But that may be only the most eye-catching gauge on the dashboard of challenges young people face growing up here.
Steve Seninger, director of Montana Kids Count and an analyst in the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research, said child death rates may be a symptom of a more complicated problem.
In a nutshell, Seninger said the 2005 report gives Montana an A-minus for taking care of its infants and very young children. But the state gets failing marks for giving teens the health and safety factors and employment prospects they need.
At that age, young people may be entangled in a net of challenges that aggravate one another: poor job prospects, no health insurance, untreated mental or physical illness, and risk factors like drug or alcohol abuse. Seninger said Montana has made some strides in confronting those, but there's plenty of work to do.
There is also good news to report in 2005, such as the Montana Legislature's ban on all open containers in vehicles, improved alcohol and drug awareness education, and programs like Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies, Seninger said. Immunization rates for childhood disease are high, and programs to help low birth-weight babies are well established.
“There are some real positives coming at the policy level,” he said. “We're talking about economic development and what it means for working families. Those kinds of conversations you didn't hear three or four years ago.”
Kids Count compiles statistics from a wide range of sources, including federal and state government reports, and nonprofit agency surveys. It's part of a nationwide effort sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This is the fifth year UM's Bureau of Business and Economic Research has published the report in Montana.
This year's study found that Montana ranked 34th in the nation for the percentage of teens not in school and not working, and 30th for the percentage of children living in poverty.
U.S. Census figures show that in 2002-04, about 37,000 Montana children age 18 and under have no health insurance. That's 16 percent of the state's minor population.
In the Northwest, Montana has the worst poverty level among eight surrounding states. Statistics compiled by the Northwest Area Foundation in 2004 showed 14.6 percent of Montana's population lived below the federal poverty level. Only South Dakota (13.2 percent) came close, with the regional average 10.3 percent.
The figures are familiar to Missoula school officials.
“The fallout factors of maintaining good living conditions are just huge,” said Candy Lubansky, director of special education programs at Missoula County Public Schools. “We see that in young kids diagnosed with mental illness. If we can't get adequate insurance to families, they can't get adequate care to make them physically healthy. They can't support mental health in their family.”
“And we see it in how we use free time,” Lubansky said. “If the only socially motivating activity is to get together and drink, we haven't worked hard enough to provide meaningful opportunities for kids.”
Seninger said the Kids Count report and the Bureau of Business and Economic Research aren't out to advocate for particular solutions. But he added the statistics do point in some obvious directions. For example, improving child health and family economic stability has a direct influence on the state's economic development. And that works in reverse as well - providing better jobs and health insurance leads to healthier and more productive young people.
“Businesses don't want to come to a place with high dropout rates, drug and alcohol problems, and child mortality rates,” Seninger said. “We need to look at attacking those problems as part of economic development.”
Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com
On the Web
Find the complete Kids Count 2005 Montana Data Book at www.bber.umt.edu/KidsCountMT.
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