Poverty took its toll in Lyon County in 2004 so more than statewide in 2005 — one conclusion a local expert drew from county figures and the 18th annual “2007 Kids Count Data Book” released nationally this morning by the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Another finding noted by Lougene Marsh, executive director of Flint Hills Community Health Center, is that the percentage of low-birthrate babies rose statewide to 7.3 percent in 2004 from 6.9 percent in 2000. The Lyon County rate matched the state’s 7.3 percent in 2004. The national rate had climbed to 8.1 percent in 2004 from 7.6 percent in 2000.
“That put us right at the same level of the state,” Marsh said.
Kansas dropped from 12th place last year to 16th place this year on 10 national measures of children’s wellbeing, according to the data book. The national and statewide Kids Count data can be viewed at the Kansas Action for Children’s Web site, www.kac.org/index.html.
Despite differences in reporting years that make direct comparisons difficult among the national and state data book and separate local results, she said the data book can be useful to professionals and residents.
“You can just connect the dots,” Marsh said. “Kids Count is an important resource for us. It helps us to frame actions that need to be taken in the community.”
Other findings from the data book:
• Kansas ranked sixth nationally in secure parental employment, had the eighth-lowest single-parent family rate and was ninth in percentage of teen high school drop outs and idle teens.
• The infant mortality rate in Kansas increased to 7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, a hike from 6.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.
• Teen violent deaths in Lyon County were at 34 per 100,000 teens in 2004 compared to statewide data of 57 per 100,000 teens, a decline from 78 in 2000.
Marsh also was concerned with the number of children living in Lyon County who were at 100 percent of federal poverty guidelines. In 2005, that amounted to an income below $19,806 for a family of two adults and two children in 2005.
Although a direct comparison is not possible, 15 percent of Kansans were at the federal poverty level in 2005 and 17 percent of Lyon County residents were living at federal poverty levels in 2004.
“We have a lot of factors in Lyon County that deal with poverty,” Marsh said.
Marsh said the Kids Count reports allow agencies to see where improvement is needed. Marsh said the county needs to continue to look at poverty rates, and said socioeconomic factors are strong markers from overall success in education and health status.
The poverty data “are markers for other problems,” Marsh said. “The bottom line is that we have many positive things in Lyon County. But we do have some things that we need to pay attention to.”
She said the Healthier Community Alliance, a coalition of health and educational agencies, and community service organizations, takes a broad focus on community health.
For sometime, the alliance has focused on prenatal care and access to prenatal care in Lyon County.
“Between 2004 and 2005 we did see an improvement of (the numbers) of low-birth weight babies in Lyon County,” Marsh said. “That’s something to celebrate.”
Other state figures released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation:
• The percentage of teens who are high school dropouts plunged to six percent in 2005 from 10 percent in 2000, a 40 percent improvement.
• The rate of Kansas children living in a family where no parent held yearround, full-time employment worsened by 27 percent. The state’s secure parental employment rate increased to 28 percent in 2005 up from 22 percent in 2000.