The 2010 Kids Count report released this week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation has some positive news for Kansas, but it also reveals a couple of areas that should be of great concern to Kansas residents and policymakers.

First the good news. The state’s death rate for children (ages 1-14) and teens (ages 15-19) showed significant reductions between 2000 and 2007. The rate dropped by 24 percent for children and 12 percent for teens. That was well ahead of the reductions recorded at the national level of 14 percent for children and 7 percent for teens.

The state also saw a 4 percent decline in the number of births to teen mothers and a 50 percent decline in the number of teens, ages 16-19, who had left high school without graduating. Those are positive trends and indicate the state is doing something right for its teenagers.

However, the news is not as good for the state’s youngest residents. The infant mortality rate in the state was up 16 percent, and the number of low-birthweight babies was up by 3 percent.

The infant mortality figures become even more alarming when the head of Kansas Action for Children, which disseminates the Kids Count report, indicates that Kansas leaders are studying the issue but haven’t been able to determine the cause for the increase.

There seems cause to wonder whether those numbers are in some way related to a 25 percent increase in the number of children living in poverty. About 15 percent of Kansas children — about 100,000 youngsters — were living in poverty in 2008. That’s about 20,000 more than in 2000, and economic declines since 2008 probably have pushed that number even higher now.

People living in poverty probably don’t have health insurance or the money to pay for prenatal care. If they are unable to connect with government or non-profit agencies that can help them get that care, they will go without.

That cycle of poverty continues to hamper the progress of children as they reach school age. Poverty often is seen as an inner-city problem, but it exists throughout the state, including here in Lawrence. Growing up in poverty can affect a child’s health and development in many ways. Schools do what they can to help but they can’t do it all.

Legislation passed this year has given the Kansas Department of Health and Environment authority to redouble its efforts to determine the cause for the rising infant mortality rates. That’s a good step, but only a step. Kansas children are the future of the state. Their well-being should be a top priority for government policymakers at both the state and local level.