Report: Poverty among issues for Bedford youth

An annual report on Tennessee's youth reveals that poverty, with its impact on health and learning, is still a problem in Bedford County and across the Volunteer State.

The report, Kids Count: State of the Child, was recently released by The Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth.

Poverty and other issues raised by the report will be discussed during a community town hall meeting scheduled to be held at 6 p.m. Monday at Fair Haven Baptist Church. The meeting will be hosted by the Center for Family Development.

According to Elaine Williams, South Central regional coordinator for TCCY, the cycle of poverty is a difficult thing to break. Parents who are struggling economically find it hard to give their children what they need to excel.

"It's harder for them to learn," said Williams. "They usually don't have the food or the energy to make them grow."

Those struggles may mean the children will drop out of school, increasing the chance that they, too, will raise their children in poverty.

Williams said the rate of children living in poverty today may be higher than in the 1960s and 70s. Over 40 percent of children under 3 live or have lived in poverty, she said.

Contrary to myth, 80 percent of families living in poverty have at least one employed member -- but it's hard to raise a family on minimum wage. The family living in poverty struggles to afford basic costs like food, housing and transportation -- and public transportation is much less convenient in a rural community.

There may also be child support issues. Williams said her personal estimate is that as many as 30 percent of parents who are due child support don't get all of it. Williams said single women are almost twice as likely to live in poverty as single men.

The "State of the Child" report covers a broad range of primary and secondary indicators which show how the state's children are faring.

"It's not one single thing," said Williams. "This is a lot of different issues."

But Denise Hobbs-Coker of the Center for Family Development in Shelbyville noted that many are tied in with family issues and pointed to the county's high divorce rate -- 6.7 divorces per 1,000 population, as opposed to a state rate of 4.7 for the period covered by the Kids Count report.

"We are definitely in avoidance mode with what's going on with our children and our families," said Hobbs-Coker.

Addressing the problem means finding ways to break the cycle of poverty.

"Prevention is the most critical factor in all the things that we do," said Williams.

Here are some of the primary factors listed in the report, most based on 2005 statistics. Bedford County ranks dramatically worse than the state average in infant mortality and child deaths. Denise Hobbs-Coker said Bedford is consistently higher than the state average for those.

Infant mortality: Bedford County's rate of 18.0 per 1,000 is dramatically worse than the statewide rate of 8.8 per 1,000. Other nearby county rates ranged from Moore County, with zero deaths reported, to Coffee County, with 15.2 deaths per 1,000.

Lack of pre-natal care is a contributing factor, said Hobbs-Coker, and the report shows that Bedford County infants recieved pre-natal care at a lower rate than the state average.

The Center for Family Development has programs geared at helping first-time parents prepare.

Child deaths: In this category, too, Bedford County is dramatically worse than the state average, with 58.2 per 100,000, compared to a statewide rate of 22.6 per 100,000. Other rates ranged from Lincoln, with zero deaths reported, to Moore County, with 186.6 per 100,000, suggesting that the statistical sample is too small to draw accurate comparisons from one county to another.

Hobbs-Coker said that the category includes a wide variety of deaths from a wide variety of circumstances, making it hard to draw cause-and-effect conclusions.

Child abuse and neglect victims: At 13.8 per 1,000, Bedford County is worse than the state average of 12.2 per 1,000. Other rates include Coffee, 12.4 per 1,000; Franklin, 19.4 per 1,000; Lincoln, 13.0 per 1,000; Marshall, 12.1 per 1,000; Moore, 5.7 per 1,000; and Rutherford, 4.6 per 1,000.

Teen violent deaths: Bedford County had none in 2005, while the state average was 60.6 deaths per 100,000 teens.

Low birthweight babies: Bedford's 9.9 percent rate is better than the state average of 9.7 percent. Other nearby county rates include Coffee, 7.6 percent; Franklin, 6.9 percent; Lincoln, 12.9 percent; Marshall, 8.5 percent; Moore, 10.3 percent; and Rutherford, 8.5 percent.

Children on Families First assistance: Bedford County, at 5.4 percent, is better than the state average of 8.8 percent. Other rates: Coffee, 6.9 percent; Franklin, 4.4 percent; Lincoln, 7.7 percent; Marshall, 4.1 percent; Moore, 3.7 percent; Rutherford, 5.4 percent.

Williams said the number of children on Families First in Bedford County has increased over the years, from 3.1 percent in 1999 to 5.9 percent in 2006, which is newer information than the 2005 figure included in the Kids Count report.

High school dropouts: Bedford, at 5.0 percent, was better than the state average of 9.8 percent.

"We still worry about graduation rates every year," said School Superintendent Ed Gray, because of the legal requirements of No Child Left Behind and other education reforms. "We could be on notice but be above the state rate."

Big cities tend to have higher dropout rates than the smaller communities, said Gray.

School suspensions: Bedford, at 5.4 percent, was better than the state average of 8.7 percent.

Juvenile justice referrals: Bedford, at 3.0 percent, was better than Tennessee's 5.7 percent.

Children receiving food stamps: Bedford, at 25.4 percent, was better than the state figure of 27.1 percent.

Free and reduced-price school lunches: Bedford, at 41.9 percent, was better than the state average of 42.6 percent.

Center for Family Development can be reached at 684-4676.