ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
More Virginia children have difficulty getting a healthy start in life, are engaging in risky behaviors and lack family support than five years ago, according to a report released Monday by a Richmond child advocacy group.
Nearly one-third of children in Virginia have been approved for the federal free school lunch program. More have been abused or neglected than five years ago. Almost the same number of girls under 18 had babies last year as five years ago.
The report, "Kids Count in Virginia: Kids and Communities," was released Monday by the Action Alliance for Virginia's Children and Youth.
Findings vary for Roanoke and New River localities. For example:
* Births to girls 15-17 in the past five years dropped 20.8 percent in Roanoke; rose only a fraction of a percent in Roanoke County; dropped 1.6 percent in Salem; increased 74.3 percent in Botetourt County; increased 129.4 percent in Bedford County; and dropped 15.9 percent in Montgomery County.
* Victims of child abuse or neglect dropped 14 percent in Roanoke; increased 4.7 percent in Roanoke County; increased 4.7 percent in Salem; dropped 40.5 percent in Botetourt County; increased 113 percent in Bedford County; and dropped 9.9 percent in Montgomery County.
* The infant mortality rate dropped 34.7 percent in Roanoke; increased 14.1 percent in Roanoke County and dropped 51.3 percent in Salem; 71.3 percent in Botetourt County; 38 percent in Bedford County; and 66.5 percent in Montgomery County.
"We really need to pay attention to children in Virginia early on in life, so they get off to a good start," said Susan Gholsten, Kids Count project director. "We need to put the emphasis on prevention rather than waiting for problems to occur."
The state's infant mortality rate, rise in percentage of mothers who have no prenatal care and increase in low birth-weight babies are indicators "that we still have work to do," Gholsten said.
Kids Count is part of a national network sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The foundation produces a national data book each year that compares data on all 50 states. The report released Monday is the second that has included a locality-by-locality statistical breakdown.
The number of children in Virginia living on AFDC - the country's primary form of welfare - has dropped in the past two years. The Action Alliance expects the decline to continue under new state and federal welfare-to-work plans.
But welfare changes concern Virginia Hardin, a member of the Roanoke Valley Alliance for Children. Once the state welfare plan begins requiring that AFDC recipients in the Roanoke and New River valleys work for their benefits this fall, "I'm afraid it's going to radically affect us," she said.
"I'm concerned that food stamps and some medical benefits and housing benefits will be affected for many families," Hardin said. "I don't think it will take too long for it to show up in our community."
Several of the report's findings troubled Gholsten.
One was the low percentage of middle-school students who passed all four physical fitness tests given each spring. Only 29 percent passed all four last year.
"Although that hasn't increased, we're still under 30 percent," Gholsten said. "That speaks to what's going on with children. Maybe they aren't getting the appropriate nutrition and exercise and everything else that goes into being a healthy child."
Gholsten was also disturbed by the number of children who qualify for the free school lunch program, Gholsten said.
"That picks up the working poor as well as AFDC," she said. "It correlates so much with poverty."
Other Kids Count findings:
* The number of Virginia juveniles arrested for violent crime has increased 21.9 percent in five years.
* Sexually transmitted diseases and motor vehicle deaths have remained fairly constant among Virginia's youth.
* Out-of-wedlock births increased 4.9 percent.
* The number of 9th-through 12th-graders who dropped out of school increased 25 percent in the past five years.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by staff: On an average day in Virginia. color. KEYWORDS: MGRby CNB