DOCUMENT RESUME PS 028 189 ED 437 200 Kids Count in Delaware: Fact Book 1999 [and] Families Count TITLE in Delaware: Fact Book, 1999. Delaware Univ., Newark. Kids Count in Delaware. INSTITUTION Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD. SPONS AGENCY 1999-00-00 PUB DATE 145p.; "Kids Count in Delaware: Fact Book 1999" provided NOTE with additional support from the State of Delaware. KIDS COUNT in Delaware, 298K Graham Hall, University of AVAILABLE FROM Delaware, Newark, DE 19716-7350. Tel: 302-831-4966; Fax: 302-831-4987; Web site: <www.dekidscount.org>. Descriptive Reports Numerical/Quantitative Data (110) PUB TYPE (141) MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Adolescents; Birth Weight; Births to Single Women; Child DESCRIPTORS Abuse; Child Health; Child Welfare; *Children; Community Support; Demography; Dropout Rate; Drug Abuse; Early Parenthood; Elementary Secondary Education; *Family (Sociological Unit); Foster Care; Health Insurance; Mortality Rate; One Parent Family; Out of School Youth; *Poverty; Preschool Education; *Social Indicators; State Surveys; Statistical Surveys; Tables (Data); *Well Being; Youth Problems *Delaware; *Indicators; Women Infants Children Supplemental IDENTIFIERS Food Program ABSTRACT This Kids Count Fact Book is combined with the Families Count Fact Book to provide information on statewide trends affecting children and families in Delaware. The Kids Count statistical profile is based on 10 (2) low birth (1) births to teens; main indicators of child well-being: (5) teen deaths; (4) child deaths; (3) infant mortality; weight babies; (6) (8) teens not in (7) high school dropouts; juvenile violent crime arrests; (9) children in poverty; and (10) children in school and not working; one-parent households. Additional issues affecting children profiled in the (2) children receiving free and (1) early care and education; report include: (4) asthma; (3) women and children receiving WIC; reduced price school meals; (6) alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; (5) children without health insurance; (7) child abuse and neglect and (8) foster care. The report indicates improvement or a better than national average in the teen birth rate and the juvenile violent crime arrest rate but notes increasing rates of low birth weight babies; teen deaths by accidents, homicide, and suicide; children living in poverty; children in one-parent households, and teens not graduated and not enrolled. The report includes 68 data tables related to the indicators. The Families Count statistical profile details the conditions of families, children, and individuals in Delaware communities. The five (2) successful learners; (1) healthy children; indicator categories are: (3) (4) nurturing families, and (5) strong and supportive resourceful families; communities. Comparisons of Delaware trends to national trends in these areas are included. (HTH) f Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. (Ix U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION of Educational Research and Improvement Of a /7410.406 EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization :t originating it Eta Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy 4,1 O -Aka *wow :7-- V ii ff -\ - r wr Tc 0 11111Abile. tour, PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY S Scl-001ey i count AWE BEST COPY AVAI L Y C O,..... IN DELAWARE , t TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES P;A INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) STATE OF DELAWARE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR THOMAS R. CARPER GOVERNOR Dear Friends: Children are our most precious resource. They need strong, loving adults who are willing to take care of their needs and guide them through their formative years. They also need to believe that they matterthat their thoughts, opinions, feelings and life experiences count. This is why I believe in the KIDS COUNT Fact Book. These pages are more than just facts and figures; they tell us a meaningful story of what it can be like to be a child in Delaware. They inform community members, decisions makers and the general public about the circumstances and needs of our children. For the more informed we are, the better decisions we make in building a brighter future for our children. I hope you find this report helpful and informative in your continued efforts to spread the message "Families and Kids Count in Delaware!" Sincerely, Thomas R. Carper Governor rd. TATNALL BUILDING Ei DOVER, DELAWARE 19901 Governor (302) 739 - 4101 Carper with Milford f, Project "Kids FAX (302) 739 2775 High School Vo ices Count" teens who participated in the KIDS COUNT 3 Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation with additional support from the State of Delaware c unt IN',DELAWARE---- KlDS COUNT'in Delaware 298K Graham Hall University of'Delaware 'Newark, DE 19716-7350 1 , Phone: (302) 831-4966 Fax: (302) 831-4987 www:dekidscciuntorg Copyright © 1999, KIDS COUNT in Delaware Please feel free to copy all or portions of this report. We welcome further distribution but require acknowledgment of KIDS COUNT in Delaware in any reproduction, quotation or other use of the KIDS COUNT in Delaware Fact Book 1999. To order additional copies for $15 each, contact: Teresa L. Schooley, Project Director, KIDS COUNT in Delaware 298K Graham Hall, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716-7350 The photographs in this book do not necessarily represent the situations described Staff Data Committee Anthony M. Policastro, M. D. Steven A. Dowshen, M.D., Chair Teresa L. Schooley Medical Director, Nanticoke Hospital Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children l'roject Director, KIDS COUNT in Delaware Center for Community Development and Family Helen C. Riley Celeste R. Anderson Policy, University of Delaware Evaluation Coordinator Executive Director, Michelle L. Gair St. Michael's Day Nursery Delaware Health and Social Services Graduate Research Assistant Peter Antal Dale Sampson-Levin, M.S.W. Center for Community Development and Family Action for Delaware Families and Children Wilmington Healthy Start Policy, University of Delaware University of Delaware Sandra M. Shelnutt Donna Bacon Tammy J. Hyland Alliance for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Assistant to the Director Delaware State Police Starlene Taylor, Ed.D. Center for Community Development and Family Theodore W.Jarrell, Ph.D. Policy, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension Delaware State University Delaware Health Statistics Center Delaware Health and Social Services Design and Photography Solomon H. Katz, Ph.D. Karen Ka ler Design: Friends of KIDS COUNT Director, W.M. Krogman Center for Research RSVP Design in Child Growth and Development Sergeant Antonio Asion Sheri Woodruff Photography: University of Pennsylvania Latino Task Force David Rudder Carl W. Nelson, Ph.D. Louis E. Bartoshesky, M.D., M.P.H. Karen Ka ler Division of Management Services Delaware Chapter Department of Services for Children, American Academy of Pediatrics Youth and Their Families Steering Committee Medical Center of Delaware Edward C. Ratledge The Honorable Patricia Blevins Nancy Wilson, Ph.D., Chair Director, Center for Applied Demography State Senator Department of Education and Survey Research The Honorable Samuel Cooper Benjamin Fay, Vice Chair University of Delaware Mayor, City of Rehoboth Beach Robert A. Ruggiero Committee on Early Education and Social Services Sally Gore Delaware Health Statistics Center Gwendoline B. Angalet Delaware Health and Social Services W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. Department of Services for Children, Youth and Melanie Holden Thanks for the data: Their Families First State Community Action Agency Delaware Department of Corrections; Delaware Donna Curtis The Honorable Jane Maroney Department of Education; Delaware Department Educator of Health and Social Services; Delaware Child Advocate Janet Dill Department of Labor; Delaware Department of Tom Mullins Public Safety; Delaware Department of Services Business/Public Education Council Director, Southern Delaware Center for Children for Children, Youth and Their Families; Center for Steven A. Dowshen, M. D. and Families Applied Demography and Survey Research; Center Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children Brenda Corine Phillips for Drug and Alcohol Studies; Delaware Health Theodore W. Jarrell, Ph.D. Statistics Center; Delaware Population Consor- President, The Phillips Group tium; Delaware State Housing Authority; Domestic Delaware Health Statistics Center Edward G. Pollard, Jr. Violence Coordinating Council; Family and Delaware Health and Social Services Family Court of the State of Delaware Workplace Connection; Statistical Analysis Center Tyrone Jones The Hon. Joseph Ronnie Rogers Dept. of Youth and Families Thanks to Mayor, City of Milford City of Wilmington Janice L. Sturgis Gail Russell Prue Kobasa, RN, MSN Center for Community Development and Family J.P. Morgan Public Health Nursing Director Policy University of Delaware The Hon. James H. Sills, Jr. Division of Public Health Mayor, City of Wilmington Sam Lathem Debra Singletary, CEO United Auto Workers And a special thank you to the Delmarva Rural Ministries, Inc. Delaware children featured on the Patricia Tanner Nelson, Ed.D. cover and throughout this book. Collis 0. Townsend Cooperative Extension Delaware Community Foundation University of Delaware rrn = kids Dedicated to all the people in Delaware who put kids first in everything they do. lbw-atm= ,10g0( 'OW Rt?(. epto miliV "The solutions for adult problems tomorrow depend in large measure upon the way our children grow up today. There is no greater insight into the future than recognizing when we save our children, we save ourselves." Margaret Mead In this our fifth annual profile of Delaware's children, KIDS COUNT in Delaware Fact Book 1999, we look at some of the greatest challenges in the lives of our children and youth, aiming to create a holistic view of how children are faring in Delaware. Of course many of Delaware's children are born healthy, succeed in school, and become happy and productive adults. Most of Delaware's children are surviving but one in seven lives in poverty. We want more for our kids that just survival; we want them all to thrive, with a lifetime of happiness and prosperity. This fact book draws attention to the inequality that exists for our state's children, some of whom face seemingly insurmountable barriers to success. KIDS COUNT in Delaware is one of fifty-one similar projects throughout the United States funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Through this project housed at the Center for Community Develop- ment and Family Policy at the University of Delaware, led by a Steering Committee of committed and concerned children's advocates from the public and private sector, we bring together the best available data to measure the health, economic, educational and social well-being of children. This publication represents our ongoing effort to paint a picture, which will inform public policy and spur community action. This edition is combined with the initiative of Governor Carper's Family Services Cabinet Council entitled FAMILIES COUNT in Delaware which expands upon the ten tracking indicators of the o: Js National KIDS COUNT Data Book to look at a broad range of indicators related to families in 1;41114 O.-. 0:47: aiggirghniAlett Delaware. For the second year, we are pleased to present to you both KIDS COUNT and FAMILIES COUNT as a combined publication and believe that it represents a statewide commitment to C34 monitor outcomes and show that both children and families do matter, do count, in this state. At KIDS COUNT, we do not want you to think of this publication as just a report, but rather as a tool to guide, direct and motivate policy leaders, advocates and the public to do what they can to improve the quality of life for Delaware's children. This could mean volunteering as a mentor for a disadvantaged youth, creating a child care center in the workplace, or passing legislation to enable all children living in poverty to attend Head Start programs. It means working with our friends, relatives and co-workers to ensure that elected officials make tax and spending choices that will help children succeed. It means becoming actively involved in building a stronger Delaware, one step at a time. Do your part to make KIDS COUNT and FAMILIES COUNT in Delaware! Nancy Wilson, Ph.D. Steven A. Dowshen, M.D. Chair Chair Steering Committee Data Committee 7 rin kids ./4-6k oArep/((evi K-4 A Message from Kids Count in Delaware K-6 List of Data Tables KIDS COUNT in Delaware K-8 K-12 Using the Fact Book K-13 20 Ways to Make Kids Count K-12 Overview The Indicators K-16 Births to Teens 15-17 K-18 Births to Teens 15-19 K-20 Low Birth Weight Babies K-22 Infant Mortality K-24 Child Deaths, Children 1-14 Years of Age K-26 Teen Deaths by Accident, Homicide, and Suicide K-28 Juvenile Violent Crime Arrests K-30 High School Dropouts K-32 Teens Not in School and Not Working K-34 Children in Poverty K-36 Children in One-Parent Households Other Issues Affecting Delaware's Children K-38 Early Care and Education and School-Aged Child Care Children Receiving Free and Reduced Price School Meals K-41 K-42 Women and Children Receiving WIC K-43 Asthma K-44 Children without Health Insurance K-46 Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs K-48 Child Abuse and Neglect K-49 Foster Care Data Tables K-87 K-50 COUNT in Delaware F-58 FAMILIES F-1 rim kids MEM Demographics Population Estimates Table 1: K-51 Delaware Children and Their Families K-52 Table 2: Number and Percent of Families with Children K-53 Table 3: Births to Teens K-54 Table 4: Teen Birth Rates Teen Birth Rates (15-17 year olds) K-55 Table 5: Pre- and Young Teen Birth Rates (10-14 year olds) K-55 Table 6: Teen Mothers Who Are Single K-56 Table 7: K-57 Births by Race and Age of Mother Table 8: Low Birth Weight Babies Percentage of Low Birth Weight Births Table 9: K-58 Low Birth Weight Births by Age and Race of Mother Table 10: K-58 Percentage of Very Low Birth Weight Births Table 11: K-59 Very Low Birth Weight Births by Age and Race of Mother K-59 Table 12: Prenatal Care K-60 Table 13: Table 14: Prenatal Care by Race K-60 Births by Birth Weight, Race of Mother Table 15: and Adequacy of Prenatal Care K-61 Births by Birth Weight, Age of Mother Table 16: and Adequacy of Prenatal Care K-62 Births by Birth Weight, Marital Status, Table 17: and Adequacy of Prenatal Care K-63 Infant Mortality Table 18: Infant, Neonatal and Postneonatal Mortality Rates K-63 Table 19: Infant Mortality Rates by Race K-64 KIDS COUNT in Delaware Table 20: Infant Mortality Rates by Risk Factor K-65 Vs=6 Infant Deaths by Causes of Death and Race of Mother Table 21: K-66 Child Deaths Table 22: Child Death Rates K-66 Table 23: Causes of Deaths of Children by Age K-67 Teen Deaths Table 24: Teen Death Rates K-68 Table 25: Traffic Arrests of Teens K-68 Juvenile Violent Crime Table 26: Violent Juvenile Arrests K-69 Table 27: Juvenile Part I Violent Crime Arrests K-69 Table 28: Juvenile Part I Property Crime Arrests K-69 Table 29: Juvenile Part II Crime Arrests K-70 Juvenilf ,Drug Arrests K-70 Table 30: Table 31: 8th Graders Using Substances K-71 Table 32: 11 th Graders Using Substances K-71 Table 33: K-72 Student Violence and Possession 9 K-72 Student Violence and Possession Charges Filed Table 34: K-73 Student Violence and Possession by Age Table 35: K-73 Student Violence and Possession by Gender and Ethnicity Table 36: K-74 Violent Adult Arrests Table 37: K-74 Violent Adult Arrests, Adults 18-39 Table 38: School Dropouts K-75 Dropouts Table 39: K-75 Dropouts and Enrollment by Race Table 40: K-76 Dropout Rate and Percentage by Race Table 41: K-76 Dropouts and Enrollment by Race and Gender Table 42: K-76 Dropout Rate and Percentage by Race and Gender Table 43: K-77 Dropouts by Race and Ethnicity Table 44: Teens Not in School and Not in the Labor Force K-77 Table 45: Teens Not in School and Not in the Labor Force K-78 Table 46: Teens Not in School and Not Employed Children in Poverty K-78 Income of Families with Children by Family Type Table 47: K-78 Subsidized Child Care Table 48: K-79 Free and Reduced Breakfasts Table 49: K-79 Table 50: Free and Reduced Lunches K-80 Children Without Health Insurance Table 51: K-80 Health Insurance Table 52: K-80 Table 53: Poverty Thresholds Table 54: Home Ownership K-81 KIDS COUNT in Delaware I CFR Children in One-Parent Families K-81 Poverty Rates for One-Parent Families Table 55: K-81 Poverty Rates for Female Householder Families Table 56: K-82 Percentage Female Headed Families in Poverty Table 57: K-82 Children in Poverty by Family Type Table 58: K-82 Child Support Paid Table 59: K-83 Percentage of Births to Single Mothers Table 60: Miscellaneous Tables K-84 Table 61: Unemployment K-84 Available Child Care Table 62: K-85 School Age Programs Table 63: K-85 Site-Based School Age Programs Table 64: K-85 Child Care Costs Table 65: K-86 Child Abuse and Neglect Table 66: K-86 Foster Care Table 67: K-87 Child Immunizations Table 68: K-87 Table 69: Lead Poisoning K-87 Table 70: Sexually Transmitted Diseases 10 kids