Children in Douglas County are safe and do well in school, according to a report card released Friday by the Partnership for Children and Youth.

But the assessment gave the county low marks in health and child care: C-plus and D, respectively.

“I’m not surprised we got a D; we have a lot of work to do,” said Rich Minder, collaborative projects coordinator at Success by 6 and Lawrence school board member.

He said Lawrence was blessed with several high-quality day-care and early-childhood education programs.

“But that’s not the issue; the issue is affordability,” he said. “So much of what’s going on is being funded solely by parents, but parents can’t pay for everything.”

Minder said he and other child advocates would continue to push for increases in public support for day care and early-childhood education. Both programs, he said, are as worthy of taxpayer support as public schools and universities.

According to the report card, 6 percent of the licensed day-care facilities in Douglas County have at least one early childhood professional on staff. Statewide, the average is almost 13 percent.

Compiled by Kansas Action for Children, a Topeka-based advocacy group, the report card was released during a breakfast meeting of about 50 child advocates at the Douglas County Health Facility, 200 Maine.

The report card is an offshoot of Kids Count, Kansas Action for Children’s annual assessment of resources available to children through the state.

6News video: Douglas County receives B- on report card (01-29-05) Kansas Action for Children: Douglas County Report Card (.pdf)

Nancy Jorn, director of maternal and child health field services at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, said the C-plus in health was tied to a recent increase in infant mortality.

“We went from 4.2 deaths per 1,000 births in 2001 to 6.6 in 2003 and 7.3 in 2004,” Jorn said, noting that in Douglas County, 22 babies have died in the past three years.

“Twelve of the 22,” she said, “were less than seven days of age at the time of death. Seven were between seven and 28 days of age.”

Most of these babies, she said, were born premature and low-weight, an indication their mothers did not receive prenatal care.

Jorn said the health department had stepped up efforts to reach out to low-income, uninsured pregnant women.

“We need to get them in as soon as possible, and we need to work with the state to simplify the application process,” she said. “A lot of the delays are caused by things like not having a birth certificate or not having a (paycheck) stub to show proof of income.

“In an organized world, yes, these things should readily available,” she said. “Unfortunately, a lot of these folks’ lives aren’t very organized.”

According to the report card, 92 percent of pregnant women in Douglas County in 2003 had at least one prenatal visit during the first trimester of their pregnancy. The statewide average was almost 88 percent.

Other grades for Douglas County:

• A for education (high school graduation rates, achievement scores and school readiness).
• B-plus for safety and security (violent crime, poverty and neglect).
• B for teen years (substance abuse, teen pregnancy and teen violent death).

“We have the capacity to do better for kids,” said Gary Brunk, executive director of Kansas Action for Children.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-3rd District, addressed the group and noted that while in Washington, D.C., he hears “a lot of talk” about values.

“But the true measure of a community’s values,” he said, “is where it spends its money and how well it cares for its children.”