V.I. youth face major challenges growing up

ST. THOMAS - The 2011 Kids Count report released Wednesday details the stark realities facing the territory's young people.

- One in four children live in poverty.

- Child abuse and neglect is on the rise.

- Juvenile violent crime arrests are more than double the national average.

- Nineteen percent of 16- to 19-year-olds are not in school and not working.

- More than half of students in public middle and high schools perform below grade level in reading and math.

The grim statistics only reinforce the need to invest in the territory's youth, Dee Baecher-Brown, president of the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, said.

The report, put out by the Community Foundation each year, provides a wide range of information on the well-being of the territory's children and each year tracks 12 indicators - 10 of which also are tracked nationally for comparison.

The 2011 annual Kids Count report used the latest information available from local government agencies, which is from 2009.

This year's report is the start of a multi-year effort to measure the effects of the global recession on the territory's children, Brown said. The recession hit at the end of 2008 and began to be felt in the territory a short time later.

The territory typically lags several years behind the nation's economic upswings or downturns, and 2009's rising unemployment rates led to greater reliance on the territory's public support system, she said.

For the first time, the territory's Kids Count report charts the use of income and nutritional support programs by children in the Virgin Islands.

The availability of the programs may have helped keep the impact of child poverty from rising in the territory between 2008 and 2009, according to Brown.

Kids Count 2011 also includes data in several other new areas, including child immunization rates, health insurance coverage and children with special needs.

"This is the 12th annual Kids Count report, and we are continuing to expand the project. This year there's more data than ever," Brown said.

Meaningful and reliable data is necessary to guide strategic investments for children and families, she said.

"Our youngest people don't get a vote," she said.

For every $1 invested in early education, up to $16 is saved in future costs, Brown said.

The savings come from fewer remedial education programs, a decreased prison population and less reliance on public assistance.

"It's an amazing win-win situation," she said.

Population

The total population of children living in the Virgin Islands has been decreasing over the years, raising concerns about the territory's future, Brown said.

In 1997, the 36,179 children - from birth up to age 18 - made up 32 percent of the territory's population. In 2009, 25,523 children younger than 18 made up only 23.8 percent of the total population.

Brown said the decline in youth population will have an effect on the territory's workforce, future leadership and economy. It will also mean less people will be available to care for an aging generation, she said.

"Folks who are now in leadership positions need to understand that investing in our youngest children now is important," she said.

Poverty

Almost 30 percent of the territory's children live in poverty, and 25 percent of families with children live in poverty. St. Croix had the highest poverty level for children - 35 percent - followed by 24 percent on St. Thomas and 20 percent on St. John.

The poverty threshold in 2009 was an income of $21,756 for a family of two adults and two children.

In 2009, the territory's median family income was $43,691, which is $16,400 less than the average for the rest of the nation.

St. Croix's median family income rose from $40,683 to $42,876, but income in the St. Thomas-St. John District dropped from $47,767 to $44,178.

Brown said the dip is probably a reflection of the start of the recession.

"Things had been getting a little better on the poverty issue, and now we see it devolving a little bit," Brown said.

Kids Count reported that 75 percent of families with children in poverty are headed by single mothers.

In a rising trend, almost half of all V.I. families are single-mother households. The national single-mother household rate is 23 percent.

Education

In 2009, more than 40 percent of V.I. children entering public school Kindergarten had skills below age level in areas crucial to learning. The skills measured included motor skills, language, personal and social interactions, pre-writing skills, cognitive or problem-solving ability and self-help skills.

The territory's measurement - through standardized testing - of academic performance showed more than half of all public middle and high school students tested below grade level in reading and math.

Seventy-three percent of seventh-graders are below proficiency levels in reading and 45 percent are below proficiency levels in math. Sixty-one percent of 11th-graders are below proficiency levels in reading and 52 percent are below proficiency levels in math.

Only 65 percent of Virgin Islanders 18 to 24 years old have a high school diploma or higher degree, according to the Kids Count report. Crime

The Virgin Islands has a very high rate of juvenile arrests for violent crimes, although the numbers dropped slightly in 2009. Violent crimes include homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. In 2009, 80 arrests were made, down from 120 made in 2008. Three of the 2009 arrests were for murder.

The V.I. rate for violent crime arrests of youth ages 10 to 17 is 673 per 100,000. The U.S. rate is 306 per 100,000.

Brown said the biggest concern is the segment of the youth population called "detached" teens - youth ages 16 to 19 who are not in school and unemployed. In the territory, 19 percent of the age group fall into that category.

"That's the chickens coming home to roost for what we didn't do 15-20 years ago in early childhood education," Brown said.

Youth crime statistics can be lowered by early intervention and quality care at the start of a child's life, she said. The benefits extend past the child as well, she said.

"The good news is that early childhood education impacts both the child and parents," she said.

Correlations exist between good early care and the parents becoming more self sufficient and financially stable, Brown said.

"It snowballs in a very positive direction," she said.

Health

Kids Count found that in some respects, the health of the territory's children is improving.

Low birth weights - babies born weighing less than 5.5 lbs. - are on the decline, as are infant, child and teen deaths.

The V.I. low birth-weight rate is the lowest it has been since the report began collecting data in 1997. In 2009, 8.1 percent of live births in the Virgin Islands had low birth weight. The national average is 8.2 percent.

The territory's death rates for infants and children ages 1 to 14 also are better than the national average. The territory's teen death rate still is higher than the national rate, but it is lower than it was the previous year for the Virgin Islands.

Some of the health data, however, was not good news.

Only about half - 51 percent - of children between between ages 1 and 3 are up to date with early childhood immunizations that are federally recommended for child health and required for entry into V.I. schools.

About 7,000 children younger than 17 are living without health insurance - about 27 percent of the children in the territory. The national figures show 10.3 percent of children are uninsured.

Teen pregnancy rates continue to be higher than the national rate. In 2009, 216 babies were born to girls 15 to 19 years old, which accounted for 12 percent of all live births in the territory. The teen pregnancy rate for that age group in the Virgin Islands is 51 per 1,000, compared with the national rate for the age group of 41 per 1,000.

The rate of child abuse and neglect is on the rise - the territory's rate is 14 per 1,000 children, higher than the 9 per 1,000 nationally.

In 2009, the V.I. Human Services Department reported 352 children for physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect. The numbers were up from the 308 reported in 2008.

Public assistance programs

For the first time, the 2011 Kids Count reported trends for the number of children receiving public assistance in the territory.

Income assistance and food assistance are the two main forms of public support available to needy families in the Virgin Islands.

In 2009, the need for income assistance through the federally funded Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program expanded by 12 percent. About $1.7 million in benefits was issued to V.I. families, up from the $1.3 million issued in 2008. The assistance benefited 6 percent of the territory's children.

Of all 722 child-based households receiving TANF benefits in 2009, 91 percent were headed by a single parent.

The federally funded nutritional assistance program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children - known as WIC - serves pregnant, post-partum and breast feeding mothers, infants and children younger than 5.

In 2009, 63 percent of children younger than 5 received WIC benefits.

Forty-seven percent of children from birth age to age 18 received benefits in 2009 from the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - formerly known as the food stamp program.

The need for food stamps spiked dramatically between 2008 and 2009 - from $22.9 million in benefits paid in 2009 to $33.9 million in 2009.

Kids Count is a national initiative sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. For more information about the Kids Count Data Book, contact the Community Foundation at 774-6031 or visit www.cfvi.net.

- Contact reporter Aldeth Lewin at 714-9111 or email alewin@dailynews.vi.

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