State ranks 27th among all states for child well-being

Michigan youth are more likely to be held in custody than youth in most other states and minorities are locked up at triple the rate of their white peers, the annual KIDS COUNT report released this week found.

The state-by-state report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Michigan 27 th among the states (with 1 being the best), based on 10 measures of child well-being. The rank was the same as last year, despite substantial improvements in the rates of high school dropouts, teen births, teen deaths, and idle teens.

This year’s report also examines juvenile justice trends and ranked Michigan 33 rd for the rate of youth in custody.

“These are sobering numbers. We know that many of those youths in custody would have been better served in our mental health, education and social services systems,’’ said Jane Zehnder-Merrell, senior research associate at the Michigan League for Human Services and director of the Kids Count in Michigan project. “This is evidence that we must step up prevention efforts to keep these children out of the juvenile justice system.”

The rate of detained and committed youth in custody in Michigan was 137 youth, ages 10 to 15, per 100,000 youths. The national average was 125 youth per 100,000 youth. Michigan mirrored national statistics with the rate of minority youth in custody triple that of white youth.

In the rest of the report, Michigan received its worst ranking (37) in infant mortality rates, which improved only slightly—4 percent—between 2000 and 2005. It also ranked 37 th for the percent of children living in families where no parent has a full-time, year-round job, which worsened by 13 percent.

Michigan’s most dramatic worsening trend was a 29 percent increase in the percent of children living in poverty – income below $20,444 for a family of two adults and two children in 2006. Eighteen percent of children in Michigan live in poverty, placing Michigan 30 th among the states.

“This is happening at a time when our safety net continues to erode. We have greater need and fewer resources to meet that need,’’ Zehnder-Merrell said.

Michigan received its best ranking, 13th, for the teen death rate, which showed an 11 percent improvement. There were 57 deaths per 100,000 teens ages 15-19 in the state, compared with a national rate of 65 deaths.

Other improvements included:

• A 20 percent decline in the rate of teen births, placing Michigan 14 th among the states;
• A 40 percent decrease in the percent of teens who are high school dropouts (ages 16 to 19), moving Michigan to 15 th among the states; and
• An 11 percent drop in the rate of teens not attending school and not working with Michigan ranking 27 th on that measure.

Kids Count in Michigan, is a collaboration of the Michigan League for Human Services, which researches and writes the report, and Michigan’s Children, which works with communities to bring attention to the report’s findings.