Success By 6: Home Page

April 8, 2008
Annual Kansas KIDS COUNT report released:
Poverty Continues to Challenge the Douglas County Community.

About 2,500 children or 12 percent of kids in Douglas County live at or below the federal poverty level ($17,600 per year for a family of three), according to data from the new Douglas County KIDS COUNT Report. These children live in families struggling to meet their basic needs. The KIDS COUNT data also reports that another 3,500 Douglas County kids are living in households that earn between 100% and 185% of the Federal Poverty Level (185% of the FPL equates to $32,560 a year for a family of three).

A further indication of poverty in the county can be seen in Douglas County KIDS COUNT data regarding Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC). In Douglas County, 11.70 percent of Douglas County families claimed EITC on their income tax returns.

“With the number of children living in poverty, there is a correlating need for increased early learning opportunities,” said Gary Brunk, president and CEO of Kansas Action for Children. “Early education programs – like Head Start and Pre-K - serve the community\'s most vulnerable children. It’s critical that those programs are funded at a level that will allow for capacity to meet the growing demand.”

Success By 6 Coalition of Douglas County estimates that there are about 6,500 children 0-6 years of age in Douglas County. Douglas County continues to lag behind its peer counties and the state of Kansas in the number of Head Start slots available to eligible families.

“Although there is a good number of high-quality early learning programs in Douglas County, low- and moderate-income working families struggle to afford these programs due to the cost,” said Rich Minder, collaborative projects coordinator for the Success By 6 Coalition of Douglas County.
Another statistic in this year’s KIDS COUNT data might point to one way for addressing the child care needs of working families. In 2007, an average of 550 Douglas County families accessed state child care subsidy dollars through the Kansas Child Care Assistance. This program subsidizes the cost of child care for families which earn up to 185% of the FPL.
“We have seen an increase of about 50 more families using these subsidies from 2006 to 2007. But, if we can help more families understand the importance of enrolling in this program, we can - as a community - do a lot to help young children get off to a good start by financially supporting working families,” said Minder.
In its 17th year, the Douglas County KIDS COUNT project provides statistical data on the education, health and economic well-being of Kansas children and their families. Douglas County KIDS COUNT is intended to encourage policymakers and community leaders to make data-driven decisions that will improve the lives of Kansas children and ensure the future prosperity of our state.
Other key findings in the data regarding the well-being of Douglas County children and their families include:
• Prenatal Care: The percentage of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care in Douglas County increased slightly from the prior year.

• Youth Binge Drinking: 18.82 percent of 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th graders reported having 5 or more consecutive drinks on at least one occasion in the past two weeks. This is an increase from 16.56 percent from the previous year.

• All-Day Kindergarten: Access to all-day Kindergarten increased in Douglas County from 4.35 percent the prior year to 39.13 percent in the current year. With the increase, access to all-day Kindergarten continues to rank lower in the county than the state availability rate of 65.77 percent.