Kids Matter!

A Status Report on the Well-Being of Children and Youth in Chatham County, Georgia

• Introduction
• Overview
• Executive Summary
• HEALTHY CHILDREN
  • Low Birth Weight Births
  • Very Low Birth Weight Births
  • Infant Mortality
  • Teen Births
  • Teen Pregnancy
  • Repeat Teen Pregnancy
  • Teen Violent Deaths & Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• CHILDREN READY FOR & SUCCEEDING IN SCHOOL
  • Over Age 3rd Grade
  • Over Age 5th Grade
  • Over Age 9th Grade
  • System Wide Out of School Suspensions
  • 5th Grade Out of School Suspensions
  • 7th and 9th Grade Out of School Suspensions
  • Truancy
  • Dropouts
  • Graduation Rate
  • Post-Secondary and Technical/Vocational
• STRONG FAMILIES & NEIGHBORHOODS
  • Child Abuse & Neglect
  • Out of Home Placement
  • Juvenile Court
  • Department of Juvenile Justice
  • Juvenile Arrests
• SELF-SUFFICIENT FAMILIES
  • Poverty/Free or Reduced Cost School Lunch/Household Income/Self-Sufficiency
• Data Sources & Acknowledgements

Kids Matter! - 2008

Executive Summary

Highlights from the 2008 Kids Matter! report...

Healthy Children

• Almost 10% of births in 2007 were low birth weight. Very low birth weight births have averaged around 2.1%.
• The infant mortality rate in 2007 was 8.7 per 1,000. Although lower than previous years, statistically this single year data does not necessarily reflect a decreasing trend in rates.
• In 2007, the rate of teen births for females (ages 15-19) was 55.8 per 1,000. The rate of teen pregnancies for females (ages 15-17) was 44.9 per 1,000, and 32.1% of teen pregnancies to females (ages 15-19) were repeat pregnancies. Black females have significantly higher teen birth rates, teen pregnancy rates, and repeat pregnancy rates.
• The rate of teen violent deaths has surged since 2005 to a rate of 47.5 per 100,000 in 2007.
• The number of reported sexually transmitted diseases has trended upward since 2005 to the 893 cases reported in 2007.

Children Ready for and Succeeding in School

• There were fewer public school 3rd graders over age in grade in 2008-2009, while the numbers for 5th and 9th graders have increased from the previous year.
• The 5,898 public school students (15.6%) suspended out of school in 2008-2009 represents a decrease from the previous school year.
• Truancy has consistently declined over years, with there being 5,291 public school students (14.6%) truant in 2008-2009.
• The number of public school students who completely drop out of school has consistently declined, with the lowest number (295 dropouts) evident in 2008-2009.
• The 64% of public school high school students who graduated in 2007-2008 represents an increase over the previous school year.

Strong Families & Neighborhoods

• Reports to Child Protective Services increased to 1,666 in 2008, with 618 of them being substantiated cases.
• There were 1,625 youth served in Juvenile Court in 2008, resulting in a total of 4,742 charges. Black males represented 62% of the delinquent referrals.
• There were 133 youth committed to the state in 2008, representing an increase from the previous year.
• 1,205 juveniles (ages 16 and under) were arrested in 2008, which was an increase from the previous year.

Self-Sufficient Families

• 23.8% of children (ages 18 and under) live below poverty in Chatham County, compared to 34.3% in Savannah. 42% of single female headed households with related children under 18 years of age live below poverty in Chatham, compared to 47.5% in Savannah.
• The adjusted median household income for Chatham is $45,647, compared to $35,241 for Savannah.
• There were 20,982 public school students eligible to receive free or reduced cost school lunch in 2008-2009, representing 64% of the school population.