<\/p>\n
More Montezuma County children are affected by poverty on average, and more are born into high-risk situations than the state as a whole, according to a new report from the Colorado Children\u2019s Campaign.<\/p>\n
Every year, the group releases the \u201cKids Count in Colorado\u201d report, which tracks child wellbeing at the state and county levels. This year\u2019s edition is mostly based on data from 2015.<\/p>\n
The child poverty rate in Montezuma County, at 28.7 percent, is nearly double the state\u2019s average, according to the report. The county\u2019s teen birth rate in 2015 was 43 per 1,000 females age 15-19. That was more than double the state rate of 19.<\/p>\n
Some education factors in the county are more promising, though. Nearly all Montezuma County kindergartners were in a full-day program in fall 2016. Only 77 percent were in a full-day program statewide.<\/p>\n
And the county\u2019s graduation rate was 78.1 percent in 2016, slightly below the state\u2019s rate of 78.9 percent.<\/p>\n
Katrina Lindus, with the Montelores Early Childhood Council, responding to the study results, said being a parent is challenging in Southwest Colorado. She emphasized that struggling parents shouldn\u2019t hesitate to ask for help.<\/p>\n
Parenting is expensive, but spending time with your kids doesn\u2019t cost any money, she said. It\u2019s very important that parents read and play with their kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the No. 1 thing you can do, whether you have $1 or $1 million,\u201d Lindus said.<\/p>\n
Montelores Early Childhood Council coordinator Vangi McCoy agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet involved in whatever capacity you are able to with your child\u2019s education from the earliest age so they are used to having you there,\u201d she said in an email.<\/p>\n
McCoy said children who grow up in poverty are likely to have different experiences and environments.<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren exposed to poverty at a young age often have trouble academically later in life, and have a much greater chance of dropping out of high school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In a webinar for journalists on Tuesday, Colorado Children\u2019s Campaign research analyst Sarah Hughes said the Kids Count report has focused on gaps between races in past years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year we wanted to explore that, but we wanted to explore it in the lens of the Coloradans behind those numbers,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n
To do that, they reached out to people experiencing those gaps across the state, and conducted focus group research in Denver, Alamosa, Fort Morgan and La Plata County.<\/p>\n
More than 160 people participated in the outreach for the report, Hughes said.<\/p>\n
Statewide, the report reveals racial disparities among white students and students of color.<\/p>\n
La Plata County was chosen as an outreach site for the report in part because it is home to the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, Hughes said.<\/p>\n
That reservation is home to one of two Native American tribes located in Colorado, along with Montezuma County\u2019s Ute Mountain Ute tribe.<\/p>\n
The report found that Native American children are four times more likely to live in poverty than white children.<\/p>\n
About 35 percent of the state\u2019s Native American kids live in poverty, while just 9 percent of white kids are affected. Poverty has more impact on children of color than white children, the report said.<\/p>\n
McCoy said she sees more gaps in socioeconomic status and gender of kids, but racial differences still exist.<\/p>\n
\u201cRacial gaps do begin when entering the elementary schools and it effects not only learning but also social emotional development and self esteem,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Over the past few years, health insurance coverage has improved for children of all ethnicities. In 2015, 7 percent of Montezuma County\u2019s children were not covered. Across Colorado, 4.4 percent of kids weren\u2019t covered that year, the report states.<\/p>\n
Still, Native American children are far less likely than white children to be covered in Colorado. In 2015, 13.3 percent of Colorado\u2019s Native American children did not have health coverage, while just 3.4 percent of white children were covered.<\/p>\n
\u201cStructural and institutional barriers have created the educational disparities we see between students of color and white students, and those are carried into adulthood,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n
The report typically does not include suggestions for policy proposals or legislative solutions based on the data, Hughes said. However, the group hopes state and local officials will use the data in the report to guide any policy decisions regarding child wellbeing.<\/p>\n
Hughes said it\u2019s important for policies to be created by people who have lived through issues detailed in the report.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important for those decisions to be led and informed by the people who are experiencing them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n