County among best in taking care of children
Improvement seen in most areas of state 'Kids Count'
Friday, October 07, 2005
Madison County, once again, ranks near the top statewide in the well-being of its children.
In the recently released Alabama Kids Count Data Book, Madison County ranked third in the state, behind Shelby and Lee counties in a cumulative score based on eight child welfare factors: Births to unmarried teens; children in poverty; children receiving federal Temporary Aid to Needy Families; a children's health index; infant mortality rate; low-weight births; vulnerable families index; and single-parent families.
Four other counties in North Alabama ranked in the top 10 in the state: Limestone County, seventh; Morgan County, eighth; Jackson County, ninth; and Lauderdale County, 10th.
Greene County ranked at the bottom of the state's 67 counties.
Madison County's ranking is up three spots from the 2004 data book, though some categories in the ranking index have changed so the two studies cannot be directly compared, said Apreill Hartsfield, director of policy and programs for Voices for Alabama's Children. Voices releases the state's Kids Count each year.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation issued a state-by-state Kids Count index earlier this year. Alabama came in 48th of the 50 states.
Voices is having its annual Alabama Kids Count Conference today in Birmingham where the data book's numbers will be reviewed, and participants will attend workshops on ways to improve the lives of the state's children.
Much of the conference's focus will be on the effect economic status has on children, said Hartsfield.
For instance, in No. 1-ranked Shelby County, the median household income was $61,393, based on 2003 U.S. Census Bureau data. Madison County had a median household income of $46,937, while bottom-ranked Greene County's was $20,763. The lowest median household income in the state was $18,455 for Wilcox County, ranked 65th.
In affluent Madison County, "everything essentially seems to be improving," said Hartsfield.
Births to unmarried teens have gone down, fewer children are living in poverty and the health index of children is getting better. The health index, said Hartsfield, is based on whether a mother smoked or drank during pregnancy, if she received late or no prenatal care, how closely spaced the births in a family were and if there were three or more older siblings at the birth of a child.
One area that got worse in Madison County was the number of low-weight births, but that's reflecting a state and national trend, said Hartsfield. Some of the rise in low-birth weight babies can be attributed to women waiting until later in life to have children. The older the woman, the more likely she will have multiple births, which can contribute to low birth weights.
© 2005 The Huntsville Times
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