Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

CHILD WELFARE IN NEVADA: Study paints rosy picture

But children's advocates say numbers not necessarily indicative of current climate

By the year 2000, Nevada children were less likely to die by accident, homicide or suicide, drop out of school or live in poverty than they were in 1990, according to a national study.

The rate of improvement for Nevada children exceeded the national average in some areas, but some children's advocates say they doubt the figures for the past few years would be as encouraging.

Although its national data lag behind other reports, the findings by Kids Count provide an easy-to-use comparison between states. Nationally, between 1990 and 2000, improvements were reported in eight of the 10 indicators used to measure success. Nevada's improvements closely reflected those seen across the country.

Among states, Nevada's highest ranking was 14th, in the area of family employment; its lowest ranking was 48th, in the teen dropout rate.

Kids Count is a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private research and grant-making concern that focuses on children.

The report released today reflects Nevada's relatively strong economy during the past decade, children's advocates and government officials said.

But Donna Coleman, president of the Children's Advocacy Alliance, a Henderson-based organization that rates state lawmakers' performance on children's issues, said despite the improvements, the state still isn't doing its job when it comes to serving children.

"Our state's greatest anomaly is that when it comes to wealth, we rank among the richest states in the country but when it comes to issues of education and child welfare, we're usually ranked among the poorest states," Coleman said.

Coleman said the results of the study reflect a need for state leaders to make education and children's programs higher spending priorities.

The Kids Count report shows 15 percent of Nevada children live in poverty, ranking the state 20th in the country.

Although ranked near the bottom in regard to teen dropouts, Nevada still saw a slight decline in its dropout rate, according to the study. The rate fell to 14 percent, from 15 percent, while the national dropout rate fell from 10 percent to 9 percent.

Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who helped compile information for study, said the state's rapid population growth explains in part why the state performs so poorly when it comes to the dropout rate and other teen issues.

"The transitioning of teens is always more difficult," he said. "People come here and they are disconnected in a new town and need time to find new relationships."

Candice Kidd, director of Family and Youth Services at West Care, a nonprofit youth care organization, said that the study's results make sense for the time period analyzed, but do not reflect today's reality.

The study ranked Nevada 32nd in the nation for the rate of teen deaths by accident, homicide and suicide. In 2000, 60 teens per 100,000 aged 15 to 19 died by accident, homicide or suicide, a drop from the 98 per 100,000 in 1990.

"During that time period we did see lower numbers both in our shelter for troubled youth and in our treatment programs, and the cases we saw back then weren't as severe," Kidd said. "But now it's a whole different story. This year we've had a record 3,000 kids in our shelter ... It's as high as it's ever been."

Kidd said some of the factors that could increase teen drug and alcohol abuse and the frequency at which they run away could be linked to economic troubles. She said that when the economy takes a turn for the worse, parents take on second and third jobs and have less time to spend with their children, leaving them unsupervised for longer periods of time.

Kids Count shows that in 2000, 29 percent of Nevada families with children were headed by a single parent. Twenty percent of Nevada children were living with parents who did not have full-time, year-round employment, which was better than the national average of 24 percent.

"Much of a child's well-being depends on the parents ability to find and maintain employment," said Christine Brady, spokeswoman for the Economic Opportunity Board, Clark County's designated anti-poverty agency. "During the 1990s, the economy was in a boom and it was much easier for people to find work."

The report found nationally that between 1990 and 2000:

• Infant mortality, death during the first year of life, fell 25 percent, from 9.2 deaths for every 1,000 live births to 6.9 deaths. The rate continues to be much higher among poor families and in inner cities.

• Child deaths, which includes children ages 1 to 14, fell nearly 30 percent. In 2000, it was 22 deaths for every 100,000 children. Experts point to a decrease in deaths from car crashes as a leading explanation.

• Births to teenagers fell 27 percent, with 27 in 100,000 girls ages 15-17 giving birth in 2000. Other data show that overall teen pregnancy, which accounts for abortions and miscarriages, also fell.

KIDS COUNT FINDINGS

Kids Count 2003 shows overall improvements in the well-being of children in the nation and Nevada from 1990 to 2000, using 10 indicators.

Indicator	Nevada			U.S.
	1990	2000		1990	2000
Percent low birth-weight	7.2	7.2		7.0	7.6
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)	8.4	6.5		9.2	6.9
Child death rate (per 100,000 children age 1-14)	36	23		31	22
Rate of teen deaths by accident, homicide, and suicide (per 100,000)	98	60		71	51
Teen birth rate (per 100,000 females ages 15-17)	43	35		37	27
Percent of teens who are high school dropouts, ages 16-19	15	14		10	9
Percent of teens not attending school and not working, ages 16-19	12	10		10	8
Percent of children living with parents who do not have full-time, year-round employment	26	20		30	24
Percent of children in poverty (data reflect poverty in previous year)	16	15		20	17
Percent of families with children headed by a single parent	25	29		24	28