According to the national KIDS COUNT program, North Dakota ranks seventh best in the nation on child well-being indicators. This high ranking is largely due to low rates of high school dropouts, teens who are not in school and not working, children living with single parents and low-birthweight babies.

Every year since the KIDS COUNT program research began, North Dakota has ranked in the top 10 states. 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 selected indicators from the 2009 “North Dakota KIDS COUNT Fact Book” (http://www.ndkidscount.org). The 2009 edition marks the 15th year the publication has been 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.

Data included in the annual publication covers issues affecting children from birth through adolescence and offers a road map to better understand the challenges facing North Dakota’s children.

Many of the indicators in this year’s fact book suggest that although certain rates are not getting worse, they are not improving, either.

“This is something that we need to constantly monitor and evaluate,” said Richard Rathge, North Dakota KIDS COUNT policy analyst and State Data Center director. “For example, North Dakota’s child poverty rate (14 percent) has not changed in nearly a decade.”

Composite scores for North Dakota public high school graduates taking the ACT have remained relatively unchanged during the past several years, averaging 21.5 out of 36 in 2008. The proportion of high school students (grades 9 through 12) who were enrolled in school and then dropped out that same year has remained around 2 percent for nearly a decade. The proportion of juveniles who are referred to court in North Dakota has remained around 9 percent during the past several years.

The number of North Dakota births considered to be low-weight represented 6 percent of all live births in 2007, a proportion that has remained relatively unchanged during the past several years.

While many of these rates are relatively low, which is good news for North Dakota, they have not improved the past several years.

The North Dakota KIDS COUNT program has released another report that asks the question, “Is Child Well-being Improving in North Dakota?” The report indicates that of the 10 measures of child well-being investigated, North Dakota ranks near the bottom of the nation with respect to improvements in child well-being during each of three five-year intervals of 1990 to 1995, 1995 to 2000 and 2000 to 2005. For information on the 10 indicators investigated, visit http://www.ndkidscount.org/publications/misc/ND_well-beingimprovement_2009.pdf.

NDSU Agriculture Communication