September 7, 2006

North Dakota Ranks High in Child Well-being, but Concerns Exist

According to the national KIDS COUNT program, North Dakota ranks ninth best in the nation in regard to child well-being indicators. This high ranking largely is due to the low rates of high school dropouts, low-birthweight babies, idle teens, children living in single-parent families and children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment.

“Every year since the KIDS COUNT program research began, North Dakota has ranked in the top 10 states, a fact we should be very proud of and we should thank those who care for our state’s children,” says Richard Rathge, North Dakota KIDS COUNT executive director. “However, the 2006 North Dakota KIDS COUNT Fact Book indicates that despite the high national ranking, challenges do exist for children and families throughout the state.”

This month’s edition of the “Population Bulletin,” released from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, presents select indicators from the 2006 North Dakota KIDS COUNT Fact Book. The 2006 book marks the 12th annual publication produced by the North Dakota KIDS COUNT program. The program is part of a nationwide network founded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to collect information about the status of children in communities across the U.S. Data in the annual fact book cover issues affecting children from birth through adolescence and is widely used by a variety of audiences in planning, needs assessments and grant writing activities on behalf of North Dakota children.

Fact Book data offers a road map to better understand the challenges facing North Dakota children in the communities where they live and quantifies the number of children affected by respective areas of concern. This year’s fact book presents some important issues concerning the well-being of North Dakota’s children.

• Despite the fact that three-fourths of North Dakota children live with both parents (75.8 percent), the percentage of children living in single-parent families increased 23.3 percent from 1990 through 2000. This is cause for concern because the poverty rate for North Dakota children living with one parent (39.4 percent) is nearly six times the rate for children living with two parents (6.9 percent).
• In addition to an increase in single-parent families, the number of North Dakota children living with a grandparent rose 48.4 percent from 1990 through 2000, and the number of children in the foster care system rose 17 percent. Parental involvement in methamphetamine-related issues is a major reason for the increase of children in foster care, according to the North Dakota Department of Human Services.
• While 4.9 percent of North Dakota children were suspected victims of child abuse or neglect in 2005, the number of children considered in high-risk situations, thus requiring services for abuse or neglect, rose 30 percent from 1998 through 2005.

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Source: Richard Rathge, (701) 231-8621, richard.rathge@ndsu.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.edu

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