do enough to build, rebuild, or sustain the family relationships these young people need.” With an emphasis on family permanence, the essay points to ways states can keep siblings together, reunite family as soon as possible, better connect families to support services to improve their chances of success.

Maine itself has been working on this issue for several years but could benefit from some of the ideas offered in Kids Count. More generally, the state should recognize that standards of child well-being are rising nationwide and Maine kids must not be left behind.